Taking it further
Ade and aid
Adrian Edmondson meets Hilary Benn and travels to Kenya to see the difference made by Comic Relief.
If Lenny's Britain has left you keen to dig deeper into the routes and roles of humour, why not follow our suggestions for taking it further?
Books and journals
The Mirth of Nations: A Comparative and Historical Study
Christie Davies, Transaction
Ethnic Humor Around the World: a Comparative Analysis
Christie Davies, Indiana University Press
"From Comic Asians to Asian comics: British Television Comedy and Representations of Ethnicity"
Marie Gillespie,
In Group Identities on French and British Television
Edited by Emily Vaughan Roberts and Michael Scriven, Berghahn Books
Good Humor, Bad Taste: A Sociology of the Joke
Giselinde Kuipers, Mouton de Gruyter.
Engaging Humor
Elliott Oring, University of Illinois Press
Humor: International Journal of Humor Research
A journal founded "as an international interdisciplinary forum for the publication of high-quality research papers on humor as an important and universal human faculty".
Weblinks
The Right To Joke - Christie Davies' response to "a climate that regards some jokes as promoting unacceptable political or social attitudes and that such jokes should thus be subject to censorship"
No Laughing Matter - Abigail Dunn considers the place of race in comedy
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OU Courses
If you would like to explore some of the social and cultural issues raised in Lenny’s Britain you might like to consider taking up an Open University course or degree. You'll be in good company - amongst the hundreds of thousands of people who've graduated from the OU is a certain Mr. Lenny Henry.
OU courses are open to anyone – with or without qualifications - and courses can be carried out while working.
If you have not studied recently...
The OU recommends starting with an Openings course. These can build your study skills and give you a chance to see if the course is the right one for you. You could try Understanding Society or Making Sense of the Arts.
If you'd like to try a short course
These can be a great way of getting used to studying - whether it's trying out skills for the first time, or using those you might not have exercised for a while. Why not get going with Start Writing Family History or Start Writing Fiction?
Full-length courses
If you decide to take your studies to a higher level, these courses all have content which relates to subjects covered in Lenny's Britain:
An introduction to the social sciences: understanding social change
The social sciences are about people: how they act individually and how they act collectively. This course tackles everyday issues in an approachable and accessible way, so that you can build on what you already know and draw on your own experience.
Understanding Media
Joking and humour are closely associated with the media. This course explores the relationship between media and society. Analysing Media Texts (one of the four course texts) is accompanied by an interactive DVD that teaches vital skills of media analysis – including comedy genres.
An Introduction To The Humanities
This course will give you a lively introduction to the Arts in their widest sense: art history, literature, music, philosophy, classical studies, history, religious studies, and history of science. The course will help you to express yourself more clearly and refresh and build your skills in critical reading, analysis and interpretation.
Content last updated: 30/05/2007
