International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Volume 2, Issue 7, July 2014, PP 110-121 ISSN 2347-3126 (Print) & ISSN 2347-3134 (Online) www.arcjournals.org ©ARC Page | 110 Laughter and Anguish in Remi Raji’s a Harvest of Laughters Solomon O. Olaniyan Department of English, University of Ibadan, Nigeria dvenolasolomon@gmail.com “We know that some tribes are said to be dour and unlaughing. Others laugh easily. Pygmies lie on the ground and kick their legs in the air, panting and shaking in paroxysms of laughter”. (Douglas, 1971: 387) “Èrín mú èrèké dùn; ẹkún ba ẹnu jé” (Laughter sweetens the cheeks; crying disfigures the mouth) (Yoruba Proverb, Owomoyela, 2005:480). Abstract: The therapeutic relevance of laughter among humans has been a motif in psychological and medical related studies. However, literature being a humanistic discipline also ventures into this aspect as it is instrumental in the restoration of humanity. Contemporary Nigerian poets are committed to writing about the ills in their polity. Remi Raji does not only reflect the untold anguish his milieu has come to live with as a result of various irregularities in the nation; but offers laughter as an antidote that would cushion their pain. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines the antithetical representation of laughter and anguish in Raji’s A Harvest of Laughters with a view to exploring people’s anguish and instrumentality of laughter in ameliorating their agonising condition. Relief theory of laughter is adopted for the study while the selected text is subject to critical textual analysis. Various factors responsible for people’s inability to laugh are critiqued in the study. Keywords: laughter, anguish, relief theory, A Harvest of Laughters, Remi Raji Word count: 156 1. LAUGHTER AND THEORIES OF LAUGHTER: AN OVERVIEW Contemporary Nigerian poetry serves as an anchor that charts the path of survival and stability in the face of political stalemate, economic ruination, cultural erosion, moral decadence, leadership crisis and social conflicts. By addressing various challenges confronting the nation, contemporary Nigerian poets show how socially committed they are. Their pen has, thus served as a veritable tool to normalising the abnormalities in the polity. It is undeniable that citizenry are subject to pains, owing to various hardships with which they have to cope; this has repressed laughter in the people. There are several ways through which humans express their emotions to show what goes on inside of them. Two of these ways are laughter and anguish, depending on external occurrences. Humans beings are by nature, “laughing animal” (McComas, 1923). There have been some studies on laughter and humour. For instance, Eibl-Eibelsfeldt, 1999 and Provine, 2000 find out that laughter is a universal human behaviour. It is universally recognisable and occurs in a characteristic, stereotyped form (Eibl-Eibelsfeldt, 1999). Quoting Herbert Spencer (1891:458), Jauregui (1998:70) views laughter as “a form of muscular excitement, and so illustrates the general law that feeling passing a certain pitch habitually vents itself in bodily action...strong feeling of almost any kind produces this result...joyous emotion...mental distress...tickling...cold, and some kinds of acute pain”. The phenomenon of laughter has attracted various theories through which it has been studied. These include incongruity, relief, superiority/aggression, tension- release and play theories. To proponents of these theories, laughter means different things.