美国国家公共电台 NPR--A book on laughter and how it brings out our most authentic selves

A book on laughter and how it brings out our most authentic¹ selves

Transcript²

When Nuar Alsadir went to clown school, she wasn't there for a career in clowning. The poet and psychoanalyst was researching laughter for a new book –- going out to comedy clubs and improv shows to really listen to the audience and hear when they laughed.

What she learned at clown school surprised her.

"The audience tended to laugh not when something was humorous, but when it was honest," she says.

We know that laughter is physiologically³ beneficial – it releases endorphins and increases blood flow. But Alsadir learned that it can also help connect to the unconscious and bring out our most authentic selves. She writes about this in her new book Animal Joy: A Book of Laughter and Resuscitation⁴.

Both psychoanalysis and the art of clowning – though in radically⁵ different ways – create a path toward the unconscious, making it easier to access the unsocialized self, or, in philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's terms, "to become the one you are."

When Alsadir took the stage at clown school, she realized that people were most moved when she spoke⁶ about something that was meaningful to her.

"Counterintuitively, it's not what you say," she says. "It's the emotion that you access in yourself as you're delivering it that is going to reach other people."

The title of Alsadir's book comes from something she read in Chekhov's notebook: "The so-called pure childlike joy of life is animal joy."

For Alsadir, it is the highest joy. "It's when we're most embodied⁷, and most inside of our true selves — our spontaneous selves."

In the book, the poet points to two kinds of laughter: Duchenne and non-Duchenne laughter, named after the nineteenth-century neurologist who studied the ways in which we manifest our emotions.

"Duchenne laughter is the full bodied outburst that overtakes you," Alsadir says. "The unconscious is suddenly released into the room like a wild animal."

It's when you don't necessarily know why you're laughing, but you can't stop. It can make your stomach cramp⁸ and tears run down your cheeks.

"The other kind of laughter, which is actually the most common form, is called non-Duchenne," she says. "And that kind of laughter is social laughter."

The poet says that 90% of laughter is this socially coded, non-Duchenne kind. We normally use it to communicate something to the world. Even if we do this subconsciously⁹, Alsadir understands it to be less of an outburst and more of an intellectual tool used to control interactions.

"You're letting someone know that they're safe, or you're happy to see them," she says. "It can also be used to counteract¹⁰ a communication that's about to come."

She gives the example of laughter that accompanies the phrase "don't take this the wrong way" or "no offense¹¹" — adding that what comes after non-Duchenne laughter can often be uncomfortable or critical.

Alsadir is more interested in Duchenne laughter, because it brings out our spontaneous impulses – reviving us in the process. She writes in the book:

Laughter shakes us out of our deadness

"When you are in touch with your true self, you feel more alive, more present, embodied," she says. "And that feeling is one of the best feelings there is."

The poet hopes her new book will lead readers to that feeling.

1 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 physiologically   

ad.生理上，在生理学上

参考例句：

• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder cannot be completely separated physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上不能完全分离。
• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder are closely related physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上紧密联系。

4 resuscitation   

n.复活

参考例句：

• Despite attempts at resuscitation,Mr Lynch died a week later in hospital.虽经全力抢救，但林奇先生一周以后还是在医院去世了。
• We gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage.我们对他进行了口对口复苏救治和心脏按摩。

5 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 cramp   

n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚

参考例句：

• Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔，手指也写麻了。
• The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来，让别人帮着上了岸。

9 subconsciously   

ad.下意识地，潜意识地

参考例句：

• In choosing a partner we are subconsciously assessing their evolutionary fitness to be a mother of children or father provider and protector. 在选择伴侣的时候，我们会在潜意识里衡量对方将来是否会是称职的母亲或者父亲，是否会是合格的一家之主。
• Lao Yang thought as he subconsciously tightened his grasp on the rifle. 他下意识地攥紧枪把想。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

10 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

11 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。