Not-so-joyful feelings in the configuration of Europe.

The Interdisciplinary Thought Congress is independently organized by students of the Joint Degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Under the title "Laughter, Mockery, and Exclusion: Not-So-Joyful Affects in the Shaping of Europe," this congress explores the blurred boundaries of mockery, navigating the fine line between offense and vindication; inclusion and exclusion; rejection and reappropriation. To foster a rich debate and exchange of ideas, we will be joined by comedians, academics, journalists, political scientists, science communicators, and content creators.

Friday April 19

11:30 a.m. - Opening. Moderator: Eva Pérez Alamillos and Vítor Salles Ribeiro.

12:00-13:30 - Can I laugh at you? Mockery in humor and the “right to offend”. | Moderated by: Ana Martínez Lorente and Juan Vega Esteve.

Two comedians, El Gran Wyoming and Pepe Viyuela, have been invited to a dialogue with philosopher and researcher Irene Ortiz Gala about the limits of humor and freedom of expression in comedy. Some of the questions that will guide this dialogue are: What can we laugh at and why? Why and how do we use mockery in humor? What is acceptable and what is not? Does humor create a space in which to make fun of others?

Speakers: Irene Ortiz Gala, Gran Wyoming and Pepe Viyuela.

16:30-18:00h - Who is mocking whom in Europe? Shaping European identities around mockery | Moderator: Arturo García Iglesias.

This “political panel” is comprised of various figures from the world of journalism: Lucía Méndez, Máriam Martínez-Bascuñán, and Antonio Maestre; as well as two well-known political scientists from the Autonomous University of Madrid: Fernando Vallespín and Ángel Rivero. They will address issues such as the perception of Mediterranean countries from Northern Europe and the coining of the acronym “PIGS” as a derogatory term, the image of migrants in European receiving countries and their stigmatization, the importance of freedom of expression and satire in the construction of Europe, and more.

Speakers: Lucía Méndez, Máriam Martínez-Bascuñan, Ángel Rivero, Antonio Maestre and Fernando Vallespín.

18:30-20:00 PM - Let's see who laughs the most! Legitimacy, privilege, and emancipation through laughter . | Moderated by: Mar Pumares Benaiges.

Table framed in the Night of the Books, in which the book by Daniel Gamper “What are you laughing at. Benefits and ravages of the joke” will be presented. 

Daniel Gamper summarized his intervention as follows: What is a joke? Are jokes a serious matter? If we prohibit some jokes, can we also prohibit the laughter they provoke? What does that laughter mean? Is laughter a language? Is it beyond good and evil? Is it imaginable to have a society in which everyone laughed at themselves and tolerated others doing so? Isn't there always something aggressive about laughter?

As for Oriol Farrés, he presents his intervention thus: Can mockery—and, therefore, laughter—emancipate? The concept of emancipation will be understood in the sense of intellectual liberation. Yes: Mikhail Bakhtin said that in the past, “laughter was opposed not only to seriousness in general, but even to the historically determined form of dogmatic and one-sided seriousness prevalent in the Middle Ages.” But no: “What is that, Polo? Are you laughing? Is this another new method of refutation? Laughing when the other person says something, without arguing against it?”

Speakers: Daniel Gamper and Oriol Farrés.

Saturday April 20

10:00-11:30 a.m. - Did they laugh at you? Pain, shame, and boredom: the effects of emotions on excluded bodies . | Moderated by: Jesús Cuesta Gordillo.

Emotions are the first effects of laughter on those who are its victims: pain, shame, or boredom are some of the feelings that will be addressed in this presentation, as well as the effect of mockery on marginalized bodies. The collective channeling of negative emotions and their role in the pre-emancipation stage will be explored.

Speakers: Javier Moscoso, Alba Montes, Josefa Ros and Laura Albet.

12:00-13:30 - Inhabiting mockery: Spain and the other. | Moderator: Ángela Dayana Fernández.

Patricia Lara, Eileney Tomé da Mata, and Carolina Meloni will address racial discrimination in Spain, specifically how ethnic minorities appropriate—and historically have appropriated—or not appropriate insults in Spain: the burlesque reappropriation of racial insults, artistic subversion in ethnic minorities such as the Roma, stereotypes and their discriminatory use... Can mockery be inhabited? If so, would it reinforce or subvert the stereotype?

Speakers: Patricia Lara, Edileny Tomé da Mata and Carolina Meloni.

16:30-18:00 PM - " Slut, yes or no?" Analysis of cultural products: between the offensive and the empowering . | Moderator: Carmen Real Pascual.

Mikel Herrán, Juan Pedro Sánchez López, Ayme Román, and Elizabeth Duval will discuss the analysis of contemporary cultural products from a gender perspective (the stereotype, the "bimbo girl," the blonde girl, Mean Girls, Disney villains) and their positive and negative effects: between the offensive and the empowering, the use of mockery that had been exclusionary as a subversive weapon, laughing at stereotypes... It will be a dynamic and current panel discussion that will capture the audience's attention.

Speakers: Mikel Herrán , Juanpe Sánchez López, Ayme Román and Elizabeth Duval.

18:00 PM - CLOSING: Julia Castillo Calvente and Alicia Gutiérrez Sejas.