Strategic Studies of Culture

Strategic Studies of Culture

A Systematic Review of Humor Research in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Ali Asghar Moazzeni 1
Hasan Bashir 2
1 PHD student in Media Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran. (Corresponding Author ) Email: A.moazzeni@urd.ac.ir
2 Professor of Faculty of Islamic Studies, Culture and Communication, Imam Sadeq University, Tehran, Iran. Email: Bashir@isu.ac.ir
10.22083/scsj.2026.561053.1340
Abstract
Introduction: Humor is not merely a literary technique but a worldview that reveals truth through non-serious forms. In Iranian culture and literature, humor has historically occupied a significant position, ranging from the satirical anecdotes of the Ghaznavid court to social critiques in contemporary media. Despite the widespread presence of humor in Iranian social interactions and literature, academic attention to this phenomenon was historically limited, partly due to the misconception that humor is incompatible with seriousness. However, over the past decade (specifically from 1388/2009 onward), academic research on this phenomenon has grown significantly across disciplines such as literature, linguistics, sociology, and communication.
Despite this quantitative growth, the research landscape remains fragmented. Most studies focus on case-based analyses or specific literary works, and there is a noticeable absence of a macro-level, integrated analysis that maps the problematics, dominant approaches, and research gaps. The primary objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of scientific articles published between 1379 and 1402 (2000–2024) to identify the dominant research trends, theoretical frameworks, and methodological tendencies in Iran.
Methods: This study employs a systematic review method, utilizing a mixed-methods approach that combines meta-analysis of quantitative bibliometric data with thematic analysis of qualitative data. A comprehensive search was conducted using more than 20 keywords, including Satire, Parody, Grotesque, Caricature, and Irony, across major Iranian academic databases, namely Noormags, Magiran, Humanities Portal, and SID. The initial search yielded 521 articles. The articles then underwent a rigorous screening process based on predefined inclusion criteria, including relevance to humor and their status as scientific-research articles. After removing duplicates and irrelevant items, a final corpus of 87 scientific-research articles was selected. Data were extracted at two levels. First, bibliometric data, including publication year, author characteristics, university affiliation, and research methodology, were extracted for quantitative analysis. Second, thematic data concerning the content, theoretical foundations, and findings of the selected articles were analyzed to identify basic, organizing, and global themes using Attride-Stirling’s thematic network approach.
Findings: The findings reveal a steady growth in Iranian humor research, particularly since 2009, with publication peaks in 2020 and 2022. Research is predominantly collaborative and institutionally concentrated in state universities, which produced 78.75% of the studies, with the University of Tehran and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad being the most productive institutions. Methodologically, the field is overwhelmingly qualitative (95.4%), with content analysis as the dominant analytical method and no purely quantitative studies identified. Theoretically, Incongruity Theory was the most frequently employed framework, followed by Bakhtin’s theory of carnival and the concept of the grotesque. The thematic analysis of 87 studies generated 207 basic themes organized into three major domains: patterns, styles, and techniques of humor; humor in artistic and media communication; and religious and ethical humor. Overall, the literature has evolved from text-centered analyses of the mechanisms and rhetorical construction of humor toward greater attention to its social, cultural, historical, religious, and communicative contexts. Iranian scholarship primarily conceptualizes humor as both a critical and reformist instrument for challenging social problems and an educational and soothing mechanism, particularly in religious and mystical contexts. However, the field remains characterized by significant methodological limitations, especially its heavy reliance on qualitative approaches and the near-complete absence of quantitative research capable of systematically measuring the psychological and social effects of humor.
Conclusion: Humor studies in Iran are evolving from purely literary descriptions toward functional, interdisciplinary, and sociological analyses. However, to mature further, the field requires greater methodological diversity. Future research should move beyond descriptive content analysis and employ quantitative and mixed-methods approaches, as well as cognitive science perspectives, to empirically examine audience reception of humor and its effects on mental health and social capital.
Keywords
Systematic review
humor studies
cultural studies
content analysis
Iran
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Strategic Studies of Culture
Volume 6, Issue 3 - Serial Number 23
Summer 2026
Pages 303-331