A Theory of Humor.
Thomas C. Veatch
Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 11(2), 161–215. First Published 1998. https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1998.11.2.161
It was way back in 1998 when Veatch spoke of violation in terms of humor. Most of us may, under the impression of The Humor Code (2014), associate violation (in humor studies) with Peter McGraw and Joel Warner.
According to Veatch, "humor occurs when a perceiver views a situation simultaneously as being normal and as constituting a violation of the subjective moral order" (212). According to Peter McGraw and Joel Warner's Benign-Violation Theory, when something is violated (going wrong) without doing serious damage (benign; no harm done).
In fact, McGraw makes it clear that he conducts his research on humoristic violation with awareness of Veatch's theory:
"Veatch posited what he called the 'N+V Theory,' the idea that humor occurs when someone perceives a situation is a violation of a 'subjective moral principle' (V) while simultaneously realizing that the situation is normal (N)" (The Humor Code 8).
And, with a touch of modification, the normal (N) in the theory, is revised and replaced with the benign:
"To them [Caleb Warren and Peter McGraw, who co-author "Benign Violations: Making Immoral Behavior Funny," Psychological Science (2010): 1141-1149] the term 'benign,' rather than 'normal,' better encapsulated the many ways a violation could be okay, acceptable, or safe--and gave them a clear-cut tool to determine when and why a violation [...] can be funny" (The Humor Code 10; the following figure also appears on Page 10).
