Christie Davies

John Christopher Hughes "Christie" Davies (25 December 1941 – 26 August 2017) was a British sociologist, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Reading, England, the author of many articles and books on criminology, the sociology of morality, censorship, and humour. He was also a visiting professor in India, Poland, United States, and Australia.

Early life He was born John Christopher Hughes Davies in Cheam, Surrey. His parents were Welsh, his father an inspector of schools and mother a teacher.

Humour research In his 2002 book The Mirth of Nations, Davies criticised the theories which derive humor from conflict and superiority, and argued instead that humor is a form of play – a play with aggression, superiority, and taboo-breaking. He also argued against the Freudian theory about Jewish jokes being mostly self-deprecating, claiming that instead they are based on the cultural tradition of analytical thinking and self-awareness. American folklorist Alan Dundes called the book "the provocative critique of previous scholarship on the subject".

Davies was past president of the International Society for Humor Studies.

Resettling Hong Kong inhabitants in Northern Ireland In 1983, Davies warned that when Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 there would be no future for its 5.5 million inhabitants. He jokingly suggested a new "city state" could be created near Magilligan Point in between Coleraine and Derry for resettling Hong Kong inhabitants. Files from The National Archives show that the idea triggered some debate among Whitehall mandarins. David Snoxell, a retired diplomat who took part in the debates revealed it was "a spoof between colleagues who had a sense of humour".

Books 1973: Wrongful Imprisonment 1973: The Reactionary Joke Book, 1975: Permissive Britain: Social change in the Sixties and Seventies 1978: Censorship and Obscenity 1990, 1996: Ethnic Humor Around the World: a Comparative Analysis, 1998: Jokes and their Relation to Society 1998: The Corporation under Siege 2002: The Mirth of Nations, ; a social and historical study of jokes told in the English-speaking countries, based on archives and other primary sources, including old and rare joke books. 2003: (with Goh Abe) Esuniku Joku, Kodansha; the title is a gairaigo for "Ethnic joke" 2005: Jokes and groups. Monograph Series, 44. Institute for Cultural Research, London, 2005, Dewi the Dragon, a collection of humorous fantasy stories 2006: The Strange Death of Moral Britain 2011: Jokes and Targets, Indiana University Press,