Ylevästä sankaritarinasta kepeään komediaan : analyysi rauhantutkimuksen narratiiveista

Abstract

The traditional story of Peace Research has a romantic plot: the brave and skillful researcher defeats the monster of violence and brings about mutually beneficial cooperation by using peaceful means only. As appealing as this story – exemplified in the work of Johan Galtung – is, it provides problematic directions for scientific endeavors. While it gives positive meaning, it is too straightforward and often resorts to black-and-white dichotomies. This article examines and argues for the potential of comedy as an explanatory story for Peace Research. Like romance, comedy yields a happy ending, but the comic path is more innovative, comic strategies are more flexible and the comic hero is free from demands of perfection. Both critical and poststructural studies have commented on the challenges of Peace Research in a comic vein. This article reviews some of those comments and sketches a (new) self-image and understanding of the other for Comic Peace Research