Conservative MP Ann Winterton's insensitive joke about the deaths of Chinese cockle pickers is the subject of academic discussion in a new book exploring the ethics of comedy.
The book, called Beyond a Joke: The Limits of Humour, raises serious questions about the ethics of comedy.
The contributors focus on humour that has excited considerable social tension and controversy such as Ms Winterton's comment about the drowning of 20 Chinese cockle pickers in February 2004, when she reportedly told a group of MPs and Danish businessmen about some sharks deciding to go for a Chinese meal in Morecambe Bay.
Michael Pickering, a reader in culture and communication at Loughborough University, and the book's joint editor, admitted that while he was "running the risk of being labelled a po-faced academic with a gigantic humour deficiency, [it] seems a risk worth taking in the interests of engaging critically with forms of humour which belittle and deprecate others, or cause them considerable hurt and offence."
The comedian Dawn French and the TV programme Sex and the City are also cited as examples. Sharon Lockyer, a lecturer in media studies at De Montfort University and the other editor of the book, said that Ms French was depicted as "a figure of feminine excess."
"It's about excess on one level, with her appearance, and also in The Vicar of Dibley about pushing the boundaries as a character of what is considered normal for women," she said.
The humour of Sex and the City is used to discuss how single women are constructed as a problem in society. "Even if they are successful in their career they are still seen to be lacking something in their life because they don't have a partner or aren't married," explained Dr Lockyer.
In the book, the debate moves beyond objections to political correctness to focus on what is harmful as well as positive about humour.
"We view political correctness as something that is often used as a rhetorical strategy that shuts down debates about acceptability," said Dr Lockyer. "We want to open up that debate and find out what it is about these comments that people find offensive."
One contributor looks at racist jokes on the Ku Klux Klan website, which Dr Lockyer describes as one of the most extreme versions of offensive humour. "[The jokes] are overtly racist, and whether implicitly or explicitly advocate physical violence against other ethnic groups."
"Humour is generally celebrated as part of what makes us human," she continued. "It can help people get on with each other and facilitate good relations between different groups and communities but humour and comedy can hardly be positive elements of social and cultural life if they involve misrepresentation and stereotyping, or intolerance and hatred."
The two editors will have a debate the ethics of humour with Iranian comedian Omid Djalili, also featured in the book, at the Leicester comedy festival which starts on February 10.
The festival attracts 50, 000 people to 180 events held across 10 days.
