Laughter and Power (Paperback)

Laughter and power are here examined in a variety of contexts, ranging from the satires of Renaissance Humanism through to the polemics of contemporary journalism. How do the powerful use laughter as a cultural weapon which re-inforces their position? How do the powerless use laughter as a last resort in their self-defence? Sixteenth-century intellectuals applied their satires to a campaign against intolerance. Seventeenth-century absolutism demanded of comedy that it serve its interests. Yet subversive humour survived, even at the court, and led through the Enlightenment to its apogee in the black humour of Sade. Twentieth-century experimental fiction owes that trend a conscious debt. Meanwhile an aesthetic tradition, represented here by Flaubert, Beckett and Queneau, incites a laughter which releases tension rather than raising awareness. As humour theorists, Bergson, Freud and Koestler help focus these concerns.

General

Imprint:	Peter Lang Ag
Country of origin:	Switzerland
Series:	European Connections, 19
Release date:	March 2006
Editors:	John Phillips • John Parkin
Dimensions:	220 x 150 x 16mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	256
ISBN-13:	978-3-03-910504-5
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Psychology > General Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > 16th to 18th centuries Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > 19th century Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > From 1900
LSN:	3-03-910504-3
Barcode:	9783039105045

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