A Cultural History of Humour: From Antiquity to the Present DayISBN: 978-0-7456-1880-7
Paperback
280 pages
July 1997, Polity
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Humour is without doubt a vital element of the human condition but
it has rarely been the subject of serious historical research. Yet
a closer look at jokes and other comic phenomena shows us that the
nature of humour changes from one period to another, and that these
changes can provide us with important insights into the social and
cultural developments of the past.
This important and highly original book sets out to explore the
terra incognita of humour through the ages - from jokes and
stage humour in Greece and Rome to the jestbooks of early modern
Europe, from practical jokes in Renaissance Italy to comic painting
during the Dutch Golden Age, from Bakhtin's conception of laughter
to the joking relationships of anthropologists.
These innovative accounts move humour into the centre of social and
cultural history and throw an unexpected light on life and manners
through the ages.