The Idea of Comedy: History, Theory, CritiqueOne of the few constants in Western critical though for over twomillennia has been the inexhaustible fascination with comedy: what itis and how it works. Yet comedy has eluded every definition. Why haveso many of the leading critics and philosophers of the West proposedtheories and counter-theories of comedy while often admitting that itenthralls and baffles the mind in equal measure? The Idea of Comedy: A Critique assembles a rich corpus of materials from differentlanguages and eras to construct a history of the commentaries andreflections, the theoretical postulates and conjectures, and the oftenacrimonious debates about comedy through the centuries from Platoand Aristotle to our contemporaries |
Contents
Acknowledgments | 9 |
Twin Modernist Elisions | 143 |
The Interlude of Postmodernist Conceptions | 173 |
Copyright | |
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aesthetic analysis archetypal argues Aristophanes Aristotle audience becomes Bergson butt called canon century characters comic character comic hero comic texts comic theory common concept Concerning construct contemporary continued critical culture defined developed discourse dominant effect ethical example farce festive figure finds folly fool forms French Freud Frye function genres human humor idea of comedy ideal incongruity individual intellectual ironic joke kind language later laugh laughter less literary matter means medieval mind mode modernist moral nature notes notion object opposition original particular perhaps play pleasure plot populist position postmodern premise primary principle reading reality reason reflection relation Renaissance ridiculous ritual Romantic satiric says seems sense social norm society specific standard structure suggests superiority theoretical theorists thesis thinking thought tion Torrance tradition tragedy truth turn types unconscious universal values writers