ages
book
Category=JBCC9
Category=JHM
changes
closer
comic
condition
cultural
developments
doubt
element
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
human
humour
important insights
incognita
jokes
nature
one
past
phenomena
renaissance
serious
social
subject
terra
us
vital
Product details
- ISBN 9780745618807
- Weight: 397g
- Dimensions: 154 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 18 May 1997
- Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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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.
Jan Mremmer, University of Groningen
Herman Roodenburg, P.J. Meertens-Institute Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam
