Humour

by Eagleton, Terry

Type Book

Rate 0.0 /5

Details

Files

Reviews

Download

Title Statements

Full title :Humour / Terry Eagleton.

Summary

Written by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humour and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering and chortling? Is humour subversive, or can it defuse dissent? Can we define wit? Packed with illuminating ideas and a good many excellent jokes, the book critically examines various well-known theories of humour, including the idea that it springs from incongruity and the view that it reflects a mildly sadistic form of superiority to others. Drawing on a wide range of literary and philosophical sources, Terry Eagleton moves from Aristotle and Aquinas to Hobbes, Freud, and Bakhtin, looking in particular at the psychoanalytical mechanisms underlying humour and its social and political evolution over the centuries.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:©2019

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Yale University Press
Place of Publication:New Haven
Language:eng
Publication Date:©2019

The Physical Object

Description:xi, 178 pages ; : 22 cm

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:9780300243147, 0300243146, 9780300255027, 0300255020
oclc:on1052875595
LC Classification:PN6147
Dewey Decimal:790.2

Subjects

Criticism, interpretation, etc Humour Humour -- Aspect politique Humour -- Aspect social Society Wit and Humor Wit and humor -- History and criticism Wit and humor -- Political aspects Wit and humor -- Social aspects