The Idea of Comedy History, Theory, Critique

Author/creator Hokenson, Jan Author
Format Electronic
Publication InfoMadison : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Description287 p. 09.230 x 06.430 in.
Supplemental ContentFull text available from Ebook Central - Academic Complete
Subjects

Summary Annotation One of the few constants in Western critical though for over two millennia has been the inexhaustible fascination with comedy: what it is and how it works. Yet comedy has eluded every definition. Why have so many of the leading critics and philosophers of the West proposed theories and counter-theories of comedy while often admitting that it enthralls and baffles the mind in equal measure? The Idea of Comedy: A Critique assembles a rich corpus of materials from different languages and eras to construct a history of the commentaries and reflections, the theoretical postulates and conjectures, and the often acrimonious debates about comedy-through the centuries from Plato and Aristotle to our contemporaries. The aim is dual: to situate comic theories in their historical moment, as participants in the wider intellectual currents of their time, and to trace underlying types of consensus and dispute running through different theories and intellectual generations. The book brings into view the full landscape of comic theory as a field of ideas, a terrain of thought extending from antique to recent conceptions.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
LCCN 2005018161
ISBN9780838640968
ISBN0838640966 (Trade Cloth) Active Record
Standard identifier# 9780838640968
Stock number00054524

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