From Thomas Hobbes' fear of the power of laughter to the compulsory, packaged "fun" of the contemporary mass media, Billig takes the reader on a stimulating tour of the strange world of humour. Both a significant work of scholarship and a novel contribution to the understanding of the humourous, this is a seriously engaging book' - David Inglis, University of Aberdeen This delightful book tackles the prevailing assumption that laughter and humour are inherently good. In developing a critique of humour the author proposes a social theory that places humour - in the form of ridicule - as central to social life. Billig argues that all cultures use ridicule as a disciplinary means to uphold norms of conduct and conventions of meaning. Historically, theories of humour reflect wider visions of politics, morality and aesthetics. For example, Bergson argued that humour contains an element of cruelty while Freud suggested that we deceive ourselves about the true nature of our laughter. Billig discusses these and other theories, while using the topic of humour to throw light on the perennial social problems of regulation, control and emancipation.
Tackling the assumption that laughter and humour are necessarily good in themselves, this text develops a critique of humour, proposing a social theory that places humour in the form of ridicule as central to social life.
This copy featured among four books that the Earl gifted to the local Cranston library in December 1711. https://www.angam.phil.fau.de / fields / enst / lit / shaftesbury / reading - room / cranston / . 63. Although he could not attend, ...
The volume is organized around three themes that were important for ancient philosophers: the psychology of laughter, the ethical and social norms governing laughter and humor. and the philosophical uses of humor and comedic technique"--
This is a hard headed take which is as much about the robust ridiculing of the pretensions of postcolonial regimes, as about the dangers of the accelerated dispersion of prejudice and stereotype. A timely and exigent intervention”.
Bob learns that two men, a pitcher and catcher, throw the ball back and forth (“Is that all?”); but that, also, a man from the other side stands between them with a “bat” and tries to hit the ball—unless the pitch is “a ball!
Harris, Christine R. “The Mystery of Ticklish Laughter.” American Scientist (July–August 1999): 344. Hazlitt, William. Lectures on the English Comic Writers. London: Oxford University Press, 1907. Herbert, A. P. Uncommon Law. 2d ed.
Drawing upon the satirical prints of the eighteenth century, the author explores what made Londoners laugh and offers insight into the origins of modern attitudes toward sex, celebrity, and ridicule.
This book investigates the role of humor in the good life, specifically as discussed by three prominent French intellectuals who were influenced by Nietzsche's thought: Georges Bataille, Gilles Deleuze, and Clément Rosset.
A rollicking review of popular culture in 18th century Britain this text turns away from sentimental and polite literature to focus instead on the jestbooks, farces, comic periodicals variety shows and minor comic novels that portray a ...
This book presents an original worldview, Homo risibilis, wherein self-referential humor is proposed as the path leading from a tragic view of life to a liberating embrace of human ridicule.