Laughter, Literature, Violence, 1840–1930

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Laughter, Literature, Violence, 1840–1930 by Jonathan Taylor, Springer International Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jonathan Taylor ISBN: 9783030114138
Publisher: Springer International Publishing Publication: February 4, 2019
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan Language: English
Author: Jonathan Taylor
ISBN: 9783030114138
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Publication: February 4, 2019
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Language: English

Laughter, Literature, Violence, 1840-1930 investigates the strange, complex, even paradoxical relationship between laughter, on the one hand, and violence, war, horror, death, on the other. It does so in relation to philosophy, politics, and key nineteenth- and twentieth-century literary texts, by Edgar Allan Poe, Edmund Gosse, Wyndham Lewis and Katherine Mansfield – texts which explore the far reaches of Schadenfreude, and so-called ‘superiority theories’ of laughter, pushing these theories to breaking point. In these literary texts, the violent superiority often ascribed to laughter is seen as radically unstable, co-existing with its opposite: an anarchic sense of equality. Laughter, humour and comedy are slippery, duplicitous, ambivalent, self-contradictory hybrids, fusing apparently discordant elements. Now and then, though, literary and philosophical texts also dream of a different kind of laughter, one which reaches beyond its alloys – a transcendent, ‘perfect’ laughter which exists only in and for itself.  

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Laughter, Literature, Violence, 1840-1930 investigates the strange, complex, even paradoxical relationship between laughter, on the one hand, and violence, war, horror, death, on the other. It does so in relation to philosophy, politics, and key nineteenth- and twentieth-century literary texts, by Edgar Allan Poe, Edmund Gosse, Wyndham Lewis and Katherine Mansfield – texts which explore the far reaches of Schadenfreude, and so-called ‘superiority theories’ of laughter, pushing these theories to breaking point. In these literary texts, the violent superiority often ascribed to laughter is seen as radically unstable, co-existing with its opposite: an anarchic sense of equality. Laughter, humour and comedy are slippery, duplicitous, ambivalent, self-contradictory hybrids, fusing apparently discordant elements. Now and then, though, literary and philosophical texts also dream of a different kind of laughter, one which reaches beyond its alloys – a transcendent, ‘perfect’ laughter which exists only in and for itself.  

More books from Springer International Publishing

Cover of the book Hybrid Artificial Intelligent Systems by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Societies in Transition by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Magnetostatic Modelling of Thin Layers Using the Method of Moments And Its Implementation in OCTAVE/MATLAB by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Sustainable Aviation by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Guantanamo and Other Cases of Enforced Medical Treatment by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Taiwan's Impact on China by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Philosophy and Computing by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Industrial Teesside, Lives and Legacies by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book World of Computing by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Digital Soil Morphometrics by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Anti-Angiogenic Therapy in Ophthalmology by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Data and Applications Security and Privacy XXXI by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Digital Transformation in Financial Services by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book The Birth of NASA by Jonathan Taylor
Cover of the book Robotics Research by Jonathan Taylor
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy