Humour in Dutch culture of the Golden Age / Rudolf M. Dekker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dekker, Rudolf.

Standardized Title:

Lachen in de Gouden Eeuw. English

Language:

Dutch

English

Subjects (All):

Dutch wit and humor--History and criticism.

Dutch wit and humor.

Dutch wit and humor, Pictorial.

Dutch literature--1500-1800--History and criticism.

Dutch literature.

Physical Description:

viii, 187 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave, 2001.

Language Note:

Translated from the Dutch.

Summary:

The humorous side of Dutch culture of the 17th century is obscured by a change that took place around 1670. Religious treatises and books of manners warning against laughter contributed to a new image, that of the humorless Calvinist Dutch. Based on a manuscript containing some 2000 jokes, the lost laughter of the Golden Age is reconstructed and analyzed. Most jokes are crude and obscene, and they throw a new light on attitudes towards sexuality, religion, and other aspects of life.

Contents:

The genesis of the joke 1

1 The Laughing Dutch 7

Lost cheerfulness 7

The etiquette of laughter 9

Everyday humour 16

2 Humour in Word and Image 19

Reading for pleasure 19

The heyday of the jestbook 25

Visual humour 40

3 Aernout van Overbeke and His Jokes 47

Aernout van Overbeke 47

The Anecdotes 58

Autobiographical humour 65

No one gets away with it 74

4 Polarity and Inversion 85

The straight and the crooked 85

Men and women 96

Parents and children 111

In sickness and in health 117

Us and them 127

Heaven and hell 136

Conclusion: The Return of Laughter 145.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0333746740

OCLC:

45446259