Looking at laughter : humor, power, and transgression in Roman visual culture, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250 / John R. Clarke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clarke, John R., 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wit and humor in art.

Arts, Roman.

Physical Description:

xi, 321 pages, 24 pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2007]

Summary:

In this fresh, accessible, and beautifully illustrated book, his third to examine an aspect of Roman visual culture, John R. Clarke explores the question, "What made Romans laugh?" "Looking at Laughter "examines a heterogeneous corpus of visual material, from the crudely obscene to the exquisitely sophisticated and from the playful to the deadly serious--everything from street theater to erudite paintings parodying the emperor. Nine chapters, organized under the rubrics of Visual Humor, Social Humor, and Sexual Humor, analyze a wide range of visual art, including wall painting, sculpture, mosaics, and ceramics. Archaeological sites, as well as a range of ancient texts, inscriptions, and graffiti, provide the background for understanding the how and why of humorous imagery. This entertaining study offers fascinating insights into the mentality of Roman patrons and viewers who enjoyed laughing at the gods, the powers-that-be, and themselves.

Contents:

Part 1 Visual Humor 13

1 Words or Images? Degrees of Visuality in Roman Humor 15

2 Funny Faces-Onstage and Off 29

3 Double Takes 51

4 Apotropaic Laughter 63

Part 2 Social Humor 83

5 Power over the Other-or the Other's Power? Laughing at the Pygmy and the Aethiops 87

6 Who's Laughing? Modern Scholars and Ancient Viewers in Class Conflict 109

7 Parody in Elite Visual Culture at Pompeii: Heroes, Gods, and Foundation Myths 133

Part 3 Sexual Humor 163

8 Sexual Humor and the Gods 165

9 Laughing at Human Sexual Folly 191.

Notes:

"Ahmanson Murphy fine arts imprint."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-297) and index.

ISBN:

9780520237339

0520237331

OCLC:

140103577