Clowns, fools and picaros : popular forms in theatre, fiction and film / edited by David Robb.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Robb, David, 1962-

Series:

At the interface/probing the boundaries ; v. 43.

At the interface, probing the boundaries ; 43

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Clowns.

Fools and jesters.

Theater.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (240 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; New York : Rodopi, 2007.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

data file

Summary:

By its very nature the clown, as represented in art, is an interdisciplinary phenomenon. In whichever artform it appears – fiction, drama, film, photography or fine art – it carries the symbolic association of its usage in popular culture, be it ritual festivities, street theatre or circus. The clown, like its extended family of fools, jesters, picaros and tricksters, has a variety of functions all focussed around its status and image of being “other.” Frequently a marginalized figure, it provides the foil for the shortcomings of dominant discourse or the absurdities of human behaviour. Clowns, Fools and Picaros represents the latest research on the clown, bringing together for the first time studies from four continents: Europe, America, Africa and Asia. It attempts to ascertain commonalities, overlaps and differences between artistic expressions of the “clownesque” from these various continents and genres, and above all, to examine the role of the clown in our cultures today. This volume is of interest for scholars of political and comic drama, film and visual art as well as scholars of comparative literature and anthropology.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction / David Robb

Where The Antic Sits / Robert Cheesmond

Modern Tragicomedy and the Fool / Faye Ran

The Postmodern Theatre Clown / Ashley Tobias

Nietzsche and the Praise of Masks / Rüdiger Görner

Clowning Around at the Limits of Representation: On Fools, Fetishes and Bruce Nauman’s Clown Torture / Maxim Leonid Weintraub

An American Circus: the Lynch Victim as Clown / Barbara Lewis

The Court Jester in Nigerian Drama / Kayode Gboyega Kofoworola

“Fratello Arlecchino”: Clowns, Kings, and Bombs in Bali / Ron Jenkins

Scaramouche: The Mask and the Millenium. / Stephen Knapper

The Cinema of Masks: Commedia dell’Arte and Jean Renoir’s The Golden Coach / Des O’Rawe

From Nestroy to Wenzel and Mensching: carnivalesque revolutionaries in the German and Austrian theatrical tradition / David Robb

Karolos Koun, Karaghiozis and The Birds: Aristophanes as Popular Theatre / Marina Kotzamani

The Clown as Social Critic: Kerouac’s Vision / Stephen Llano

Picaresque Narratology: Lazarillo de Tormes and Edgar Hilsenrath’s Der Nazi und der Friseur / Bernhard Malkmus

Notes on Contributors.

Notes:

Based on papers from a conference held at the Queen's University of Belfast in September 4-6, 2003.

Current Copyright Fee: GBP17.50 0.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

94-012-0539-6

1-4356-1338-4

OCLC:

183306394

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789401205399 DOI