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A cultural history of comedy in the age of empire / edited by Matthew Kaiser.

Bloomsbury Cultural History 2020-21 Collection Available online

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Format:
Book
Contributor:
Kaiser, Matthew, editor.
Series:
Cultural histories series
Cultural history of comedy ; 5
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Comedy--History and criticism.
Comedy.
European drama (Comedy)--History and criticism.
European drama (Comedy).
Drama & Performance Studies.
Comedy (Drama).
Cultural History (History).
Literary Genres.
Reference--Drama and Performance.
Local Subjects:
Drama & Performance Studies.
Comedy (Drama).
Cultural History (History).
Literary Genres.
Reference--Drama and Performance.
Genre:
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Physical Description:
1 online resource : illustrations
Edition:
First edition.
Place of Publication:
London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
Summary:
Given the earth-shattering cultural changes and political events that mark the decades between 1800 and 1920--shifting borders, socioeconomic upheaval, scientific and technological innovation, the rise of consumerism and mass culture, unprecedented overseas expansion by European and American imperial powers--it is no wonder that people in the Age of Empire turned to comedy in order to make sense of the contradictions that structure modern identity, to navigate the sociocultural fault lines within modern life. Comical, humorous, and satirical cultural artifacts from the period capture the anxieties and aspirations, the petty resentments and lofty ideals, of a world buffeted by change. Drawing together contributions from scholars in a range of fields within 19th- and 20th-century cultural, literary, and theater studies, this volume explores aesthetic, political, and ethical dimensions to comedy in the context of blackface minstrelsy, nonsense poetry, music hall and pantomime, comic almanacs and joke books, journalism, silent film, popular novels, and hygiene magazines, among other phenomena, along the way providing a detailed account of contentious debates among social Darwinists, psychoanalysts, and political philosophers about the meaning and significance of comedy and laughter to human life. Each chapter takes a different theme as its focus: form, theory, praxis, identity, the body, politics and power, laughter, and ethics. These eight divergent approaches to comedy in the Age of Empire add up to an extensive, synoptic coverage of the subject.
Contents:
Introduction / by Matthew Kaiser
Form / by Todd Nathan Thompson
Theory / by Sarah Balkin
Praxis / by Milena Kozic ́
Identity / by Will Visconti
The body / by Sara Lodge
Politics and power / by Gregg Camfield
Laughter / by Matthew Kaiser
Ethics / by Rob Jacklosky and Matthew Kaiser.
Notes:
Online resource; description from resource and publisher's metadata (viewed on 10 November 2020).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9781350187818
135018781X
OCLC:
1233046001
Publisher Number:
193786
193890
193882
193885
193887
193888
193893
193895
Access Restriction:
Restricted for use by site license.

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