02651nam 22005055 450 991097504770332120230108114626.0978-0-300-24478-60-300-24478-910.12987/9780300244786(CKB)4100000007877718(MiAaPQ)EBC5742772(DE-B1597)527547(OCoLC)1091029245(DE-B1597)9780300244786(EXLCZ)99410000000787771820200406h20192019 fg engurcnu||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierHumour /Terry EagletonNew Haven, CT :Yale University Press,[2019]©20191 online resource (191 pages)0-300-24314-6 Includes bibliographical references and index.Frontmatter --Contents --Preface --1. On Laughter --2. Scoffers and Mockers --3. Incongruities --4. Humour and History --5. The Politics of Humour --Endnotes --IndexA compelling guide to the fundamental place of humour and comedy within Western culture-by one of its greatest exponents Written by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humour and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering and chortling? Is humour subversive, or can it defuse dissent? Can we define wit?   Packed with illuminating ideas and a good many excellent jokes, the book critically examines various well-known theories of humour, including the idea that it springs from incongruity and the view that it reflects a mildly sadistic form of superiority to others. Drawing on a wide range of literary and philosophical sources, Terry Eagleton moves from Aristotle and Aquinas to Hobbes, Freud, and Bakhtin, looking in particular at the psychoanalytical mechanisms underlying humour and its social and political evolution over the centuries.Wit and humorHistory and criticismWit and humorPolitical aspectsWit and humorSocial aspectsWit and humorHistory and criticism.Wit and humorPolitical aspects.Wit and humorSocial aspects.809.7LC 59000SEPArvkEagleton Terryauthttp://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut123654DE-B1597DE-B1597BOOK9910975047703321Humour4450670UNINA