000			a
999			_c31833 _d31833
008			230420b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780300255027
082			_a809.7 _bEAG
100			_aEagleton, Terry
245			_aHumour
260			_bYale University Press, _aNew Haven : _c2019
300			_axi, 178 p.; _c20 cm
365			_b15.00 _cUSD _d85.90
504			_aIncludes bibliographic references and index.
520			_aWritten 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.
650			_aSocial aspects
650			_aWit
650			_aPhilosophy
650			_aComedy
650			_a Western culture
650			_a Laughter
650			_aJokes
650			_aSadistic form
650			_aPsychoanalytical machanisms
942			_2ddc _cBK