Cambridge Introduction to Comedy
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How do we identify something as comedy?How does reading a comic text differ from reading other kinds of texts?How does comedy relate to social, cultural and political issues?From Aristotle to the Commedia dell'arte, from Wilde to Albee-this Introduction uses these and many other examples from the vast history and range of the comedy genre to investigate comedy's patterns, characteristics and mechanisms. Focusing on dramatic texts, the book also refers to literature, film and television throughout, exploring how comedy affects and inhabits other worlds and genres.This series is designed to introduce students to key topics and authors. Accessible and lively, these introductions will also appea1 to readers who want to broaden their understanding of the books and authors they enjoy.Ideal for students, teachers and lecturersConcise yet packed with essential informationKey suggestions for further reading
List of illustrations viiPreface ixIntroduction: Thinking about comedy 1First things 1Play 3What is comedy? 7Something to make us laugh? 8Happy endings 10The world brought down to earth 12Summing up before moving on 18Chapter 1 Reading comedy 20'What kind of world is this?' 20Formal and textual elements 23Entering the world of comedy 26Comedy in the end 35Chapter 2 Comedy's foundations 39Back to (what we call) the beginning 39The fingerprints of Old Comedy 42Our old friend, New Comedy 50New Comedy in Roman hands 58Chapter 3 Comedy's devices 63Towards a study of comic traits 63Humour and its mechanics 63Humour and the dramatic text 69Mine the gap: the reader's view 72Mine the gap: the spectator's access 86Chapter 4 Comedy in the flesh 93Comedy for the stage of the mind 93Performance fabric and outlining 95Reading comic bodies and voices 96The commedia dell'arte 102The clown 110Reading comic character (mask) 114Reading comic dialogue (lazzi) 120Comic metaphysics 127Chapter 5 Comedy's range 131Dramatic texture and the comic 131The comic and the tragic 132The deadly serious treated playfully 140The comic beyond the 'realistic' 142Comic latitude in production 161Chapter 6 Comedy and society 171Comedy's associates 171Comedy's politics 190Notes 207Further reading 222List of texts 224Bibliography 227Index 237
