Laughter as Politics: Critical Theory in an Age of Hilarity
Patrick Giamario
Explores the role that laughter plays in constructing, preserving and transforming contemporary social and political life
- Provides the first full-length study of the politics of laughter
- Rejects the traditional, normative question of whether laughter should play a role in politics in favour of a new, critical question of how laughter operates politically
- Advances a critical theory of laughter that challenges the conventional wisdom that laughter is a naturally emancipatory experience
- Critically re-reads the accounts of laughter offered by Thomas Hobbes, Theodor Adorno, Ralph Ellison and feminist and queer theorists such as Hélène Cixous and Judith Butler
- Demonstrates the contemporary relevance of these theoretical accounts through analyses of recent events of laughter including the 2010 Jon Stewart Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear"; Jordan Peele’s 2017 film Get Out; and Hannah Gadsby’s 2018 Netflix special Nanette
- Offers the theoretical resources to make sense of the political stakes and possibilities of the present Age of Hilarity
Year:
2022
Publisher:
Edinburgh University Press
Language:
english
Pages:
212
ISBN 10:
1474491561
ISBN 13:
9781474491563
File:
PDF, 2.50 MB
IPFS:
,
english, 2022