Description

Book Synopsis

How has our expression, use and reception of comedy developed from antiquity to the present day? What role has it occupied in Western culture, and what can it tell us about how society has changed?

In a work that spans 2,500 years, these ambitious questions are addressed by 55 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. The volumes describe various manifestations of comedy, its use in religion, theatre and literature, and its historical and philosophical significance.

Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.

The six volumes cover: 1. Antiquity (500 BCE - 1000 AD); 2. Middle Ages (1000 - 1400); 3. Early Modern Age (1400 - 1650)

A Cultural History of Comedy

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      Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 4/4/2024
      ISBN13: 9781350440975, 978-1350440975
      ISBN10: 1350440973
      Also in:
      Theatre studies

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      How has our expression, use and reception of comedy developed from antiquity to the present day? What role has it occupied in Western culture, and what can it tell us about how society has changed?

      In a work that spans 2,500 years, these ambitious questions are addressed by 55 experts, each contributing their overview of a theme applied to a period in history. The volumes describe various manifestations of comedy, its use in religion, theatre and literature, and its historical and philosophical significance.

      Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are identical across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.

      The six volumes cover: 1. Antiquity (500 BCE - 1000 AD); 2. Middle Ages (1000 - 1400); 3. Early Modern Age (1400 - 1650)

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