Description
Book SynopsisThis book explores both the narrative design and fundamental thematic preoccupations of short comic tales that flourished in late medieval Germany and that provided bawdy entertainment for larger audiences of public recitals as well as for smaller numbers of individual readers.
Trade Review...an excellent study that undoubtedly advances our understanding of laughter and its functions in the past.' -- The Medieval Review The Medieval Review As the first comprehensive study of late-medieval German comic tales, this study is a useful resource for medievalists. [...] the catalog of individual motifs and structures provides categories that can be used to approach any number of short comic narratives, and the inclusion of visual images is a welcome perspective (the book includes eight plates of manuscript illustrations or woodcuts). Scholars of German literature will appreciate the comprehensive references to key studies by other Germanists, and less adept readers of Middle High German will value the excellent translations.' -- Speculum Speculum
Table of Contents1. Introduction: Laughter and Narrative Part I: Laughter 2. Laughing at Comic Tales 3. Laughter in Comic Tales Part II: Narrative Design 4. Time and Space 5. Speech and Dialogue Part III: Thematic Content 6. The Physical Body 7. The Social Body 8. Conclusion: Comic Tales in the Later Middle Ages
