{"product_id":"persistence-of-folly-9781501727115","title":"Persistence of Folly","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoel B. Lande's \u003ci\u003ePersistence of Folly\u003c\/i\u003e challenges the accepted account of the origins of German theater by focusing on the misunderstood figure of the fool, whose spontaneous and impish jest captivated audiences, critics, and playwrights from the late sixteenth through the early nineteenth century. Lande radically expands the scope of literary historical inquiry, showing that the fool was not a distraction from attempts to establish a serious dramatic tradition in the German language. Instead, the fool was both a fixture on the stage and a nearly ubiquitous theme in an array of literary critical, governmental, moral-philosophical, and medical discourses, figuring centrally in broad-based efforts to assign laughter a proper time, place, and proportion in society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePersistence of Folly\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the fool as a cornerstone of the dynamic process that culminated in the works of Lessing, Goethe, and Kleist. By reorienting the history of German theater, Lande's work conclusi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003ePersistence of Folly\u003c\/i\u003e, Lande... provides a well-researched study of the fool in German literature from the time of the English comedians to the great Faust dramas and Heinrich von Kleist's \u003ci\u003eBroken Jug\u003c\/i\u003e.... This is a valuable resource on a significant topic.\u003c\/p\u003e * Choice *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is the mark of a good teacher to present new knowledge in a way that inspires students to do their own thinking. Lande's book is an excellent seminar room—or traveling stage—for this kind of learning. Fittingly, he directs the fool to do this maieutic work, and the result is both entertaining and edifying\u003c\/p\u003e * Goethe Yearbook *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePersistence of Folly\u003c\/i\u003e shows Lande's skill in implementing a large amount of historical and theoretical research to produce fascinating contributions to the way we read these plays. The book takes the reader on a journey along the fool's trajectory with carefully chosen examples that render his conclusions convincing and insightful, and pro- vides indispensable insights for any Goethe or Kleist scholar, or for those interested in German literary history in general.\u003c\/p\u003e * European Romanitc Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore than a literary history of German comedy or a study of the figure of the fool in dramatic texts, the analyses carried out in The Persistence of Folly exemplify and point to key methodological and theoretical reorientations of broader relevance\u003c\/p\u003e * Modern Language Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePhotographic Literacy\u003c\/i\u003e certainly offers a new way to think about the relationship between text and image in Russian modern culture. For this reason, it will doubtless be valuable not only to literary scholars and historians of photography, but also specialists in Russian cultural, social and intellectual history.\u003c\/p\u003e * Europe-Asia Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eLande's book is a complex and interesting investigation into the role of the comic in the development of German theatre from its popular origins in the 17th century to its 'classical' phase around 1800\u003c\/p\u003e * Monatshefte *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eLande's \u003ci\u003ePersistence of Folly\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the best works on German comedies in the Anglophone world in recent decades. It is an essential read for anyone interested in comedy studies and German literary history, and will appeal to scholars interested in form and genre theory as much as to scholars interested theories of performance\u003c\/p\u003e * Athenäum: Jahrbuch der Friedrich Schlegel-Gesellschaft *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Introduction\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePart I The Fool at Play\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eComic Practice and the Strolling Players\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 1. Birth of a Comic Form\u003cbr\u003e 2. Strolling Players and the Advent of the Fool\u003cbr\u003e 3. Practice of Stage Interaction\u003cbr\u003e 4. The Fool's Space and Time\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePart II Fabricating Comedy and the Fate of the Foolin the Age of Reform\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 5. Making Comedy Whole\u003cbr\u003e 6. Biases in Precedent\u003cbr\u003e 7. Sanitation and Unity\u003cbr\u003e 8. Comedic Plot, Comic Time, Dramatic Time\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePart III Life, Theater, and the Restoration of the Fool\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 9. \u003ci\u003ePolicey\u003c\/i\u003e and the Legitimacy of Delight\u003cbr\u003e 10. The Place of Laughter in Life\u003cbr\u003e 11. National Literature I: Improvement\u003cbr\u003e 12. National Literature II: Custom\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePart IV The Vitality of Folly in Goethe's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFaust\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eand Kleist's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJug\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 13. \u003ci\u003eFaust I\u003c\/i\u003e: Setting the Stage\u003cbr\u003e 14. \u003ci\u003eFaust II\u003c\/i\u003e: Mirroring and Framing in the Form of \u003ci\u003eFaust\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 15. \u003ci\u003eFaust III\u003c\/i\u003e: The Diabolical Comic\u003cbr\u003e 16. Antinomies of the Classical: On Kleist's \u003ci\u003eBroken Jug\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Postlude\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51359467831639,"sku":"9781501727115","price":23.74,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781501727115.jpg?v=1754124738","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/persistence-of-folly-9781501727115","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}