Laughter, Power, and the Unconscious
Routledge (Verlag)
978-0-367-63317-2 (ISBN)
Laughter, Power, and the Unconscious offers paradigm-breaking insights into the psychological and sociopolitical dimensions of humour and comedy. Based on an innovative audience experiment at Shakespeare's Globe, the authors develop a revolutionary theory of humour as manic defence, challenging Freud's classic formulations while engaging with contemporary humour theories.
The text explores three key domains: firstly, it establishes and evaluates the theory in comparison to Freud's work in Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious, while positioning it within major humour frameworks; secondly, it demonstrates the theory's application to Renaissance comedy, examining characters like Malvolio from Twelfth Night alongside stock figures of cuckolds and madmen in both English theatrical traditions and commedia dell'arte; finally, it investigates the theory's broader sociopolitical relevance by analysing war-related humour and racist jokes while addressing comedy's dual capacity to both challenge and reinforce existing power structures.
This volume will appeal to the scholars and students of theatre and performance studies, psychology, literary theory and cultural studies interested in the sociopolitical implications of humour.
Maria Grazia Turri is Senior Lecturer in Creative Arts and Mental Health at Queen Mary University of London, UK. She is a former psychiatrist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Bridget Escolme is Professor of Theatre and Performance at Queen Mary University of London. She is co-convenor of Queen Mary’s MSc Creative Arts and Mental Health.
List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: the Research in Action audience experiment at Shakespeare’s Globe
Bridget Escolme and Maria Grazia Turri
2. Psychoanalytic rationale of the audience experiment
Maria Grazia Turri
3. Researching unconscious responses to early modern characters at Shakespeare’s Globe: results
Maria Grazia Turri
4. A new theory of humour as manic defence
Maria Grazia Turri
5. Reading theories of humour through the manic defence
Maria Grazia Turri
6. The ecology of laughter and humour at the intersection of culture and biology
Maria Grazia Turri
7. New insights into the socio-politics of humour
Maria Grazia Turri
8. The historicised subject: psychoanalytic discourse, Cultural Materialism, laughter and power
Bridget Escolme
9. Cuckolds and madmen: comic strength in the notoriously weak
Bridget Escolme
10. Laughing with the ‘whole pack’ of us: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and comic strength in contemporary production of early modern drama
Bridget Escolme
11. Reading comedy as genre through the manic defence
Maria Grazia Turri
12. Elements of unconscious emotional processes for a socio-politics of comedy
Maria Grazia Turri
Conclusions: a dialogue
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 17.10.2025 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Audience Research |
| Zusatzinfo | 9 Tables, black and white; 22 Halftones, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white |
| Verlagsort | London |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 156 x 234 mm |
| Gewicht | 670 g |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Lyrik / Dramatik ► Dramatik / Theater |
| Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-367-63317-5 / 0367633175 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-367-63317-2 / 9780367633172 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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