The Age of Irreverence (eBook)

A New History of Laughter in China

Christopher Rea (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
356 Seiten
University of California Press (Verlag)
978-0-520-95959-0 (ISBN)

Infos

The Age of Irreverence tells the story of why China’s entry into the modern age was not just traumatic, but uproarious. As the Qing dynasty slumped toward extinction, prominent writers compiled jokes into collections they called "histories of laughter." In the first years of the Republic, novelists, essayists and illustrators alike used humorous allegories to make veiled critiques of the new government. But, again and again, political and cultural discussion erupted into invective, as critics gleefully jeered and derided rivals in public. Farceurs drew followings in the popular press, promoting a culture of practical joking and buffoonery. Eventually, these various expressions of hilarity proved so offensive to high-brow writers that they launched a concerted campaign to transform the tone of public discourse, hoping to displace the old forms of mirth with a new one they called youmo (humor).

Christopher Rea argues that this period—from the 1890s to the 1930s—transformed how Chinese people thought and talked about what is funny. Focusing on five cultural expressions of laughter—jokes, play, mockery, farce, and humor—he reveals the textures of comedy that were a part of everyday life during modern China’s first "age of irreverence." This new history of laughter not only offers an unprecedented and up-close look at a neglected facet of Chinese cultural modernity, but also reveals its lasting legacy in the Chinese language of the comic today and its implications for our understanding of humor as a part of human culture.

Inhalt

Executive Preface
Acknowledgments

1. Breaking into Laughter
2. Jokes
3. Play
4. Mockery
5. Farce
6. The Invention of Humor
Epilogue

Appendix 1: Selected Chinese Humor Collections, 1900–1937
Appendix 2: Which Classic? Editions and Paratexts
Abbreviations
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.9.2015
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Freizeit / Hobby ► Sammeln / Sammlerkataloge
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
• Schlagworte: Asian History • asian literary criticism • Asian Literature • buffoonery • China • chinese cultural modernity • Chinese Government • Chinese history • chinese republic • Comedy • cultural expressions of laughter • Cultural Studies • end of the qing dynasty • Farce • Funny • histories of laughter • History • Humor • humorous allegories • Jokes • laughter • mockery • Modern Age • New Government • Play • Political Commentary • popular culture • popular press • practical joking • Public discourse • Qing Dynasty • Social commentary • youmo
• ISBN-10: 0-520-95959-0 / 0520959590
• ISBN-13: 978-0-520-95959-0 / 9780520959590