Greek Laughter

A Study of Cultural Psychology from Homer to Early Christianity

AvStephen Halliwell

Häftad, Engelska, 2008

519 kr

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Beskrivning

The first book to offer an integrated reading of ancient Greek attitudes to laughter. Taking material from various genres and contexts, the book analyses both the theory and the practice of laughter as a revealing expression of Greek values and mentalities. Greek society developed distinctive institutions for the celebration of laughter as a capacity which could bridge the gap between humans and gods; but it also feared laughter for its power to expose individuals and groups to shame and even violence. Caught between ideas of pleasure and pain, friendship and enmity, laughter became a theme of recurrent interest in various contexts. Employing a sophisticated model of cultural history, Stephen Halliwell traces elaborations of the theme in a series of important texts: ranging far beyond modern accounts of 'humour', he shows how perceptions of laughter helped to shape Greek conceptions of the body, the mind and the meaning of life.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2008-10-02
Mått:151 x 228 x 35 mm
Vikt:980 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:632
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9780521717748
Utmärkelser:John D. Criticos Prize 2008

Utforska kategorier

Socialpsykologi och gruppsykologi inom Psykologi och pedagogik

Mer om författaren

Stephen Halliwell is Professor of Greek at the University of St Andrews. His most recent book, The Aesthetics of Mimesis: Ancient Texts and Modern Problems (2002), has been awarded an international prize, the 'Premio Europeo d'Estetica' for 2008.

Recensioner i media

'… a wide survey of Greek laughter from Homer to the early Christians … the introduction is quite the best brief overview of the role of laughter in any historical period that I have ever read … some of [Halliwell's] discussions are brilliant … The highlight is his discussion of Democritus, the fifth-century philosopher and atomist …' Mary Beard, The Times Literary Supplement

Innehållsförteckning

1. Introduction; 2. Inside and outside morality: the laughter of Homeric gods and men; 3. Sympotic elation and resistance to death; 4. Ritual laughter and the renewal of life; 5. Aischrology, shame and Old Comedy; 6. Greek philosophy and the ethics of ridicule; 7. Greek laughter and the problem of the absurd; 8. The intermittencies of laughter in Menander's social world; 9. Lucian and the laughter of life and death; 10. Laughter denied, laughter deferred: the antigelastic tendencies of early Christianity; Appendix 1. The Greek (body) language of laughter and smiles; Appendix 2. Gelastic faces in visual art.

Inbunden

1 839 kr