Melds philosophical analysis with early cinematic history to develop a fresh theory of the notion of comedy.The Comedy of Philosophy brings modern debates in continental philosophy to bear on the historical study of early cinematic comedy. Through the films of Mack Sennett, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and the Marx Brothers, Lisa Trahair investigates early cinema's exploration of sense and nonsense by utilizing the contributions to the philosophy of comedy made by Freud and Bataille and by examining significant poststructuralist interpretations of their work. Trahair explores the shift from the excessive physical slapstick of the Mack Sennett era to the so-called structural comedy of the 1920s, and also offers a new perspective on the importance of psychoanalysis for the study of film by focusing on the implications of Freud's theory of the unconscious for our understanding of visuality.

This critical intervention in the study of the comic investigates how the comic act is also an expressive and performative act that precedes philosophical conceptualisation. The book puts Bergson, philosophy and the body at the centre of its investigation to explore different aspects of the field, from the history and philosophy of comedy to film and psychoanalysis. The volume develops a theoretical and practice-based framework that will be a valuable resource for students, scholars and practitioners alike in the fields of philosophy, literary studies, theatre and performance studies and comedy studies.List of Contributors: Caterina Angela Agus, Fred Dalmasso, Lisabeth During, Xavier Escribano, Giovanni Fusetti, Davide Giovanzana, Josephine Gray, María J. Ortega Máñez, Meg Mumford, Jean-Michel Rabaté, Carolyn Shapiro, Lisa Trahair

Melds philosophical analysis with early cinematic history to develop a fresh theory of the notion of comedy.The Comedy of Philosophy brings modern debates in continental philosophy to bear on the historical study of early cinematic comedy. Through the films of Mack Sennett, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and the Marx Brothers, Lisa Trahair investigates early cinema's exploration of sense and nonsense by utilizing the contributions to the philosophy of comedy made by Freud and Bataille and by examining significant poststructuralist interpretations of their work. Trahair explores the shift from the excessive physical slapstick of the Mack Sennett era to the so-called structural comedy of the 1920s, and also offers a new perspective on the importance of psychoanalysis for the study of film by focusing on the implications of Freud's theory of the unconscious for our understanding of visuality.

This critical intervention in the study of the comic investigates how the comic act is also an expressive and performative act that precedes philosophical conceptualisation. The book puts Bergson, philosophy and the body at the centre of its investigation to explore different aspects of the field, from the history and philosophy of comedy to film and psychoanalysis. The volume develops a theoretical and practice-based framework that will be a valuable resource for students, scholars and practitioners alike in the fields of philosophy, literary studies, theatre and performance studies and comedy studies.List of Contributors: Caterina Angela Agus, Fred Dalmasso, Lisabeth During, Xavier Escribano, Giovanni Fusetti, Davide Giovanzana, Josephine Gray, María J. Ortega Máñez, Meg Mumford, Jean-Michel Rabaté, Carolyn Shapiro, Lisa Trahair