Laughing Histories

From the Renaissance Man to the Woman of Wit
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-032-16206-5
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 208 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 485 g

Laughing Histories breaks new ground by exploring moments of laughter in early modern Europe, showing how laughter was inflected by gender and social power.

"I dearly love a laugh," declared Jane Austen's heroine Elizabeth Bennet, and her wit won the heart of the aristocratic Mr. Darcy. Yet the widely read Earl of Chesterfield asserted that only "the mob" would laugh out loud; the gentleman should merely smile. This literary contrast raises important historical questions: how did social rules constrain laughter? Did the highest elites really laugh less than others? How did laughter play out in relations between the sexes? Through fascinating case studies of individuals such as the Renaissance artist Benvenuto Cellini, the French aristocrat Madame de Sévigné, and the rising civil servant and diarist Samuel Pepys, Laughing Histories reveals the multiple meanings of laughter, from the court to the tavern and street, in a complex history that paved the way for modern laughter.

With its study of laughter in relation to power, aggression, gender, sex, class, and social bonding, Laughing Histories is perfect for readers interested in the history of emotions, cultural history, gender history, and literature.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wiltenburg, Joy

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Laughter and Early Modern Europe, 1. Laughter and Power: The Politics of Laughter, 2. The Laughter of Aggression: Benvenuto Cellini, 3. The Laughter of Social Bonding: Felix Platter, 4. Laughter, Gender, and Sex: Dorothy Osborne, 5. Courtly Laughter: Madame de Sévigné, 6. Laughter and the Rising Man: Samuel Pepys, 7. Laughter as Social Commodity: Hester Thrale and Friends, 8. The Lessons of Laughter

Über Autor(innen)

Joy Wiltenburg, Professor Emerita of History at Rowan University, studies the cultural history of early modern Europe. Her publications include Disorderly Women and Female Power in the Street Literature of Early Modern England and Germany (1992) and Crime and Culture in Early Modern Germany (2012).