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Comedy on Stage and Screen

E-BookEPUBePub WasserzeichenE-Book
239 Seiten
Englisch
Narr Francke Attempto Verlagerschienen am26.09.20221. Auflage
This book introduces readers to the genre of comedy, both on the stage and on the screen. It chronicles the history of comedy, starting with Ancient Greece, before summarising key chapters in Anglophone literary history, such as Shakespearean comedy, Restoration comedy, and Theatre of the Absurd. The book features an overview of key comic techniques (including slapstick, puns, and wit), as well as concise summaries of major theoretical debates (including the superiority theory and the Freudian account of laughter). The book works with many examples from the history of Anglophone comedy, including Oscar Wilde, Monty Python, and classic sitcoms. It addresses current research into cringe humour and the controversial topic of diversity in the field of comedy, and it connects classical tropes of comedy (like the fool or the marriage plot) to present-day examples. The book thus serves as an up-to-date study guide for everyone interested in comedy and its various subgenres.

Wieland Schwanebeck is a researcher in literary/cultural studies. His interests include impostors, twins, James Bond, and comedy.mehr
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EUR29,99
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Produkt

KlappentextThis book introduces readers to the genre of comedy, both on the stage and on the screen. It chronicles the history of comedy, starting with Ancient Greece, before summarising key chapters in Anglophone literary history, such as Shakespearean comedy, Restoration comedy, and Theatre of the Absurd. The book features an overview of key comic techniques (including slapstick, puns, and wit), as well as concise summaries of major theoretical debates (including the superiority theory and the Freudian account of laughter). The book works with many examples from the history of Anglophone comedy, including Oscar Wilde, Monty Python, and classic sitcoms. It addresses current research into cringe humour and the controversial topic of diversity in the field of comedy, and it connects classical tropes of comedy (like the fool or the marriage plot) to present-day examples. The book thus serves as an up-to-date study guide for everyone interested in comedy and its various subgenres.

Wieland Schwanebeck is a researcher in literary/cultural studies. His interests include impostors, twins, James Bond, and comedy.

Inhalt/Kritik

Inhaltsverzeichnis
Chapter 1: Introduction: "Tragedy Tomorrow - Comedy Tonight"Chapter 2: Ancient forerunnersChapter 3: Why so serious?Chapter 4: So Shakespearean, so romantic!Chapter 5: Life as a carnivalChapter 6: Raunchy RestorationChapter 7: The comedy of mannersChapter 8: But this is absurd!Chapter 9: And now for something completely grotesqueChapter 10: The more, the merrierChapter 11: What a farce!Chapter 12: Stop that, it's silly!Chapter 13: So funny it hurtsChapter 14: Comedy at the crossroadsmehr
Leseprobe


Chapter 2



Our comic forefathers



Let there be laughter


Though it is hard to pinpoint the origins of comedy, scholars agree on a formative myth of sorts. The theatrical experience itself is said to have started with dithyrambs, the choric songs performed during the annual festivities in Ancient Greece (see Baumbach/Nünning 2012, 22-23). They were part of elaborate processions involving music and dance, in honour of Dionysus, the god associated with wine, fertility, masquerade, and various forms of ecstasy (from Greek ek-stasis: to be outside yourself). The chorus performances gradually evolved into a more elaborate form consisting of a back-and-forth between a soloist and the chorus, and later several soloists who adapted roles to act out a story. This later manifested itself into the well-known pattern of Greek tragedy, which is interspersed with chorus parts, and which became the central focus of the Dionysia. Plays were performed over the course of three days as part of a competition, with a winner chosen at the end.

Comedy is said to have evolved in reaction to the very high-minded official proceedings: as a way of mocking the sombre rites, led by drunken revellers who resorted to obscene chants in light-hearted protest against three days of standardised protocol. The term comedy´ is derived from kÅmos ( to revel´) and aoidos ( the singer´). While the mocking of officialdom may be seen as an outright provocation, it did not completely contradict the festive spirit. The Dionysus festivities celebrated fertility and were thus very much a phallic ritual, invested in the idea of renewal: the expulsion of death, the induction of life (Cornford 1914, 53). This foundation myth sits well with anthropological accounts of laughter and comedy that we will discuss in more detail in Chapter 5, as this is, in essence, the carnivalesque pattern: a folkloristic and down-to-earth reaction to ritualised officialdom. The story also attributes a parasitical nature to comedy that is most evident in parody (see Chapter 12), in that comedy is seen as a mere negation of something serious, like tragedy. The genre has had difficulties shaking off this reputation as a secondary phenomenon, and is often not taken seriously in its own right.

Like tragedy, the comic ritual took several decades to become manifest in a distinct generic pattern, and another few decades until it became part of the annual proceedings. Eventually, the drama competition was no longer limited to tragedies, satyr plays, and burlesques. When comedy was accepted as part of the competition, it quickly became an audience favourite. Aristophanes (c. 446-386 B.C.) would reference the ritualised occasion in his plays, and he was not above using bawdy material to win over the audience.

Today, the ancient world´s most influential manifestations of comedy are known as Old and New Comedy. The former belongs to the Greek tradition and is more or less synonymous with Aristophanes, while the latter is dominated by the theatre of ancient Rome.


THREE MAJOR EVOLUTIONARY STEPS IN THE HISTORY OF COMEDY (BOOKER 2004)

 

 

Old Comedy establishes a rough plot pattern of equilibrium - complication - resolution.

 

New Comedy favours the love story, with the most popular template revolving around lovers who must overcome resistance to their union and clear up some confusion.

 

Later, William Shakespeare builds on the ancient templates to arrive at more complex plots and variations, including unrequited love or love triangles.




Old Comedy


What we call Old Comedy is more or less synonymous with the plays of Aristophanes, who wrote eleven of the twelve surviving comedies from ancient Greece. He contributed regularly to the annual drama competition, a fact that can also be inferred from his play-texts. His signature wit betrays a competitive mind that did not shy away from denigrating his rivals. In his plays, Aristophanes accuses his colleagues of stealing from him, he pokes fun at them, and goes so far as to conclude Act One of The Clouds (423 B.C.) with some gentle threats to the jury should they not give him the first prize. His put-downs are not limited to his fellow authors, though. The Clouds is a satire on contemporary philosophers, most of whom Aristophanes mocks as bullshit artists who have no idea what is going on in the real world.

To make sense of Old Comedy´s distinct brand of humour, it is quite important to consider the historical context. Imagine these plays performed during the annual festivities, in front of about 10,000 men as part of an arena spectacle. Such a setting will not encourage an author to go for subtle wit and a less is more´ approach. Quite the contrary, Aristophanes often opts for crude and very blunt solutions to please an audience consisting of inebriated festivalgoers and tourists. The setting resembles that of modern-day poetry slams or hip-hop battles, where it is often the unabashed loud-mouth who is most likely to leave an impression with the audience, particularly if the performer is willing to chew the scenery and to interact with the viewers.


CHORUS.

 

My Comedy´s a modest girl: she doesn´t play the fool

By bringing on a great thick floppy red-tipped leather tool

To give the kids a laugh, or making fun of men who´re bald [...].

No torches, shouts, or violence, or other weak distraction:

She comes before you trusting in her words and in her action.

And I am not a long-haired fop, nor yet a smooth-faced cheat

Who pretends that something´s new when it is really a repeat.

(Aristophanes: The Clouds, 1.537-546)


Accordingly, the humour is far from subtle. Old Comedy does not shy away from grotesque, larger-than-life effects in all departments. Close-fitting body suits are as common as leather phalluses and lewd punchlines. The fun is not in looking for elaborate plots or endlessly inventive story ideas. It is a far more monological form of comedy with only a few soloists in the main roles, and the setup is similarly sparse. A few doors will be enough to suggest the scenery and to allow for exits and entrances. The plot is merely an excuse for the author to include as many...


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