Comedy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the genre of dramatic works. For the performing art, see Comedy (drama). For other uses, see Comedy (disambiguation).
Literature
Oral literature
Major written forms
Long prose fiction
Short prose fiction
Prose genres
Fiction
Non-fiction
Poetry genres
Narrative
Lyric
Lists
Dramatic genres
History
Lists and outlines
Theory and criticism
Literature portal

Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be

theaters.[1] The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old".[2] A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic irony, which provokes laughter.[3]

Satire and political satire use comedy to portray people or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of their humor. Parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them.

Other forms of comedy include

scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways, which can often be taken as offensive by the subjects of the joke. A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society (usually upper-class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy
is a popular genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love.

Etymology

Ancient Greek Theatre represented in the Hadrian's Villa
mosaic.

Dean Rubin says the word "comedy" is derived from the

Classical Greek κωμῳδία kōmōidía, which is a compound of κῶμος kômos (revel) and ᾠδή ōidḗ (singing; ode).[4] The adjective "comic" (Greek κωμικός kōmikós), which strictly means that which relates to comedy is, in modern usage, generally confined to the sense of "laughter-provoking".[5] Of this, the word came into modern usage through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia and has, over time, passed through various shades of meaning.[6]

The

La Commedia
.

As time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter.[6] During the Middle Ages, the term "comedy" became synonymous with satire, and later with humour in general.

Aristotle's

hija
(satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or to the troubling beginnings and happy endings associated with classical Greek comedy.

After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" gained a more general meaning in medieval literature.[8]

In the late 20th century, many scholars preferred to use the term laughter to refer to the whole gamut of the comic, in order to avoid the use of ambiguous and problematically defined genres such as the grotesque, irony, and satire.[9][10]

History

Western history

Dionysiac origins, Aristophanes and Aristotle

See also: Old Comedy, Menander, and Ancient Greek comedy
Roman-era mosaic depicting a scene from Menander's comedy Samia ("The Woman from Samos")

Starting from 425 BCE,

ribald songs or recitations apropos of phallic processions and fertility festivals or gatherings.[13]

Around 335 BCE,

Thalia.[citation needed
]

The Republic
, he says that the guardians of the state should avoid laughter, "for ordinarily when one abandons himself to violent laughter, his condition provokes a violent reaction." Plato says comedy should be tightly controlled if one wants to achieve the ideal state.

Also in Poetics, Aristotle defined comedy as one of the original four genres of literature. The other three genres are tragedy, epic poetry, and lyric poetry. Literature, in general, is defined by Aristotle as a mimesis, or imitation of life. Comedy is the third form of literature, being the most divorced from a true mimesis. Tragedy is the truest mimesis, followed by epic poetry, comedy, and lyric poetry. The genre of comedy is defined by a certain pattern according to Aristotle's definition. Comedies begin with low or base characters seeking insignificant aims and end with some accomplishment of the aims which either lightens the initial baseness or reveals the insignificance of the aims.

Commedia dell'arte and Shakespearean, Elizabethan comedy

Midsummer Night's Dream
(1600)

"Comedy", in its

Elizabethan usage, had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays.[15]

The

Puritanism. We soon changed Punch's name, transformed him from a marionette to a hand puppet, and he became, really, a spirit of Britain — a subversive maverick who defies authority, a kind of puppet equivalent to our political cartoons."[17]

19th to early 20th century

Main article: Comedian
See also: Clown

In early 19th century England, pantomime acquired its present form which includes slapstick comedy and featured the first mainstream clown Joseph Grimaldi, while comedy routines also featured heavily in British music hall theatre which became popular in the 1850s.[19] British comedians who honed their skills in music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Dan Leno.[20] English music hall comedian and theatre impresario Fred Karno developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue in the 1890s, and Chaplin and Laurel were among the comedians who worked for his company.[20] Karno was a pioneer of slapstick, and in his biography, Laurel stated, "Fred Karno didn't teach Charlie [Chaplin] and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it".[21] Film producer Hal Roach stated: "Fred Karno is not only a genius, he is the man who originated slapstick comedy. We in Hollywood owe much to him."[22] American vaudeville emerged in the 1880s and remained popular until the 1930s, and featured comedians such as W. C. Fields, Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers.

20th century theatre and art

See also:
Theatre of the Absurd, and Absurdist fiction

illogical. Constructions of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre juxtapositions, incongruity, non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense.[23] The humour arises from a subversion of audience's expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability, separate from a logical analysis of the situation. The humour derived gets its appeal from the ridiculousness and unlikeliness of the situation. The genre has roots in Surrealism in the arts.[23]

Edward Lear, Aged 73 and a Half and His Cat Foss, Aged 16, an 1885 lithograph by Edward Lear

Surreal humour is the effect of

flamingos as mallets, etc.) for humorous effect. Many of Edward Lear's children stories and poems contain nonsense
and are basically surreal in approach. For example, The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World (1871) is filled with contradictory statements and odd images intended to provoke amusement, such as the following:

After a time they saw some land at a distance; and when they came to it, they found it was an island made of water quite surrounded by earth. Besides that, it was bordered by evanescent isthmuses with a great Gulf-stream running about all over it, so that it was perfectly beautiful, and contained only a single tree, 503 feet high.[24]

In the early 20th century, several

futurists, began to argue for an art that was random, jarring and illogical.[25] The goals of these movements were in some sense serious, and they were committed to undermining the solemnity and self-satisfaction of the contemporary artistic establishment
. As a result, much of their art was intentionally amusing.

A famous example is Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt". This became one of the most famous and influential pieces of art in history, and one of the earliest examples of the found object movement. It is also a joke, relying on the inversion of the item's function as expressed by its title as well as its incongruous presence in an art exhibition.[26]

20th century film, records, radio, and television

Charlie Chaplin as "The Tramp" (1921)
Jim Carrey mugs for the camera.
Jordan Peele at the Peabody awards

The advent of cinema in the late 19th century, and later radio and television in the 20th century broadened the access of comedians to the general public.

Bollywood, and French farce
.

American television has also been an influential force in world comedy: with American series like

Edna Everage, for his delivery of Dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, was described by biographer Anne Pender in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time ... [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".[27]

Eastern history

Indian aesthetics and drama

Main articles: Hāsya, Rasa (aesthetics), Indian aesthetics, and Indian classical drama
See also:
Mrichakatika

By 200 BC,

nava rasas, or principle rasas (emotional responses), which can be inspired in the audience by bhavas
, the imitations of emotions that the actors perform. Each rasa was associated with a specific bhavas portrayed on stage. In the case of humour, it was associated with mirth (hasya).

Studies on comic theory

Statue of La Comedie by Jules Toussaint Roux, Paris

The phenomena connected with laughter and that which provokes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists. They agree the predominant characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the object and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential factor: thus Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory". Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin both of laughter and of smiling, as well as the development of the "play instinct" and its emotional expression.

George Meredith said that "One excellent test of the civilization of a country ... I take to be the flourishing of the Comic idea and Comedy, and the test of true Comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter." Laughter is said to be the cure for being sick. Studies show that people who laugh more often get sick less.[29][30]

American literary theorist

President Obama's trip to China, Stewart remarks on America's debt to the Chinese government while also having a weak relationship with the country. After depicting this dismal situation, Stewart shifts to speak directly to President Obama, calling upon him to "shine that turd up."[34]
For Stewart and his audience, introducing coarse language into what is otherwise a serious commentary on the state of foreign relations serves to frame the segment comically, creating a serious tone underlying the comedic agenda presented by Stewart.

Forms

Main article: Comedic genres

Comedy may be divided into multiple genres based on the source of humor, the method of delivery, and the context in which it is delivered. The different forms of comedy often overlap, and most comedy can fit into multiple genres. Some of the subgenres of comedy are farce, comedy of manners, burlesque, and satire.

Some comedy apes certain cultural forms: for instance, parody and satire often imitate the conventions of the genre they are parodying or satirizing. For example, in the United States, parodies of newspapers and television news include The Onion, and The Colbert Report; in Australia, shows such as Kath & Kim, Utopia, and Shaun Micallef's Mad As Hell perform the same role.

Self-deprecation is a technique of comedy used by many comedians who focus on their misfortunes and foibles in order to entertain.

Performing arts

Part of a series on
Performing arts
Main article: Comedy (drama)

Historical forms

Plays

Opera

Improvisational comedy

Jokes

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a mode of comic performance in which the performer addresses the audience directly, usually speaking in their own person rather than as a dramatic character.

Events and awards

Lists of comedians

Mass media

Literature

Film

Audio recording

Television and radio

Comedy networks

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Henderson, J. (1993) Comic Hero versus Political Elite pp. 307–19 in Sommerstein, A.H.; S. Halliwell; J. Henderson; B. Zimmerman, eds. (1993). Tragedy, Comedy and the Polis. Bari: Levante Editori.
  2. ^ (Anatomy of Criticism, 1957)
  3. ^ Marteinson, 2006
  4. ^ comedy (n.) "The old derivation from kome "village" is not now regarded."
  5. ^ Cornford (1934)[page needed]
  6. ^ a b Oxford English Dictionary
  7. ^ McKeon, Richard. The Basic Works Of Aristotle, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001, p. 1459.
  8. JSTOR 470561
    .
  9. ^ Herman Braet, Guido Latré, Werner Verbeke (2003) Risus mediaevalis: laughter in medieval literature and art p.1 quotation:

    The deliberate use by Menard of the term 'le rire' rather than 'l'humour' reflects accurately the current evidency to incorporate all instances of the comic in the analysis, while the classification in genres and fields such as grotesque, humour and even irony or satire always poses problems. The terms humour and laughter are therefore pragmatically used in recent historiography to cover the entire spectrum.
  10. ^ Ménard, Philippe (1988) Le rire et le sourire au Moyen Age dans la littérature et les arts. Essai de problématique in Bouché, T. and Charpentier H. (eds., 1988) Le rire au Moyen Âge, Actes du colloque international de Bordeaux, pp. 7–30
  11. ^ Aristophanes (1996) Lysistrata, Introduction, p.ix, published by Nick Hern Books
  12. ^ Reckford, Kenneth J. (1987)Aristophanes' Old-and-new Comedy: Six essays in perspective p.105
  13. Cornford, F.M. (1934) The Origin of Attic Comedy
    pp.3–4 quotation:

    That Comedy sprang up and took shape in connection with Dionysiac or Phallic ritual has never been doubted.
  14. ^ "Aristotle, Poetics, lines beginning at 1449a". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  15. ^ Regan, Richard. "Shakespearean comedy"
  16. ^ Wheeler, R. Mortimer (1911). "Punch (puppet)" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 648–649.
  17. ^ a b "Punch and Judy around the world". The Telegraph. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-01-10.
  18. ^ "Mr Punch celebrates 350 years of puppet anarchy". BBC. 11 June 2015.
  19. ^ Jeffrey Richards (2014). "The Golden Age of Pantomime: Slapstick, Spectacle and Subversion in Victorian England". I.B.Tauris,
  20. ^ a b McCabe, John. "Comedy World of Stan Laurel". p. 143. London: Robson Books, 2005, First edition 1975
  21. ^ Burton, Alan (2000). Pimple, pranks & pratfalls: British film comedy before 1930. Flicks Books. p. 51.
  22. ^ J. P. Gallagher (1971). "Fred Karno: master of mirth and tears". p. 165. Hale.
  23. ^
    ISBN 978-1-137-39219-0.[permanent dead link
    ]
  24. ^ Lear, Edward (2004-10-08). Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets.
  25. ISBN 978-0-7391-7387-9
    .
  26. ^ Gayford, Martin (16 February 2008). "Duchamp's Fountain: The practical joke that launched an artistic revolution". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2022-01-10. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  27. ^ Meacham, Steve (15 September 2010). "Absurd moments: in the frocks of the dame". Brisbanetimes.com.au. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  28. ISBN 978-1-285-46348-3
    .
  29. ^ "An impolite interview with Lenny Bruce". The Realist (15): 3. February 1960. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  30. ^ Meredith, George (1987). "Essay on Comedy, Comic Spirit". Encyclopedia of the Self, by Mark Zimmerman. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  31. ^ "The Comic Frame". newantichoicerhetoric.web.unc.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  32. ^ "Standing Up for Comedy: Kenneth Burke and The Office – KB Journal". www.kbjournal.org.
  33. ^ "History – School of Humanities and Sciences". www.ithaca.edu. Ithaca College.
  34. ^ Trischa Goodnow Knapp (2011). The Daily Show and Rhetoric: Arguments, Issues, and Strategies. p. 327. Lexington Books, 2011
  35. ^ This list was compiled with reference to The Cambridge Guide to Theatre (1998).

References

External links
Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Comedy.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comedy&oldid=1226425971"
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article: Comedy. Articles is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.Privacy Policy