The Age of Irreverence
A New History of Laughter in China
1st Edition
Published on 4. March 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
356 pages
978-0-520-41927-8 (ISBN)
Description
The Age of Irreverence tells the story of why China's entry into the modern age was not just traumatic, but uproarious. As the Qing dynasty slumped toward extinction, prominent writers compiled jokes into collections they called "histories of laughter." In the first years of the Republic, novelists, essayists and illustrators alike used humorous allegories to make veiled critiques of the new government. But, again and again, political and cultural discussion erupted into invective, as critics gleefully jeered and derided rivals in public. Farceurs drew followings in the popular press, promoting a culture of practical joking and buffoonery. Eventually, these various expressions of hilarity proved so offensive to high-brow writers that they launched a concerted campaign to transform the tone of public discourse, hoping to displace the old forms of mirth with a new one they called youmo (humor).
Christopher Rea argues that this period-from the 1890s to the 1930s-transformed how Chinese people thought and talked about what is funny. Focusing on five cultural expressions of laughter-jokes, play, mockery, farce, and humor-he reveals the textures of comedy that were a part of everyday life during modern China's first "age of irreverence." This new history of laughter not only offers an unprecedented and up-close look at a neglected facet of Chinese cultural modernity, but also reveals its lasting legacy in the Chinese language of the comic today and its implications for our understanding of humor as a part of human culture.
Christopher Rea argues that this period-from the 1890s to the 1930s-transformed how Chinese people thought and talked about what is funny. Focusing on five cultural expressions of laughter-jokes, play, mockery, farce, and humor-he reveals the textures of comedy that were a part of everyday life during modern China's first "age of irreverence." This new history of laughter not only offers an unprecedented and up-close look at a neglected facet of Chinese cultural modernity, but also reveals its lasting legacy in the Chinese language of the comic today and its implications for our understanding of humor as a part of human culture.
Reviews / Votes
"Rea provides a map to a diverse comedic terrain between the late Qing dynasty and the Year of Humor (1933) that is richly populated with 'whimsical poets, vaudevillian entrepreneurs, renowned revilers, twee essayists, winking farceurs, and self-promoting jokesters'." -- Joe Sample * China Quarterly * "[An] excellent study." -- Paul Bevan * SOAS Bulletin * "Not only does The Age of Irreverence o?ffer an engaging new take on the cultural history of a momentous period, it also raises a number of leads for future research." * Journal of Oriental Studies * "The Age of Irreverence devotes meticulous attention to primary sources, and crafts its findings into a narrative of humor in popular culture from the turn of the twentieth century through the 1930s, with a nod in the epilogue toward the socialist era and beyond. As a scholarly intervention, however, the book's central argument most directly targets not history, but literary studies... certain to engage an audience." * Frontiers of Literary Studies in China * "Beautifully written... Rea has managed to write a very scholarly but nevertheless interesting and even entertaining book about a subject of considerable importance that has been neglected by literary scholars." * Israeli Journal of Humor Research * Abounds with examples and provides a learned apparatus... informative. * Monumenta Serica * "Christopher Rea has written an important book." * European Journal of Humour Research * "The scale of the research displayed in this book will certainly make this the first source any scholar wishing to approach this subject, or one related to it, will reach for." * Pacific Affairs * "This is a useful introduction to the popular culture of the period, particularly in the literary and journalistic fields. ... easily accessible ... brings together much new material relating to popular literature and culture of the period." * Humor: International Journal of Humor Research * "Masterful... The book is a model of scholarship, clarity, and academic rigor. The translations are meticulous, masterful, and helpful to Sinologists and non-specialists alike." * Modern Chinese Literature and Culture *More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
32 b-w
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-41927-8 (9780520419278)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2015
1st Edition
University of California Press
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Christopher Rea is Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. He is the editor of Humans, Beasts, and Ghosts: Stories and Essays by Qian Zhongshu and the coeditor of The Business of Culture: Cultural Entrepreneurs in China and Southeast Asia, 1900-60.
Content
Executive Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Breaking into Laughter
2. Jokes
3. Play
4. Mockery
5. Farce
6. The Invention of Humor
Epilogue
Appendix 1: Selected Chinese Humor Collections, 1900-1937
Appendix 2: Which Classic? Editions and Paratexts
Abbreviations
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
1. Breaking into Laughter
2. Jokes
3. Play
4. Mockery
5. Farce
6. The Invention of Humor
Epilogue
Appendix 1: Selected Chinese Humor Collections, 1900-1937
Appendix 2: Which Classic? Editions and Paratexts
Abbreviations
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index