
Humour, Comedy and Laughter
Obscenities, Paradoxes, Insights and the Renewal of Life
Lidia Dina Sciama(Editor)
Berghahn Books (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 14. September 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
220 pages
978-1-78920-070-6 (ISBN)
Description
Anthropological writings on humor are not very numerous or extensive, but they do contain a great deal of insight into the diverse mental and social processes that underlie joking and laughter. On the basis of a wide range of ethnographic and textual materials, the chapters examine the cognitive, social, and moral aspects of humor and its potential to bring about a sense of amity and mutual understanding, even among different and possibly hostile people. Unfortunately, though, cartoons, jokes, and parodies can cause irremediable distress and offence. Nevertheless, contributors' cross-cultural evidence confirms that the positive aspects of humor far outweigh the danger of deepening divisions and fueling hostilities
Reviews / Votes
"This collection is like a charm bracelet. The essays are attractive and bright, but their interconnection derives largely from being gathered in one place. The general theme is anthropological-the collection presents humor as both a topic and a method in anthropological research-but the title is broad enough to permit scholarship from a wide variety of disciplines.... All the essays in this volume have something valuable to say and say it well." ? Choice"All in all, the present volume is a notable contribution to understanding humor and comic performances. It clearly shows that humor is such a nuanced topic that in order to understand it in its complexity, one has to analyze it from a varied range of perspectives, sometimes through the study of seemingly unconnected phenomena." ? Anthropology Book Forum
"This book is a valuable contribution to the anthropology on humour as there is so little of it, despite the important place of humorous phenomena within social life. The wide variety of topics reflects the myriad ways humour may figure in different contexts: how in some cases it is an important aspect of the situation in question and in others it provides a specific lens through which to consider a topic." ? Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute
"...humour has been a fleeting theme in anthropology. This is surprising, since everybody laughs - although not at the same things, which makes humour rich with cultural context. That richness certainly emerges in the nine diverse chapters gathered here,.. Most revel in their material, offering readers plenty of interest." ? SITES - A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies
"There is no doubt that Lidia Dina Sciama's edited volume... is an impressive, ambitious and timely volume. The subheading, Obscenities, Paradoxes, Insights and the Renewal of Life, seems a tall order for two hundred pages, but in their own ways, the editor and contributors have responded admirably to the challenge. While grounded in the field of social anthropology, this volume is also notable for its interdisciplinarity." ? JASO
"An interesting and unique read... Each scholarly contribution makes a creative effort to cross the traditional boundaries of anthropological theories and methods with other closely related disciplines. It is an excellent example of anthropological cross-disciplinary engagement with psychology, philosophy, aesthetics, film, and theater and music theory." ? Jana Kopelentova Rehak, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
20 Tables, unspecified; 20 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
326 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78920-070-6 (9781789200706)
DOI
10.3167/9780857450746
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

Lidia Dina Sciama
Humour, Comedy and Laughter
Obscenities, Paradoxes, Insights and the Renewal of Life
E-Book
04/2016
Berghahn Books
€26.99
Available for download

Lidia Dina Sciama
Humour, Comedy and Laughter
Obscenities, Paradoxes, Insights and the Renewal of Life
Book
04/2016
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€146.80
Shipment within 15-20 days

Lidia Dina Sciama
Humour, Comedy and Laughter
Obscenities, Paradoxes, Insights and the Renewal of Life
E-Book
04/2016
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Lidia Dina Sciama (1932-2024) was former Director of the International Gender Studies Centre (formerly the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women), University of Oxford, where she was a Research Associate. Her publications include A Venetian Island: Environment, History and Change in Burano (Berghahn 2003).
Content
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Lidia Dina Sciama
Chapter 1. The Origins of Comic Performance in Adult-Child Interaction
Ian Wilkie and Matthew Saxton
Chapter 2. Learning from the Ludic: Anthropological Fieldwork
Judith Okely
Chapter 3. Humour as a Form of Cognition
Elisabeth Hsu
Chapter 4. Comic Strips and the Making of American Identity
Ian Rakoff
Chapter 5. Jokes without Frontiers, War without Tears: Humour, Stress and Power in an Anglo-German Bank Branch
Fiona Moore
Chapter 6. Laughing at the Future: Cross-Cultural Science Fiction Films
Dolores Martinez
Chapter 7. The English Pantomime: Toying with History, Playing with Gender, Laughing at Today
Shirley Ardener
Chapter 8. The Function of Satire in Italian Popular Song
Glauco Sanga
Chapter 9. Laughing at the Past among Venetian Islanders: Carlo Goldoni's Scuffles in Chioggia
Lidia Dina Sciama
Introduction
Lidia Dina Sciama
Chapter 1. The Origins of Comic Performance in Adult-Child Interaction
Ian Wilkie and Matthew Saxton
Chapter 2. Learning from the Ludic: Anthropological Fieldwork
Judith Okely
Chapter 3. Humour as a Form of Cognition
Elisabeth Hsu
Chapter 4. Comic Strips and the Making of American Identity
Ian Rakoff
Chapter 5. Jokes without Frontiers, War without Tears: Humour, Stress and Power in an Anglo-German Bank Branch
Fiona Moore
Chapter 6. Laughing at the Future: Cross-Cultural Science Fiction Films
Dolores Martinez
Chapter 7. The English Pantomime: Toying with History, Playing with Gender, Laughing at Today
Shirley Ardener
Chapter 8. The Function of Satire in Italian Popular Song
Glauco Sanga
Chapter 9. Laughing at the Past among Venetian Islanders: Carlo Goldoni's Scuffles in Chioggia
Lidia Dina Sciama