Cultural History of Humour

Jan Mremmer, University of GroningenHerman Roodenburg, P.J. Meertens-Institute Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam

• List of illustrations. Notes on contributors.Preface.Introduction: Humour and History: Jan Bremmer and Herman Roodenburg.1. Jokes, Jokers and Jokebooks in Ancient Greek Culture: Jan Bremmer.2. Cicero, Plautus and Roman Laughter: Fritz Graf.3. Laughter in the Middle Ages: Jacques Le Goff.4. Bakhtin and his Theory of Carnival: Aaron Gurevich.5. Frontiers of the Comic in Early Modern Italy, c1350-1750: Peter Burke.6. The Comic and the Counter Reformation in the Spanish Netherlands: Johan Verberckmoes.7. Prose Jest-Books Mainly in the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries in England: Derek Brewer.8. To Converse Agreeably: Civility and the Telling of Jokes in Seventeenth-Century Holland: Herman Roodenburg.9. How was Jan Steen Funny? Strategies and Functions of Comic Painting in the Seventeenth Century: Mariet Westermann.10. Parliamentary Hilarity Inside the French Constitutional Assembly (1789-91): Antoine de Baecque.11. Humour and the Public Sphere in Nineteenth-Century Germany: Mary Lee Townsend.12. Humour, Laughter and the Field: Reflections from Anthropology: Henk Driessen.13. Humour and History: A Research Bibliography: Johan Verberckmoes.Index of Names.Index of Subjects.

"[There are] plenty of fascinating nuggets in this book." The Sunday Telegraph "This is an unusual and stimulating book, packed with valuable information on a subject too often considered trivial and nonscholarly." Sixteenth Century Journal "Temptingly interesting ... worth indulging in." The Times Higher Education Supplement "Bremmer and Roodenburg have created a valuable work in the comparative sociology of humour ... excellent research bibliography ... interesting and scholarly work of value to the sociologists." British Journal of Sociology"Opens up a fascinating subject." Journal of Social History