Essays On American Humor

Author : Walter Blair
Publisher : Univ of Wisconsin Press
Page : 306 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Humor
ISBN : 0299136248

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Essays on American Humor by Walter Blair Pdf

Walter Blair was the literary scholar who almost single-handedly gave the study of American humor significance in the academic world. By categorizing the writings of American literary humorists into such diverse styles as the Old Southwest, Local Color, and Literary Comedian humor -- each having serious social import--Blair abolished the notion that they were all practicing the same kind of intellectual irreverence. Moving through more than six decades of Walter Blair's works, Essays on American Humor: Blair through the Ages provides a comprehensive introduction to the discipline he developed. Hamlin Hill has selected and ordered this collection to show the scope of Blair's expertise, which encompasses the careers of tall-tale characters like Baron Munchausen as well as the achievements of such real-life humorists as E. B. White. The pieces range in time from Blair's introduction to the 1928 edition of Julia A. Moore's poetry to his 1989 introduction to a work commemorating Davy Crockett's two-hundredth anniversary. Historical and biographical essays, source-and-influence studies, and analyses of texts constitute the bulk of the book. An entire section is devoted to discourses on Mark Twain, Blair's major subject.

Author : William Bedford Clark,W. Craig Turner
Publisher : Boston, Mass. : G.K. Hall
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 1984
Category : Humor
ISBN : STANFORD:36105003790982

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Critical Essays on American Humor by William Bedford Clark,W. Craig Turner Pdf

This volume contains 16 reprinted and seven original essays. James Cox considers the vigor of American humor as an outgrowth of the nation's optimistic expansionist energies and a reflection of its political liberty and relative material prosperity, W.P. Trent discusses the principal figures and movements in the development of American humor through the 19th century, Jennette Tandy traces the development of the unlettered philosopher as a characteristic type, and Constance Rourke couples the native American comic impulse with the national character. Other essays include: Louis Budd on the humorists of the old South, Arlin Turner on realism and fantasy in Southern humor, Jesse Bier on the rise and fall of American humor, Milton Rickels on humor of the Old Southwest, Robert Micklus on colonial humor, Emily Toth on women's humor, and Hamlin Hill's postscript on the future of American humor. ISBN 0-8161-8684-7 : $35.00.

Author : Nancy A. Walker
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : History
ISBN : 0842026886

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What's So Funny? by Nancy A. Walker Pdf

Critical studies attempting to define and dissect American humor have been published steadily for nearly one hundred years. However, until now, key documents from that history have never been brought together in a single volume for students and scholars. What's So Funny? Humor in American Culture, a collection of 15 essays, examines the meaning of humor and attempts to pinpoint its impact on American culture and society, while providing a historical overview of its progres-sion. Essays from Nancy Walker and Zita Dresner, Joseph Boskin and Joseph Dorinson, William Keough, Roy Blount, Jr., and others trace the development of American humor from the colonial period to the present, focusing on its relationship with ethnicity, gender, violence, and geography. An excellent reader for courses in American studies and American social and cultural history, What's So Funny? explores the traits of the American experience that have given rise to its humor.

Author : Constance Rourke
Publisher : New York Review of Books
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2004-02-29
Category : History
ISBN : 1590170792

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American Humor by Constance Rourke Pdf

Stepping out of the darkness, the American emerges upon the stage of history as a new character, as puzzling to himself as to others. American Humor, Constance Rourke's pioneering "study of the national character," singles out the archetypal figures of the Yankee peddler, the backwoodsman, and the blackface minstrel to illuminate the fundamental role of popular culture in fashioning a distinctive American sensibility. A memorable performance in its own right, American Humor crackles with the jibes and jokes of generations while presenting a striking picture of a vagabond nation in perpetual self-pursuit. Davy Crockett and Henry James, Jim Crow and Emily Dickinson rub shoulders in a work that inspired such later critics as Pauline Kael and Lester Bangs and which still has much to say about the America of Bob Dylan and Thomas Pynchon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Author : Raymond Lesser,Susan Wolpert
Publisher : Three Rivers Press (CA)
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Humor
ISBN : PSU:000049995428

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Funny Times Presents the Best of the Best American Humor by Raymond Lesser,Susan Wolpert Pdf

Provides a selection of the most hilarious cartoons, columns, essays, and comic strips from The Funny Times, a monthly publication containing selections of humor from America's magazines, newspapers, and other sources.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2024-06-14
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:232736654

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פרוש על שלחן ערוך (חשן משפט). by Anonim Pdf

Author : M. Thomas Inge
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : UOM:39015031822425

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Perspectives on American Culture by M. Thomas Inge Pdf

Author : David E. E. Sloane
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 773 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2017-10-24
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781351403153

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Mark Twain's Humor by David E. E. Sloane Pdf

Originally published in 1993. The purpose of this volume is to lay out documents which give an estimate of Mark Twain as a humourist in both historical scope and in the analysis of modern scholars. The emphasis in this collection is on how Twain developed from a contemporary humourist among many others of his generation into a major comic writer and American spokesman and, in several more recent essays by younger Twain scholars, the outcomes of that development late in his career. The essays determine how the humor takes on meaning and importance and how the humor works in a number of ways in the literary canon and even in the persona of Mark Twain.

Author : Tracy Chevalier
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 1032 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2012-10-12
Category : Reference
ISBN : 9781135314101

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Encyclopedia of the Essay by Tracy Chevalier Pdf

This groundbreaking new source of international scope defines the essay as nonfictional prose texts of between one and 50 pages in length. The more than 500 entries by 275 contributors include entries on nationalities, various categories of essays such as generic (such as sermons, aphorisms), individual major works, notable writers, and periodicals that created a market for essays, and particularly famous or significant essays. The preface details the historical development of the essay, and the alphabetically arranged entries usually include biographical sketch, nationality, era, selected writings list, additional readings, and anthologies

Author : Arthur Power Dudden
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 1989
Category : American wit and humor
ISBN : 9780195050547

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American Humor by Arthur Power Dudden Pdf

Originally appearing as an issue of American Quarterly, these essays take a close look at American humor from revolutionary times to the present day, focusing in particular on the neglected trends of the past fifty years.

Author : John D'Agata
Publisher : Graywolf Press
Page : 656 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2016-03-15
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9781555979270

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The Making of the American Essay by John D'Agata Pdf

For two decades, essayist John D'Agata has been exploring the contours of the essay through a series of innovative, informative, and expansive anthologies that have become foundational texts in the study of the genre. The breakthrough first volume, The Next American Essay, highlighted major work from 1974 to 2003, while the second, The Lost Origins of the Essay, showcased the essay's ancient and international forebears. Now, with The Making of the American Essay, D'Agata concludes his monumental tour of this inexhaustible form, with selections ranging from Anne Bradstreet's secular prayers to Washington Irving's satires, Emily Dickinson's love letters to Kenneth Goldsmith's catalogues, Gertrude Stein's portraits to James Baldwin's and Norman Mailer's meditations on boxing. Across the anthologies, D'Agata's introductions to each selection-intimate and brilliantly provocative throughout-serve as an extended treatise, collectively forming the backbone of the trilogy. He uncovers new stories in the American essay's past, and shows us that some of the most fiercely daring writers in the American literary canon have turned to the essay in order to produce our culture's most exhilarating art. The Making of the American Essay offers the essay at its most varied, unique, and imaginative best, proving that the impulse to make essays in America is as old and as original as the nation itself.

Author : Victor Raskin
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 679 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2008-11-06
Category : Humor
ISBN : 9783110198492

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The Primer of Humor Research by Victor Raskin Pdf

The book is intended to provide a definitive view of the field of humor research for both beginning and established scholars in a variety of fields who are developing an interest in humor and need to familiarize themselves with the available body of knowledge. Each chapter of the book is devoted to an important aspect of humor research or to a disciplinary approach to the field, and each is written by the leading expert or emerging scholar in that area. There are two primary motivations for the book. The positive one is to collect and summarize the impressive body of knowledge accumulated in humor research in and around Humor: The International Journal of Humor Research. The negative motivation is to prevent the embarrassment to and from the "first-timers," often established experts in their own field, who venture into humor research without any notion that there already exists a body of knowledge they need to acquire before publishing anything on the subject-unless they are in the business of reinventing the wheel and have serious doubts about its being round! The organization of the book reflects the main groups of scholars participating in the increasingly popular and high-powered humor research movement throughout the world, an 800 to 1,000-strong contingent, and growing. The chapters are organized along the same lines: History, Research Issues, Main Directions, Current Situation, Possible Future, Bibliography-and use the authors' definitive credentials not to promote an individual view, but rather to give the reader a good comprehensive and condensed view of the area.

Author : Elizabeth Benacka
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 179 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2016-11-02
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781498519878

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Rhetoric, Humor, and the Public Sphere by Elizabeth Benacka Pdf

Rhetoric, Humor, and the Public Sphere: From Socrates to Stephen Colbert investigates classical and contemporary understandings of satire, parody, and irony, and how these genres function within a deliberative democracy. Elizabeth Benacka examines the rhetorical history, theorization, and practice of humor spanning from ancient Greece and Rome to the contemporary United States. In particular, this book focuses on the contemporary work of Stephen Colbert and his parody of a conservative media pundit, analyzing how his humor took place in front of an uninitiated audience and ridiculed a variety of problems and controversies threatening American democracy. Ultimately, Benacka emphasizes the importance of humor as a discourse capable of calling forth a group of engaged citizens and a source of civic education in contemporary society.

Author : Paul Beatty
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 482 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2008-12-10
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9781596917163

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Hokum by Paul Beatty Pdf

Edited by the author of The Sellout, winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize, Hokum is a liberating, eccentric, savagely comic anthology of the funniest writing by black Americans. This book is less a comprehensive collection than it is a mix-tape narrative dubbed by a trusted friend-a sampler of underground classics, rare grooves, and timeless summer jams, poetry and prose juxtaposed with the blues, hip-hop, political speeches, and the world's funniest radio sermon. The subtle musings of Toni Cade Bambara, Henry Dumas, and Harryette Mullen are bracketed by the profane and often loud ruminations of Langston Hughes, Darius James, Wanda Coleman, Tish Benson, Steve Cannon, and Hattie Gossett. Some of the funniest writers don't write, so included are selections from well-known yet unpublished wits Lightnin' Hopkins, Mike Tyson, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Selections also come from public figures and authors whose humor, although incisive and profound, is often overlooked: Malcolm X, Suzan-Lori Parks, Zora Neale Hurston, Sojourner Truth, and W.E.B. Dubois. Groundbreaking, fierce, and hilarious, this is a necessary anthology for any fan or student of American writing, with a huge range and a smart, political grasp of the uses of humor.

Author : James E. Caron
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2021-04-16
Category : Humor
ISBN : 9780271090337

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Satire as the Comic Public Sphere by James E. Caron Pdf

Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, and Jimmy Kimmel—these comedians are household names whose satirical takes on politics, the news, and current events receive some of the highest ratings on television. In this book, James E. Caron examines these and other satirists through the lenses of humor studies, cultural theory, and rhetorical and social philosophy, arriving at a new definition of the comic art form. Tracing the history of modern satire from its roots in the Enlightenment values of rational debate, evidence, facts, accountability, and transparency, Caron identifies a new genre: “truthiness satire.” He shows how satirists such as Colbert, Bee, Oliver, and Kimmel—along with writers like Charles Pierce and Jack Shafer—rely on shared values and on the postmodern aesthetics of irony and affect to foster engagement within the comic public sphere that satire creates. Using case studies of bits, parodies, and routines, Caron reveals a remarkable process: when evidence-based news reporting collides with a discursive space asserting alternative facts, the satiric laughter that erupts can move the audience toward reflection and possibly even action as the body politic in the public sphere. With rigor, humor, and insight, Caron shows that truthiness satire pushes back against fake news and biased reporting and that the satirist today is at heart a citizen, albeit a seemingly silly one. This book will appeal to anyone interested in and concerned about public discourse in the current era, especially researchers in media studies, communication studies, political science, and literary and cultural studies.