The Politics of Humour : : Laughter, Inclusion and Exclusion in the Twentieth Century / / Martina Kessel, Patrick Merziger.

• VerfasserIn: Kessel, Martina,; Merziger, Patrick ,
• MitwirkendeR: Brook, Vincent,; Gillooly, Eileen,; Jelavich, Peter,; Kessel, Martina,; Kuipers, Giselinde,; Merziger, Patrick,; Pater, Monika,; Winokur, Mark,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2017]; ©2011
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English
• Series: German and European Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (232 p.)

The period between the First World War and the fall of the Berlin Wall is often characterized as the age of extremes-while this era witnessed unprecedented violence and loss of human life, it also saw a surge in humorous entertainment in both democratic and authoritarian societies. The Politics of Humour examines how works such as satirical magazines and comedy films were used both to reaffirm group identity and to exclude those who did not belong.The essays in this collection analyse the political and social context of comedy in Europe and the United States, exploring topics ranging from the shifting targets of ethnic jokes to the incorporation of humour into wartime broadcasting and the uses of satire as a means of resistance. Comedy continues to define the nature of group membership today, and The Politics of Humour offers an intriguing look at how entertainment helped everyday people make sense of the turmoil of the twentieth century.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. Landscapes of Humour: The History and Politics of the Comical in the Twentieth Century -- 1. When Are Jewish Jokes No Longer Funny? Ethnic Humour in Imperial and Republican Berlin -- 2. Creole Cartoons -- 3. Talking War, Debating Unity: Order, Conflict, and Exclusion in 'German Humour' in the First World War -- 4. Producing a Cheerful Public: Light Radio Entertainment during National Socialism -- 5. Humour in the Volksgemeinschaft: The Disappearance of Destructive Satire in National Socialist Germany -- 6. Laughing to Keep from Dying: Jewish Self-Hatred and The Larry Sanders Show -- 7. Ethnic Humour and Ethnic Politics in the Netherlands: The Rules and Attraction of Clandestine Humour -- 8. 'The Tongues of Mocking Wenches': Humour and Gender in Late Twentieth-Century British Fiction -- Contributors