Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up
Beard, Mary
What made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to feara world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?
Laughter in Ancient Rome explores one of the most intriguing, but also trickiest, of historical subjects. Drawing on a wide range of Roman writingfrom essays on rhetoric to a surviving Roman joke bookMary Beard tracks down the giggles, smirks, and guffaws of the ancient Romans themselves. From ancient monkey business” to the role of a chuckle in a culture of tyranny, she explores Roman humor from the hilarious, to the momentous, to the surprising. But she also reflects on even bigger historical questions. What kind of history of laughter can we possibly tell? Can we ever really get” the Romans’ jokes?
Laughter in Ancient Rome explores one of the most intriguing, but also trickiest, of historical subjects. Drawing on a wide range of Roman writingfrom essays on rhetoric to a surviving Roman joke bookMary Beard tracks down the giggles, smirks, and guffaws of the ancient Romans themselves. From ancient monkey business” to the role of a chuckle in a culture of tyranny, she explores Roman humor from the hilarious, to the momentous, to the surprising. But she also reflects on even bigger historical questions. What kind of history of laughter can we possibly tell? Can we ever really get” the Romans’ jokes?
Категории:
Година:
2014
Издателство:
University of California Press
Език:
english
Страници:
319
ISBN 10:
0520287584
ISBN 13:
9780520287587
Серия:
Sather classical lectures 71.; Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature
Файл:
PDF, 7.95 MB
IPFS:
,
english, 2014