CONGRESS CANCELED "I said of laughter, 'It is folly'": Humor and Laughter in Medieval Literature, Art, and Thought I

Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

Description

The session explores different expressions, receptions and functions of humor in Medieval literature, art and thought, bringing together various established and emerging directions of medieval humor research.

Simultaneously transgressive and socially specific, humour challenges and defines boundaries at the same time. It can be a relief mechanism and an instrument of control and propaganda, and it can contribute to the ways societies and individuals define themselves.

This session explores themes of madness and exclusion from society, in painful and funny ways. It applies the theories of humor presented by John Morreall and the concept of the Trickster,to discuss Old Norse myth, the character of Loki and Icelanding sagas. Finally, it deals with laughter as a trigger for social mechanisms, and it as a social corrective.

Kleio Pethainou

 
May 7th, 1:30 PM

CONGRESS CANCELED "I said of laughter, 'It is folly'": Humor and Laughter in Medieval Literature, Art, and Thought I

Bernhard 208

The session explores different expressions, receptions and functions of humor in Medieval literature, art and thought, bringing together various established and emerging directions of medieval humor research.

Simultaneously transgressive and socially specific, humour challenges and defines boundaries at the same time. It can be a relief mechanism and an instrument of control and propaganda, and it can contribute to the ways societies and individuals define themselves.

This session explores themes of madness and exclusion from society, in painful and funny ways. It applies the theories of humor presented by John Morreall and the concept of the Trickster,to discuss Old Norse myth, the character of Loki and Icelanding sagas. Finally, it deals with laughter as a trigger for social mechanisms, and it as a social corrective.

Kleio Pethainou