Humour A Very Short Introduction

Author : Noël Carroll
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191642592
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Humour: A Very Short Introduction written by Noël Carroll and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2014-01-23 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humour has been discovered in every known human culture and thinkers have discussed it for over two thousand years. Humour can serve many functions; it can be used to relieve stress, to promote goodwill among strangers, to dissipate tension within a fractious group, to display intelligence, and some have even claimed that it improves health and fights sickness. In this Very Short Introduction Noel Carroll examines the leading theories of humour including The Superiority Theory and The Incongruity Theory. He considers the relation of humour to emotion and cognition, and explores the value of humour, specifically in its social functions. He argues that humour, and the comic amusement that follows it, has a crucial role to play in the construction of communities, but he also demonstrates that the social aspect of humour raises questions such as 'When is humour immoral?' and 'Is laughing at immoral humour itself immoral?'. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Noël Carroll
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199552223
Total Pages : 145 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Humour: A Very Short Introduction written by Noël Carroll and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the leading theories of humor, focusing on the incongruity theory.

Author : Matthew Bevis
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199601712
Total Pages : 169 pages
Book Rating : 4.14/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Comedy: A Very Short Introduction written by Matthew Bevis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a broad scope across the millennia, from high literature to popular culture, between page and stage and screen, this Very Short Introduction considers comedy not only as a literary genre, but also as a broader impulse at work in many other historical and contemporary forms of satire, parody, and play.

Author : Simon Critchley
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135199035
Total Pages : 145 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book On Humour written by Simon Critchley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-08-26 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does humour make us human, or do the cats and dogs laugh along with us? On Humour is a fascinating, beautifully written and funny book on what humour can tell us about being human. Simon Critchley skilfully probes some of the most perennial but least understood aspects of humour, such as our tendency to laugh at animals and our bodies, why we mock death with comedy and why we think it's funny when people act like machines. He also looks at the darker side of humour, as rife in sexism and racism and argues that it is important for reminding us of people we would rather not be.

Author : John Morreall
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1444358294
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Comic Relief written by John Morreall and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-08-24 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comic Relief: A Comprehensive Philosophy of Humor develops an inclusive theory that integrates psychological, aesthetic, and ethical issues relating to humor Offers an enlightening and accessible foray into the serious business of humor Reveals how standard theories of humor fail to explain its true nature and actually support traditional prejudices against humor as being antisocial, irrational, and foolish Argues that humor’s benefits overlap significantly with those of philosophy Includes a foreword by Robert Mankoff, Cartoon Editor of The New Yorker

Author : Terry Eagleton
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300244789
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.86/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Humour written by Terry Eagleton and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling guide to the fundamental place of humour and comedy within Western culture—by one of its greatest exponents Written by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humour and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering and chortling? Is humour subversive, or can it defuse dissent? Can we define wit? Packed with illuminating ideas and a good many excellent jokes, the book critically examines various well-known theories of humour, including the idea that it springs from incongruity and the view that it reflects a mildly sadistic form of superiority to others. Drawing on a wide range of literary and philosophical sources, Terry Eagleton moves from Aristotle and Aquinas to Hobbes, Freud, and Bakhtin, looking in particular at the psychoanalytical mechanisms underlying humour and its social and political evolution over the centuries.

Author : Dorothy H. Crawford
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198811713
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Viruses written by Dorothy H. Crawford and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Viruses are big news. From pandemics such as HIV, swine flu, and SARS, we are constantly being bombarded with information about new lethal infections. In this Very Short Introduction, Dorothy Crawford demonstrates from their discovery and the unravelling of their intricate structures, how clever these entities really are.

Author : Robert R. Provine
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101659254
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.50/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Laughter written by Robert R. Provine and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2001-12-01 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do men and women laugh at the same things? Is laughter contagious? Has anyone ever really died laughing? Is laughing good for your health? Drawing upon ten years of research into this most common-yet complex and often puzzling-human phenomenon, Dr. Robert Provine, the world's leading scientific expert on laughter, investigates such aspects of his subject as its evolution, its role in social relationships, its contagiousness, its neural mechanisms, and its health benefits. This is an erudite, wide-ranging, witty, and long-overdue exploration of a frequently surprising subject.

Author : Peter McGraw
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451665423
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Humor Code written by Peter McGraw and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-04-28 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part road-trip comedy and part social science experiment, a scientist and a journalist travel the globe to discover the secret behind what makes things funny, questioning countless experts, including Louis C.K., along the way.

Author : Ruskin Bond
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 818475051X
Total Pages : 222 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

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Download or read book BOOK OF HUMOUR written by Ruskin Bond and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2008-02-01 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A delectable offering from a writer who not only knows how to make us laugh but also knows how to laugh at himself Playful tigers; ‘ghosts’; elephants; crows and old favourites like Uncle Ken; Miss Bun; the author’s slightly eccentric grandfather and Bond himself weave in and out of the pages of this wildly eclectic; thoroughly delightful and absolutely irresistible anthology featuring previously unpublished pieces like ‘Respect Your Breakfast’ and ‘Uncle Ken Goes to Sea’ as well as beloved classics from Bond’s books. Marked by the signature charm and subtle wit of one of India’s best-loved writers; Ruskin Bond’s Book of Humour; will make even the hardened among us crack a smile.