Wit and humour in literature, film and cartoon
Alba Romano
8 points * Second semester * Clayton
This subject is divided into two parts. The first will study theories of wit and humour from antiquity to the present: Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Descartes, Kant, Freud, Bergson and other contemporary thinkers. The second will study the practice of wit and humour both in literary genres such as comedy, satire, parody, where they are essential, and in genres such as historiography and oratory, where they are auxiliary. Finally, wit and humour will be analysed in films and cartoons.
Assessment
Written (4000 words): 50% * Examinations (2 hours): 50%
Prescribed texts
Ionesco Rhinoceros, The Chairs, The Lesson Penguin
Jonson B Three comedies ed. M Jamieson, Penguin
Lawson H Joe Wilson's mates Penguin
Molière The Miser Penguin
Plautus The Pot of Gold Penguin
Rabelais The histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel Penguin
Williamson D The Sons of Cain Currency Press, 1985