The Mirror of Laughter

Loopholes argues that trivialization of comedy comes from fear that it will address our anxieties with honesty--and it is this truth that scares us. John Bruns discusses comedy as a mode of thought with a cognitive function. It is a domain of human understanding, a domain far more troubling and accessible than we care to acknowledge. To "read comically" we must accept our fears. If we do so, we will realize what Bruns refers to as the most neglected premise of comedy, that the world itself is a loophole---both incomplete and limitless.

The purpose of Eastman's fabled work is to make the reader laugh. Examination and classification fo the Kinds of humorous experience upon the basis of a theory is a science. As such, this work offers a fair chance to illustrate a method of instruction. However, the distinction between a good joke and a bad one will not prevent the reader from making bad jokes nor enable one to make good ones. There is an artistic and playful element that simply cannot be taught. Enjoyment of Laughter presents a total view of the science of Laughter and draws upon some of the great American humorists to do so.

Farce sets out to explore the territory of what makes farce distinct as a comic genre. Its lowly origins date back to the classic Graeco-Roman theatre; but when formal drama was reborn by the process of elaboration of ritual within the mediaeval Church, the French term "farce" became synonymous with a recognizable style of comic performance. Taking a wide range of farces from the briefest and most basic of fair-ground mountebank performances to fully-fledged five-acts structures from the late nineteenth century, the book reveals the patterns of comic plot and counter-plot that are common to all.

The Mirror of Laughter presents a theory of humor and laughter by examining its relationship to human behaviors. Kozintsev is especially interested in the relationship between biological and cultural factors that influence behaviors. He divides his work into four chapters, the first of which establishes the theme of the book, focusing on the study of meaning from the perspective of philosophy and psychology, while examining linguistic theories of humor.

The second chapter examines biological data regarding laughter and the evolutionary origins of laughter and humor. It demonstrates the author's interest in studying humor objectively---by detailing physiological reactions and underlying psychological issues. The third section on linguistic play distinguishes between orderly and disorderly play. While orderly play has no biological roots and is synonymous with culture, disorderly play is rooted in the prehuman pastsocial and reflect culture and cultural roles. The final chapter discusses the conflict between culture and nature and how culture has transformed the original semantics of laughter.

Koznitsev seeks to understand the relationship between the biological cultural, and social origins of humor and, from here, he seeks to create new understanding that only the alliance of several disciplines could provide. All of this is done while the author challenges many popular ideas of humor, such as that humor is inherently related to hostility. Originally written in Russian, this work makes great strides towards understanding humor and laughter, and it does so in an interesting and enlightening way.

Alexander Kozintsev is senior researcher at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg, Russia. His work has appeared in various journals including American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Journal of the Anthropological Society of Nippon, Aggressive Behavior, Arctic Anthropology, Human Evolution, Homo, Anthropologie, Current Anthropology, Humor and Primates, and the International Journal of Human Research.