Comic Effects: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Humor in Literature

by Paul Lewis

Lewis draws on both humor theories and research, arguing for the development of interdisciplinary methodologies in the study of literary humor. He demonstrates that the sociologist of humor and the comic playwright approach the same subject―humor in and between groups―with different tools, that writers of Bildungsromane and developmental psychologists share a common interest in the role of humor in maturation, and that the monsters that haunt the psyches of professional comedians can be useful in understanding the odd minglings of humor and fear in Gothic fiction. His treatment of writers who differ widely in their use of humor suggests that the complexity and diversity of humor make it a richly variable determinant of character, genre, and writer.

179 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Paul Lewis is the president of the Poe Studies Association and an English professor at Boston College where he teaches courses on American literature, gothic fiction, and nonfiction writing. He brought a career-long interest in dark humor to the writing of A Is for Asteroids, Z Is for Zombies: A Bedtime Book about the Coming Apocalypse (2017), Cracking Up: American Humor in a Time of Conflict (2006), and articles on gallows humor, political humor, and humor and terrorism. The neologist who coined the word “Frankenfood,” Lewis has also published op-ed, feature, and humor pieces in leading newspapers.

Reviews

[Uri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too academic. I just skimmed through it to find what I needed.