On the Comic and Laughter

Contents

Foreword by Jean-Patrick Debbèche and Paul Perron

2 Types of Laughter and Ridiculing Laughter as a Type

3 Those Who Laugh and Those Who Do Not

4 The Ridiculous in Nature

5 Preliminary Observations

6 The Physical Side of Humans

7 The Comic of Similarity

8 The Comic of Difference

9 Humans Disguised as Animals

10 Humans as Things

11 Ridiculing the Professions

13 Comic Exaggeration

14 Foiled Plans

18 The Verbal Devices of the Comic

19 Comic Characters

20 Role Exchange: ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

21 Benign Laughter

22 Bitter and Cynical Laughter

23 Joyful Laughter

24 Ritual Laughter

25 Carnival Laughter

26 Conclusion, Results, and Further Thoughts

27 On Aesthetic Qualities