Not so long ago, comedy and laughter were a shared experience of relief, as Freud famously argued. At their best, ribbing, roasting, piss-taking and insulting were the foundation of a kind of universal culture from which friendship, camaraderie and solidarity could emerge.
Now, comedy is characterized by edgy humour and misplaced jokes that provoke personal and social anxiety, causing divisive cultural warfare in the media and among people. Our comedy is fraught with tension like never before, and so too is our social life. We often hear the claim that no one can take a joke anymore. But what if we really can’t take jokes anymore?
This book argues that the spirit of comedy is the first step in the building of society, but that it has been lost in the era of divisive identity politics. Comedy flares up debates about censorship, cancellation, progressivism and even fascism, keeping us divided from each other in a particularist mode of thinking that prevents us from building community. This cuts against the true universalist spirit of comedy, which is becoming a thing of the past and must be recovered.
- ISBN13 9781509563388
- Publish Date 15 November 2024
- Publish Status Forthcoming
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Polity Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 158
- Language English