American Humor / Edition 1

by Arthur Power Dudden

Overview

The paramount question answered in this absorbing collection of essays is: What's so funny about American humor, and why? What are American humor's characteristics? How have they evolved and displayed themselves? Which characteristics are distinctively, or even uniquely, American? Originally appearing as an issue of the American Quarterly, these essays take a close look at American humor from revolutionary times to the present day, and focus particularly on the neglected trends of the past fifty years. Looking at American comic figures as diverse—and even surprising—as Mark Twain and Richard Nixon, at various vehicles for American humor such as comic strips, radio and television, movies, and standup comedians, and at different genres of humor including political, ethnic, and feminist humor, this book brings a lively new perspective to the study of American culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195050547
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/07/1989
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	8.23(w) x 5.47(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Bryn Mawr College

Table of Contents

	Introduction: American Humor	xi
	English Satire and Connecticut Wit	3
	The Importance of Mark Twain	24
	The Record of Political Humor	50
	What's So Funny About the Comics?	76
	Standup Comedy as Social and Cultural Mediation	85
	Ethnic Humor: Subversion and Survival	97
	Humor and Gender Roles: The Funny Feminism of the Post-World War Two Suburbs	118
	Richard Nixon as a Comic Figure	138

Editorial Reviews

"Dudden...[is] undoubtedly the most prolific and perceptive scholar of American political humor."—History: Reviews of New Books

"Fortunately for readers of this sprightly and perceptive volume....Dudden and his fellow critics [keep] the humor bubbling without its drifting off as so much hot air....Revelatory and stimulating."—Kirkus Reviews

"Dudden has put together an impressive collection on both the range and the significance of American humor."—The Georgia Review

"An important collection of essays on American humor....Serves to sharpen our ongoing debate on the subject."—Philadelphia Inquirer

From the Publisher