ABSTRACT
At the start of the eighteenth century, Anthony Ashley Cooper — third Earl of Shaftesbury, as well as an eminent exponent of Whig liberalism — examined the nature and the social meaning of laughter in two influential writings: A Letter concerning Enthusiasm to Lord Somers and Sensus communis: An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour. This chapter provides a discussion on the boundaries of Sternism, and focuses on different theories and practices of laughter. In essence, most nineteenth-century readings of Sterne seem to deny the model's original optimism about civilisation; this trend is particularly widespread in France, where (both for historical and cultural reasons) the conflict between politeness and individual originality is paid special attention. In an article titled 'Un Pirandello per ridere nel Quattrocento' the Renaissance scholar Arturo Pompeati established a parallel between the freshly rediscovered fifteenth-century Novella del grasso legnaiuolo and Pirandello's short stories.
