ABSTRACT
Originally published in 1994. Chaucer is considered the first major humorist in English literature and is particularly interesting as he reflects the humor of predecessors and contemporaries as well as defines development for subsequent British humor. This collection presents essays that define the nature of Chaucerian humor, examine Chaucer’s works from a variety of theoretical perspectives, and consider genres of humor within his writing. This is an excellent work of critical discourse that adds important understanding of Chaucer as well as the field of comedy in literature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part One|2 pages
A Prolegomenon to Defining Chaucerian Humor
part Two|2 pages
Critical Theories with the Comic Touch: Feminist, Freudian, Language, Social, and Bakhtinian Theories
chapter |18 pages
Chaucer, Freud, and the Political Economy of Wit
chapter |24 pages
Paradoxicum Semiotica
part Three|2 pages
“Generic” Humor: Lyric, Poetic, Demonic, Religious, Scatological, and Tragic