ABSTRACT
The range of laughter endorsed by the texts may be illuminated further by examining moments or scenes of laughter as they occur on a narrative level. Although it would be naive to argue that incidents on a narrative level provide one with a direct reflection of the real circumstances of comic storytelling in the later Middle Ages, they may on occasion be regarded as enlightening instances of 'cultural self-perception'. The cultural gulf between civilized guest and uncivilized host manifests itself immediately in their widely differing physical bearing. The degree of the ladies' hilarity is suggestive of a social setting in which any public contact between men and women is highly regulated and the physical presence of both is subject to the utmost discipline. A typology of social function based on a pre-modern literary tradition such as that of comic tales will add to our understanding of laughter as it was understood in the past.
