Laughter Power and the Unconscious

<p><i>Laughter Power and the Unconscious</i> offers paradigm-breaking insights into the psychological and sociopolitical dimensions of humour and comedy. Based on an innovative audience experiment at Shakespeare's Globe the authors develop a revolutionary theory of humour as manic defence challenging Freud's classic formulations while engaging with contemporary humour theories.</p><p>The text explores three key domains: firstly it establishes and evaluates the theory in comparison to Freud's work in <i>Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious</i> while positioning it within major humour frameworks; secondly it demonstrates the theory's application to Renaissance comedy examining characters like Malvolio from <i>Twelfth Night</i> alongside stock figures of cuckolds and madmen in both English theatrical traditions and <i>commedia dell'arte</i>; finally it investigates the theory's broader sociopolitical relevance by analysing war-related humour and racist jokes while addressing comedy's dual capacity to both challenge and reinforce existing power structures.</p><p>This volume will appeal to the scholars and students of theatre and performance studies psychology literary theory and cultural studies interested in the sociopolitical implications of humour.</p>