Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Illustrations vii
4. Acknowledgements ix
5. Introduction 1
6. 1 The Origins of Comic Performance in Adult-Child Interaction 27
7. 2 Learning from the Ludic: Anthropological Fieldwork 39
8. 3 Humour as a Mode of Cognition 58
9. 4 Comic Strips and the Makings of American Identity 76
10. 5 Jokes without Frontiers, War without Tears: Humour, Stress and Power in an Anglo-German Bank Branch 98
11. 6 Laughing at the Future: Cross-Cultural Science Fiction Films 114
12. 7 The English Christmas Pantomime: Toying with History, Playing with Gender, Laughing at Today 137
13. 8 The Function of Satire in Italian Popular Song 159
14. 9 Laughing at the Past among Venetian Islanders: Carlo Goldoni’s Scuffles in Chioggia 183
15. Index 201