Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Introduction 1
5. Part 1 Death by Laughter
6. 1. Hysterical Laughter on the Brink of Enjoyment 21
7. 2 Female Death by Laughter (Beyond Enjoyment) 47
8. 3 An All Too Brief History of Laughter and Death 75
9. Part II Female Hysteria
10. 4. Gaslighting the Libido: Feminist Politics of Madness, Laughter, and Power 91
11. 5. Laughter: The Forgotten Symptom 123
12. 6. Mass Hysteria, Collective Laughter, and Affective Contagion 141
13. Part III Early Cinema
14. 7. Laughter Unleashed: Hysterical Women at the Movies 177
15. 8. The Visual Cure? Moving Pictures as Neurotic Trigger and Therapeutic Instrument 215
16. 9. From Mouth to Screen: Laughing Heads in the History of Film 251
17. Conclusion: Laughter, Hysteria, Power—Then and Now 279
18. Notes 283
19. Index 337