Past Mirth, Present Laughter?

Past Mirth, Present Laughter? is an invitation to contributors to bring the comic works of the past back into the critical spotlight of the present-day academy. ‘[One] issue that humor scholars constantly face is the idea that tragedy or “serious” things are [...] more important than is humor,’ write Alleen and Don Nilsen (2008). If this is true, then we see a need to ask about what causes this perception; to question if it is justified; and, ultimately, to see if it can be changed. Can comedy also be a ‘“serious” thing’?

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We believe that a cross-period and cross-disciplinary open-mindedness is the best way to elicit exciting and ambitious ideas about comedy as a genre. We also believe that the turn of the 20th century saw a significant change in both comedic praxis and theory, which has rendered much comedy prior to this epoch in some sense alien to us. 

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We also wish to thank the Faculty of English Postgraduate Funding Committee and the Gould Fund Managers at Trinity College for making this conference possible. 

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