The Soul of Wit: Joke Theory from Grimm to FreudWitz first became a burning issue for German intellectuals after 1671 when le Père Dominique Bonhours in his Entretiens d'Artiste et d'Eugène informed them that they didn't have any. According to Bonhours, it wasn't really the Germans' fault that they were a little dim, it is just that they live in a cold climate and tend to be fat. A feud between French bel esprit and German Intellekt erupted that has persisted ever since. Scholarly investigations into the nature of the joke have traditionally been plagued by a bad conscience and invariably begin with an apology to the reader for taking time for such a frivolous subject. In breaking with this tradition, Hill places wit almost at the heart of the universe, tracing it from Genesis to the dawn of themodern age. Even if the reader is reluctant to grant Witz this metaphysical and world-historical status, it must at least be admitted that Witz cannot be dismissed as a just a joke. Witz can serve either builders or destroyers, defenders of the faith or heretics, diplomats or oafs, male chauvinists or radical feminists. Witz shows its volatility in setting up cultural, class, and gender boundaries just to smash them. Hill argues that there is something about Witz that makes it quintessential to the plight of modern culture. He views Witz as an ahistorical subject developing over time and transcending the lifespans and intentions of the authors who have wirtten with or about it. In Der Witz, for instance, Freud thougth he was describing the workings of a historical psychological process, but the material he works with betrays him. His examples twist, mock, and undermine the theories he makes about them. And though Fred wrote dismissively of it, there is a long history of Witztheorie from which his own sprang. It has a long history through which its meaning shifts many times. The very word Witz was fought over, sometimes sluggishly and between buffoons but often with a brilliance that gave it lustre. |
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Page 31
... Witz is not permitted the unrestricted use of reason , then it will cultivate irrationality . This may help to explain the growing predominance throughout the eighteenth century of Witz's humorous side . Meier's Gedancken von Schertzen ...
... Witz is not permitted the unrestricted use of reason , then it will cultivate irrationality . This may help to explain the growing predominance throughout the eighteenth century of Witz's humorous side . Meier's Gedancken von Schertzen ...
Page 35
... Witz loses its function as a central principle of poetics to the concept of Genie ' ( Renner 922 ) . This should not be ... Witz's inability to deal with passion has nothing to do with anything inherent in its nature . If Witz appears ...
... Witz loses its function as a central principle of poetics to the concept of Genie ' ( Renner 922 ) . This should not be ... Witz's inability to deal with passion has nothing to do with anything inherent in its nature . If Witz appears ...
Page 71
... Witz within the context of an eman- cipatory struggle , but criticizes what he takes to be Ruge's overempha- sis of Witz's negative facets . While admitting Witz's subjectivistic , atomistic qualities , Vischer takes Ruge's idea of Witz's ...
... Witz within the context of an eman- cipatory struggle , but criticizes what he takes to be Ruge's overempha- sis of Witz's negative facets . While admitting Witz's subjectivistic , atomistic qualities , Vischer takes Ruge's idea of Witz's ...
Contents
Witz and the Enlightenment II | 13 |
Revolutionary Witz | 35 |
The Science of Witz | 65 |
Copyright | |
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aesthetic analysis anti-Semitism appear aristocratic assimilation attempt basis becomes bel esprit Bildung Börne Bouhours bourgeois bourgeoisie century chapter character claims comic connection critical critique cultural discourse discussion dreams economic emancipatory Enlightenment Ersparnis essay ethic example fact Fischer force Freud Genie Gentile gives Gleichnis golden calf Grimm Hegelian Heine Heine's Hernani homosexual Humor ical ideal individual intellectual Jean Paul Jewish jokes Jews joke book Judaism Karlsbad Kraus Lassalle laugh laughter literary male Marx mayonnaise meaning Meier Menzel modern moral nature nomic object person Platen play pleasure poet polemic political principle psychic economy public sphere purely rational religion remains remark repression ridicule role Ruge Schadchen Schnorrer Schwank seems seen sense sexual simply social society spirit superego takes tendentious jokes theoretical theory things tion tradition turn utopian Vienna Wippchen witty Witz and Komik Witz's Witztheorie woman women and Jews Young Germans Zote