Steve Neale and Frank Krutnik take as their starting point the remarkable diversity of comedys forms and modes - feature-length narratives; sketches and shorts; sit-com and variety; slapstick and romance. Relating this diversity to the variety of comedys basic conventions - from happy endings to the presence of gags and the involvement of humour and laughter - they seek both to explain the nature of these forms and conventions and to relate them to their institutional contexts. They propose that all forms and modes of the comic involve deviations from aesthetic and cultural conventions and norms; and; to demonstrate this; they discuss a wide range of programmes and films; from Blackadder to Bringing up Baby; from City Limits to Blind Date; from the Roadrunner cartoons to Bless this House and The Two Ronnies. Comedies looked at in particular detail include: the classic slapstick films of Keaton; Lloyd; and Chaplin; Hollywoods screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s; Monty Python; Hancock; and Steptoe and Son. The authors also relate their discussion to radio comedy.
#2185634 in eBooks 2006-10-19 2006-10-19File Name: B000FA60JU
Review
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A Journey through ComplexitiesBy Yow Cheun HoeI enjoyed this book very much. It is an academic writing that gives deep exploration of the existing literature on the subject under study and provides fascinating insight into the complexities of migrations and migrants. It is also a literary work that is written in poetic style and fraught with endless philosophical thoughts.Iain Chambers in this book successfully challenges the belief that we are living in a unitary world with linear history and homogenous culture. Reading this book is a journey that leads us through the diversities surrounding and defining us. Along the journey; we will be given many interesting perspectives to look at the fact that we have increasingly realized - we are living between worlds and cultures that are shaped by as well as shaping different migrants; languages; and histories.