Immortal Comedy

This book is the first attempt to think philosophically about the comic phenomenon in literature, art, and life. Working across a substantial collection of comic works author Agnes Heller makes seminal observations on the comic in the work of both classical and contemporary figures. Whether she's discussing Shakespeare, Kafka, Rabelais, or the paintings of Brueghel and Daumier Heller's Immortal Comedy makes a characteristic contribution to modern thought across the humanities.

Agnes Heller is Hannah Arendt Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research and a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Chapter 1 The Undeterminable Essence of the Comic Chapter 2 On Laughter Chapter 3 The Comic Drama Chapter 4 The Comic Novel Chapter 5 Existential Comedy Chapter 6 The Joke or the Third Kind of Narrative Prose Chapter 7 The Comic Image in Visual Arts I Chapter 8 The Comic Image in Visual Arts II Chapter 9 An Address to the Faithful Reader