The Mirror of Laughter

The Mirror of Laughter presents a theory of humor and laughter by examining their relationship to human behaviors

Alexander Kozintsev

Preface 1. The Comical, or Imitation of Inferior People Incongruity, Degradation, and Self-Parody: The Implicit Narrator Subject and Object: Relation and Metarelation Funniness and Ridicule: An Essay on Nonentities Who is the Inferior Other? 2. The Origins Humor, Laughter, and the Brain From Tickling to Humor From Laughter to Humor Play-Challenge, or James Sully Redux 3. Play, Language, and Laughter Orderly Play as a Metaphor of Culture Disorderly Play as a Metaphor of Nature The Anti-Referential Function of Language Irony and Humor: The Two Ways of Playing with Signs Humor and Laughter as a Species Reaction 4. Culture versus Nature Emotions, Reflexes, and Symbols Laughter and Evil: The History of a Misunderstanding Conclusions Index of Names Index of Subjects