Comedy (from the Greek: ??µ?d?a, komoidía), in the contemporary meaning of the
term, is any discourse or work generally intended to be humorous or to amuse by
inducing laughter, especially in theatre, television, film and stand-up comedy.
This sense of the term must be carefully distinguished from its academic one,
namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece. In
the Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by the
political satire performed by the comic poets at the theComedy (from the Greek:
??µ?d?a, komoidía), in the contemporary meaning of the term, is any discourse or
work generally intended to be humorous or to amuse by inducing laughter,
especially in theatre, television, film and stand-up comedy.
This sense of the term must be carefully distinguished from its academic one,
namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece. In
the Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by the
political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters.[1] The theatrical
genre can be simply described as a dramatic performance which pits two societies
against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye famously
depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the
Old",[2] but this dichotomy is seldom described as an entirely satisfactory
explanation.
A later view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a
relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions that pose obstacles to
his hopes. In this struggle, the youth is understood to be constrained by his
lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to take recourse in
ruses which engender very dramatic irony which provokes laughter.
Satire and political satire use ironic comedy to portray persons or social
institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the
object of humor. Satire is a type of comedy. Parody subverts popular genres and
forms, using certain ironic changes to critique those forms from within (though
not necessarily in a condemning way). Screwball comedy derives its humor largely
from bizarre, surprising (and improbable) situations or characters. Black comedy
is defined by dark humor that makes light of so-called dark or evil elements in
human nature. Similarly scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor create
comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways.
A comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society
(usually upper class society) and uses humor to parody or satirize the behavior
and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a popular genre that depicts
burgeoning romance in humorous terms and focuses on the foibles of those who are
falling in love. |