Looking at Laughter: Humor, Power, and Transgression in Roman Visual Culture, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250
Author(s): John R. Clarke (Author)
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication Date: 20 Nov. 2007
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Print length: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 0520237331
ISBN-13: 9780520237339
Book Description
In this engaging study, a follow up to his earlier Looking at Lovemaking John R. Clarke asks what the Romans found funny, and why. As the title would suggest, he focuses on the evidence to be found in Roman art and material culture, including graffitti, although literary sources of course provide a framework for the study. He draws heavily on the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin, finding that much of Roman humour relies on the overturning of the existing social order, and breaking of taboos, be they social, religious or sexual.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Brave and sometimes brilliant… Clarke has a wonderful eye for the byways of Roman art and a passionate determination… Presents an extremely powerful case… A wonderful book.” New York Review Of Books 20080717 “No one is doing more to enrich our pictures of Roman visual culture, or to encourage a more imaginative and open-minded approach to it… For this contribution alone, the author and his book are to be greatly recommended.” — Christopher H. Hallett Journal Of Interdisciplinary History 20090301 “Clearly written and carefully explicated, the book is suitable for students and nonspecialists … art historians and classicists.” — Eve D’ambra The Historian 20100630 “Clarke has accomplished a pioneering study… The book is beautifully executed.” Art Bulletin (CAA) 20110601
From the Inside Flap
“With Looking at Laughter, Clarke continues his project of viewing art through the eyes of contemporary Romans, by shedding modern prejudices and preconceptions as much as possible. Clarke uses material evidence not as a mere illustration of what our texts tell us, but as an independent indication that both supplements and contradicts what elite sources chose to discuss. Consistently engaging and convincing, the text is accompanied by illustrative material that is always of the highest quality.”Anthony Corbeill, author of Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome
“John Clarke capitalizes on the success of his widely admired and enjoyable books on aspects of Roman visual and material culture: after sexuality and housing, the topic is now humor. This books offers a detailed overview of how visual evidence can be used to recuperate a specifically Roman culture of laughter, fun, and burlesque.”Alessandro Barchiesi, general editor of
The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies
“From giggles to belly-laughs, sniggers to guffaws, John Clarke’s new book artfully exposes an unexpected side of Roman visual culture. In an intriguing journey through images high and low, there are all kinds of surprises in store. He leaves you with the sense that you may often have missed the joke in Roman art.”Mary Beard, author of
The Roman Triumph
From the Back Cover
“With Looking at Laughter, Clarke continues his project of viewing art through the eyes of contemporary Romans, by shedding modern prejudices and preconceptions as much as possible. Clarke uses material evidence not as a mere illustration of what our texts tell us, but as an independent indication that both supplements and contradicts what elite sources chose to discuss. Consistently engaging and convincing, the text is accompanied by illustrative material that is always of the highest quality.”—Anthony Corbeill, author of Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome
“John Clarke capitalizes on the success of his widely admired and enjoyable books on aspects of Roman visual and material culture: after sexuality and housing, the topic is now humor. This books offers a detailed overview of how visual evidence can be used to recuperate a specifically Roman culture of laughter, fun, and burlesque.”—Alessandro Barchiesi, general editor of
The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies
“From giggles to belly-laughs, sniggers to guffaws, John Clarke’s new book artfully exposes an unexpected side of Roman visual culture. In an intriguing journey through images high and low, there are all kinds of surprises in store. He leaves you with the sense that you may often have missed the joke in Roman art.”—Mary Beard, author of
The Roman Triumph
About the Author
John R. Clarke is Annie Laurie Howard Regents Professor of History of Art at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans (UC Press, 2003), Roman Sex (2003), Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art,100 B.C. A.D. 250 (UC Press, 1998), and The Houses of Roman Italy: 100 B.C. A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration (UC Press, 1991).
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