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At the foot of the Cross, as Jesus hung in agony, the crowd laughed. Christians, ever since, have been ambivalent about laughter. Debates about Christian laughter had a profound influence on many great humanist writers, including Erasmus and Rabelais. Here, Michael Screech illuminates the background to their writing and their individual achievements. 'Elegant and stimulating' Karen Armstrong, Independent
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Review:
"Lavishly erudite, digressive. . . . Screech commands the intellectual and literary history of the sixteenth century. . . . The finished book is a provocative, wide-ranging work of cultural history."--Anthony Grafton "Times Literary Supplement "
"Laughter can be innocent. . . . But suppose there is an exultation over the foe, can this be Christian? Psalm II suggests it can. For after describing the rage of the heathen and their plots against God's anointed, it says: 'He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: The Lord shall have them in derision.' What gives "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" its sinew and muscle is the way Screech takes this mocking triumph with the utmost seriousness. . . . Apart from numerous fresh insights along the way and the scholarly erudition, the great importance of this book is a paradoxical one. It is a book about laughter but it forces us to face the reality of evil."--Rt Revd Lord Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford "Times Higher Education "
"A splendid and exciting book, and a learned one. It takes the maxim that man is a laughing animal and enlarges it to encompass the concept that Christianity is a religion centred on laughter. . . . "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" is a book that is historical in its thrust, philological at every step in its argument, and vigorously celebratory of the achievement of Erasmus and Rabelais both for their own times and for our own."--R. J. Shoeck "Journal of Ecclesiastical History "
Lavishly erudite, digressive. . . . Screech commands the intellectual and literary history of the sixteenth century. . . . The finished book is a provocative, wide-ranging work of cultural history. --Anthony Grafton "Times Literary Supplement ""
Laughter can be innocent. . . . But suppose there is an exultation over the foe, can this be Christian? Psalm II suggests it can. For after describing the rage of the heathen and their plots against God s anointed, it says: He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: The Lord shall have them in derision. What gives "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" its sinew and muscle is the way Screech takes this mocking triumph with the utmost seriousness. . . . Apart from numerous fresh insights along the way and the scholarly erudition, the great importance of this book is a paradoxical one. It is a book about laughter but it forces us to face the reality of evil. --Rt Revd Lord Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford "Times Higher Education ""
A splendid and exciting book, and a learned one. It takes the maxim that man is a laughing animal and enlarges it to encompass the concept that Christianity is a religion centred on laughter. . . . "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" is a book that is historical in its thrust, philological at every step in its argument, and vigorously celebratory of the achievement of Erasmus and Rabelais both for their own times and for our own. --R. J. Shoeck "Journal of Ecclesiastical History ""
Synopsis:
"Laughter can be innocent. . . . But suppose there is an exultation over the foe, can this be Christian? Psalm II suggests it can. For after describing the rage of the heathen and their plots against God's anointed, it says: 'He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: The Lord shall have them in derision.' What gives "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" its sinew and muscle is the way Screech takes this mocking triumph with the utmost seriousness. . . . Apart from numerous fresh insights along the way and the scholarly erudition, the great importance of this book is a paradoxical one. It is a book about laughter but it forces us to face the reality of evil."--Rt Revd Lord Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford "Times Higher Education "
"A splendid and exciting book, and a learned one. It takes the maxim that man is a laughing animal and enlarges it to encompass the concept that Christianity is a religion centred on laughter. . . . "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" is a book that is historical in its thrust, philological at every step in its argument, and vigorously celebratory of the achievement of Erasmus and Rabelais both for their own times and for our own."--R. J. Shoeck "Journal of Ecclesiastical History "
Lavishly erudite, digressive. . . . Screech commands the intellectual and literary history of the sixteenth century. . . . The finished book is a provocative, wide-ranging work of cultural history. --Anthony Grafton "Times Literary Supplement ""
Laughter can be innocent. . . . But suppose there is an exultation over the foe, can this be Christian? Psalm II suggests it can. For after describing the rage of the heathen and their plots against God s anointed, it says: He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: The Lord shall have them in derision. What gives "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" its sinew and muscle is the way Screech takes this mocking triumph with the utmost seriousness. . . . Apart from numerous fresh insights along the way and the scholarly erudition, the great importance of this book is a paradoxical one. It is a book about laughter but it forces us to face the reality of evil. --Rt Revd Lord Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford "Times Higher Education ""
A splendid and exciting book, and a learned one. It takes the maxim that man is a laughing animal and enlarges it to encompass the concept that Christianity is a religion centred on laughter. . . . "Laughter at the Foot of the Cross" is a book that is historical in its thrust, philological at every step in its argument, and vigorously celebratory of the achievement of Erasmus and Rabelais both for their own times and for our own. --R. J. Shoeck "Journal of Ecclesiastical History ""
Takes as its starting point the group of concepts centred on "good" madness - and, consequently, on laughter and comedy - which were discovered and developed in the Renaissance as objects of historical study and which led to a subtle shift of emphasis in many domains such as theology, literature, law and medicine.
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- PublisherPenguin
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 014012490X
- ISBN 13 9780140124903
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages352
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