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Redeeming Laughter, 2nd Edition
book

Redeeming Laughter, 2nd Edition

by Peter L. Berger
October 2014
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
222 pages
7h 37m
English
De Gruyter
Content preview from Redeeming Laughter, 2nd Edition

5 Homo Ridiculus: Social Constructions of the Comic

The clue to an understanding of the place of the comic in society is its profound affinity with religion and magic.

Social order, when it functions well, envelops the individual in a web of habits and meanings that are experienced as self-evidently real. This, as discussed earlier, is what Alfred Schutz called the paramount reality of everyday life. Despite this semblance of solidity, social order is always vulnerable to disruptions. These disruptions are caused, among other things, by the intrusions of other realities. The sacred is one such intrusion. The comic is another. The two have a lot in common, which is why saints and fools have often had an uncomfortable similarity. Any sociological ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9783110353938