cfp.english.upenn.edu

Humour is widely regarded as the tendency to provoke laughter and provide enjoyment, yet when we are amused, laugh or smile at something we regard to be funny, the context of the object in question is often not funny at all, but rather sad and to be pitied. Although humour may be often associated with ‘mere comedy’ and thus, with a lower form of literature, it is striking to note the great number of great works of literature that indeed use humour. Throughout the ages, humour has always remained a popular approach of many authors who desire to provoke a reaction in their readers or audiences. The seriousness we attribute to humour is certainly underscored by the following remark made by Frank Moore Colby: “Men will confess to treason, murder, arson, false teeth, or a wig. How many of them will own up to a lack of humour?”
 This inter-disciplinary conference seeks to investigate and explore the nature and significance of humour and its impact on diverse fields of art such as literature, drama, film or painting.
To encourage innovative dialogues, we warmly welcome papers from diverse disciplines and professions.

Suggested topics for papers are:
Black Humour
Humour as Defense Mechanism
Humour and the Carnivalesque
Laughter and Psychology
The Use of Satire
Farce
Puns and Verbal Ambiguity
Irony