Christopher Rea, The Age of Irreverence： A New History of Laughter in China. Berkeley, CA： University of California Press, 2015
In a sense, the title of Christopher Rea＇s book is misleading. It is not a newhistory of laughter in China; it is the ordyhistory of laughter in China. Calling the book a ＂history,＂ on the other hand, is less subject to dispute. The Age of Irreverence devotes meticulous attention to primary sources,...
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| Published in | 中国文学研究前沿：英文版 no. 2; pp. 343 - 345 |
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| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
2016
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
| ISSN | 1673-7318 1673-7423 |
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| Summary: | In a sense, the title of Christopher Rea＇s book is misleading. It is not a newhistory of laughter in China; it is the ordyhistory of laughter in China. Calling the book a ＂history,＂ on the other hand, is less subject to dispute. The Age of Irreverence devotes meticulous attention to primary sources, and crafts its findings into a narrative of humor in popular culture from the turn of the twentieth century through the 1930s, with a nod in the epilogue toward the socialist era and beyond. As a scholarly intervention, however, the book＇s central argument most directly targets not history, but literary studies. The introductory chapter makes this clear in its discussion of ＂lost laughter＂; specifically, the idea that scholarly attention to trauma and suffering in modem Chinese literature has neglected a rich and heterogeneous discourse of fun that, in its time, engaged a huge audience of educated Chinese. |
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| Bibliography: | In a sense, the title of Christopher Rea＇s book is misleading. It is not a newhistory of laughter in China; it is the ordyhistory of laughter in China. Calling the book a ＂history,＂ on the other hand, is less subject to dispute. The Age of Irreverence devotes meticulous attention to primary sources, and crafts its findings into a narrative of humor in popular culture from the turn of the twentieth century through the 1930s, with a nod in the epilogue toward the socialist era and beyond. As a scholarly intervention, however, the book＇s central argument most directly targets not history, but literary studies. The introductory chapter makes this clear in its discussion of ＂lost laughter＂; specifically, the idea that scholarly attention to trauma and suffering in modem Chinese literature has neglected a rich and heterogeneous discourse of fun that, in its time, engaged a huge audience of educated Chinese. 11-5745/I |
| ISSN: | 1673-7318 1673-7423 |