Reeves, Kate (2000) Laughter and madness in post-war American fiction. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Two philosophical positions seem evident in post-war American fiction: one
realist, one anti-realist. Using the terms 'revelation' and 'apocalypse' to reflect the
former, and 'entropy' the latter, this thesis proposes that distinctions between the two
can be made by analysis of a text's treatment of the nexus between laughter and
madness.
After an Overview that identifies and defines key terms, the Introduction
considers various theoretical treatments of laughter from which its function can be
ascertained as being both to reinforce stability within social groups and to explore
new alternatives to existing modes of thought. Madness being defined as an inability
to balance the opposing forces of system and anti-system, laughter is therefore vital
to maintain sanity. The Fool emerges as a crucial figure in this process.
Chapter One explores, with reference to Heller's Catch-22, Kesey's One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Kerouac's On The Road, the Laughter of Revelation: a
laughing relationship between a Protagonist who is trapped within the system of an
Institution and a Fool who communicates to the Protagonist (through laughter) a
means of escape. Chapter Two then discusses, with reference to Blatty's The
Exorcist, King's It, Morrison's Sula, and Nabokov's Lolita, the Laughter of
Apocalypse: a laughing relationship in which the Fool's laughter (as mockery) is
potentially destructive of both the Protagonist's sanity and the stability of the
Institution. Chapter Three explores, with reference to Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-5,
Ellis's American Psycho, and Heller's Closing Time, the Laughter of Entropy: the
failure of the laughing relationship that obtains when the dialectic between Institution
(as system) and Fool (as anti-system) collapses.
The concluding remarks reflect the metafictional implications of the foregoing
analyses. It is suggested that, with the collapse of this dialectic (expressed by the
Laughter of Entropy), the traditional relationship between Author and Reader
becomes problematic.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PS American literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism, Laughter in literature, Mental illness in literature, Realism in literature
Official Date:	September 2000
Dates:	Date Event September 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Nash, Cristopher ; Gallafent, Edward
Extent:	[5], 263 leaves
Language:	eng

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