Le rire jusqu'a l'homme. (Only humans can laugh.)

Journal/Book: Revue Francaise de Psychanalyse. 1983; 47: 1387-1407.

Abstract: Establishes a relationship between Freud's views on laughter and its place in other disciplines. Comments about laughter by the 16th-century French comic Rabelais and by philosophers such as Pascal and Nietzsche are noted, and the locus of the human body as a source of ridicule is considered in terms of statements by Freud and by authors such as Proust and Shakespeare. In addition, the nature of sound is investigated in relation to its acoustic and musical aspects, contrasting noise and harmony, in an attempt to illuminate Freud's views on laughter within this context. Finally, an effort is made to pull together the analytical strands of the discussion, which raises the question of what is the exact nature of laughter.

Note: views on laughter & locus of body as source of ridicule; Freud vs philosophers vs comic

Keyword(s): Freud sigmund; humor ; laughter ; psychoanalytic interpretation; literature ; philosophies

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