The Art of Humour in the Teatro Breve and Comedias of Calderón de la Barca (Monografías A)
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Contrary to popular belief, Pedro Calderón de la Barca had a sense of humour. This book examines the integral and often essential use of humour in his works, looking beyond his persistent reputation as a dour and dogmatic representative of the Spanish canon. Calderón's teatro breve (featuring mojigangas, entremeses and jácaras) thrives on comic techniques and situations that poke fun at everything and everybody, from aspiring nobility to people facing execution; and he parodies and satirizes genres and themes such as the auto sacramental or the infamous 'honour code'. His irreverence and desire for the audience's laughter are not just expressed in his teatro breve: the very same humorous techniques and situations, and even entire small works themselves, are found in his comedias, blurring and often eliminating the distinction between 'major' and 'minor' genres. Calderón proves that the 'complementary' teatro breve need not live a separate existence, and that its presence within the comedia itself offers untold opportunities for novelty, diversion and criticism. By turning jokes into a dramatic art form and vice versa, Calderón has much to teach us about the presence, role and functioning of humour in all of Spanish Golden Age theatre. TED L.L. BERGMAN is Professor of Spanish Language and Culture, Soka University of America. Al contrario de lo que generalmente se cree, Pedro Calderón de la Barca tenía un sentido de humor. Esta monografía analiza el papel integral y muchas veces esencial desempeñado por el humor en las obras de Calderón. Su teatro breve, por ejemplo, se deleita en técnicas humorísticas y situaciones cómicas en las que se burla de todos y de todo, desde los pordioseros hasta los condenados a muerte. Incluso satiriza y parodia géneros tales como el auto sacramental y temas como el código de honor. Pero la irreverencia de Calderón y su deseo de hacerle reír al público no se limita a su teatro breve; en efecto las mismas técnicas y situaciones cómicas - y hasta la totalidad de una obra breve - se incluyen también en las comedias. La destreza demostrada por Calderón al convertir los chistes en una obra de arte nos obliga a considerar de nuevo el uso del humor en el teatro del Siglo de Oro.
About the Author
Ted L.L. Bergman is Professor of Spanish Language and Culture, Soka University of America.
The Art of Humour in the Teatro Breve and Comedias of Calderón de la Barca (Monografías A),Ted L.L. Bergman,Tamesis Books,1855660962,1600-1681,American - Hispanic American,Calderon de la Barca, Pedro,,Calderâon de la Barca, Pedro,,Continental European,Humor,Humor in literature,Literary Criticism,Plays / Drama,Performing Arts,Performing Arts / Film / General,Plays & playwrights: 16th to 18th centuries,Spain,Spanish
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