Overview

By its very nature the clown, as represented in art, is an interdisciplinary phenomenon. In whichever artform it appears – fiction, drama, film, photography or fine art – it carries the symbolic association of its usage in popular culture, be it ritual festivities, street theatre or circus. The clown, like its extended family of fools, jesters, picaros and tricksters, has a variety of functions all focussed around its status and image of being “other.” Frequently a marginalized figure, it provides the foil for the shortcomings of dominant discourse or the absurdities of human behaviour. Clowns, Fools and Picaros represents the latest research on the clown, bringing together for the first time studies from four continents: Europe, America, Africa and Asia. It attempts to ascertain commonalities, overlaps and differences between artistic expressions of the “clownesque” from these various continents and genres, and above all, to examine the role of the clown in our cultures today. This volume is of interest for scholars of political and comic drama, film and visual art as well as scholars of comparative literature and anthropology.

Full Product Details

Author:   David Robb
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Editions Rodopi B.V.
Volume:   43
Dimensions:   Width: 15.00cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 22.00cm
Weight:   0.376kg
ISBN:  

9789042023406

ISBN 10:   9042023406
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   01 January 2007
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of print, replaced by POD  
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Table of Contents

David ROBB: Introduction Robert CHEESMOND: Where the Antic Sits Faye RAN: Modern Tragicomedy and the Fool Ashley TOBIAS: The Postmodern Theatre Clown Rudiger GOERNER: Nietzsche and the Praise of Masks Maxim Leonid WEINTRAUB: Clowning Around at the Limits of Representation: On Fools, Fetishes and Bruce Naumann's Clown Torture Barbara LEWIS: An American Circus: the Lynch Victim as Clown Kayode Gboyega KOFOWOROLA: The Court Jester in Nigerian Drama Ron JENKINS: Fratello Arlecchino : Clowns, Kings, and Bombs in Bali Stephen KNAPPER: Scaramouche: The Mask and the Millenium Des O'RAWE: The Cinema of Masks: Commedia dell `Arte and Jean Renoir's The Golden Coach David ROBB: From Nestroy to Wenzel & Mensching: Carnivalesque Revolutionaries in the German-Speaking Theatrical Tradition Marina KOTZAMANI: Karlos Koun, Karaghiozis and The Birds: Aristophanes as Popular Theatre Stephen LLANO: The Clown as Social Critic: Kerouac's Vision Bernhard MALKMUS: Picaresque Narratology: Lazarillo de Tormes and Edgar Hilsenrath's Der Nazi und der Friseur

Reviews

[a] facinating book ... this book's strength is to be found in its multi-dimensional, multi-role, identity in: Dramatherapy, Vol. 30, No 2, Autumn 2008

[a] facinating book this book s strength is to be found in its multi-dimensional, multi-role, identity in: Dramatherapy, Vol. 30, No 2, Autumn 2008

Author Information

David Robb is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts at the Queen’s University of Belfast. He developed an interest in theatrical clowning while researching his PhD on the East Berlin cabaret duo Wenzel & Mensching, who integrated aspects of commedia dell’arte into their political song act. David Robb’s book Zwei Clowns im Lande des verlorenen Lachens: Das Liedertheater Wenzel & Mensching was published in 1998. He is a specialist in German political song and has recently published the book Protest Song in East and West Germany since the 1960s. He is also an experienced songwriter and performing musician.

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