Esta tese visa a apresentar a parte da dramaturgia de Fernando Gomes que dialoga com narrativas de Camilo Castelo Branco a fim de estabelecerem-se relações entre as concepções de mundo dos dois autores no que tange à nacionalidade, à mulher e ao comportamento humano. Nesse sentido, o estudo do cômico tornou-se fundamental já que ambos os escritores se valem do humor para promoverem suas análises da época em que se inserem e do universo interior humano. O riso movimenta e incentiva a ação, cônscios do valor dessa ferramenta, novelista e dramaturgo apresentam sua cosmovisão sob esse viés. / This thesis aims to present the part of Fernando Gomes work that converses with narratives of Camilo Castelo Branco to settle relations between the worldviews of the two authors in relation to nationality, women and human behavior. In this sense, the study of the comic has become crucial once both writers make use humor to promote their analysis of their time, the universe and human interior. Laughter moves and encourages action, conscious of the value of this tool, novelist and playwright presents their worldview from this angle.

Esta tese visa a apresentar a parte da dramaturgia de Fernando Gomes que dialoga com narrativas de Camilo Castelo Branco a fim de estabelecerem-se relações entre as concepções de mundo dos dois autores no que tange à nacionalidade, à mulher e ao comportamento humano. Nesse sentido, o estudo do cômico tornou-se fundamental já que ambos os escritores se valem do humor para promoverem suas análises da época em que se inserem e do universo interior humano. O riso movimenta e incentiva a ação, cônscios do valor dessa ferramenta, novelista e dramaturgo apresentam sua cosmovisão sob esse viés. / This thesis aims to present the part of Fernando Gomes work that converses with narratives of Camilo Castelo Branco to settle relations between the worldviews of the two authors in relation to nationality, women and human behavior. In this sense, the study of the comic has become crucial once both writers make use humor to promote their analysis of their time, the universe and human interior. Laughter moves and encourages action, conscious of the value of this tool, novelist and playwright presents their worldview from this angle.

No description available.

The Histoire comique de Francion (1623--1633) of Charles Sorel marks a passage in the history of laughter, from the Renaissance to the classical period. Sorel defines the Histoire comique as a realistic genre by opposing it to the heroic, pastoral and burlesque genres. Whereas Rabelaisian works showed an ambivalent and carnivalesque laughter, the tone of Sorel's Francion is both satirical and univocal. The carnivalesque and popular traditions are mocked for the benefit of an elitist rationalism. The Francion shows a hero who distances himself from the popular culture to become a honnete homme. In order to respect the bienseances, laughter becomes spiritual, abstract and moderated. It attacks humans' ridiculous shortcomings instead of mocking the dominating classes as did the carnivalesque laughter in a debunking process. The polite laughter of the Francion distinguishes itself from the corporeal, excessive and regenerating laughter that one finds in Rabelais. The satire of Francion prepares for more serious endeavors.

This thesis studies the theme of laughter in the works of Victor Hugo, distinguishing two topical networks: that of perverse gaiety and that of forced laughter. Part One (La Gaiete perverse) shows how Hugo, drawing various commonplaces related to cruel laughter in the gothic novel, creates a first family of characters whose laugh derives from their demented nature (the monster, the headsman, the priest, the outlaw, the mob, the court jester). Part Two (La Tristesse des justes) concerns the Hugo which, between 1845 and 1862, fashions a mythology of the People renewing with commonplaces related to perverse gaiety, which he now links to characters seen as pillars of the Second Empire (the tyrant, the soldier, the police officer). While the wicked laugh, the just man cries, and the laughter of the oppressed (the convict, the prostitute, the street urchin) is constrained. Part Three (Le Rire de force) considers three works dating from Hugo's exile, including L'Homme qui rit, where the author clearly defines what constitutes forced laughter: a victim's exultation caused by the perversity of his social torturer, the tyrant. This transition from perverse gaiety (which stems from individual perversion) to forced laughter (the result of society's perversion) will be interpreted as the reflexion of a shift in the identity of Hugo's implied reader. While the first Hugo wrote about the people, the later Hugo aspires to write for the people, which considerably affects the meaning conferred to various commonplaces used throughout his writing career.

Bibliography: leaves 266-273 / 273 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Classics, 1987

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T16:15:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cilene Pascotto Garroti2.pdf: 894471 bytes, checksum: 68f2993bc1164ff91aff7db64bd366be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Little discussed in the educational area, the laughter has historically been separated from the school, which is why this work has target to identify how it is realized in class room.The proposal was to understand how the laughter and its social function are seen by the subjects. For this, we selected a state school in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. Teenagers who attend classes at Secondary and High School are met there. The research was directed at students who are finishing elementary school. One hundred students answered structured questionnaires consisting of profile item and open questions. The same was done with nineteen teachers from the same school, however the questions for each public suffered variations. As an analytical category, was used the concept of representation of the Theory of Social Representations, on instrumental way. The results indicate that the subject observes a hybrid concept in the composition of the object under examination in order to evaluate as harmful element in a moment, and in other, as a stimulating resource to more enjoyable classes. It was found that the students laugh at school, but it is significant to notice that it is not associated to the school context. Students reinforce that laughter in the classroom disrupts concentration, although they are aware that this finding is circumstantial. In contrast, more than 60 students stated they had learned something from the interference of laughter, with the teacher the main protagonist in those moments. Concerning the teachers, most of them said that laughter can help the student to learn something, but understand that the greatest contribution of this element in the classroom is to provide a more pleasant environment. The two disadvantages listed by teachers are that laughter in the classroom could cause a lack of attention of the student and also bullying moments between classmates. It is believed that the association of the school environment with demonstrations of seriousness justify the frequent references to its negative aspect, portrayed in this research by the subjects. More than half of the teachers analyze that laughter can serve as a pedagogical tool, but students say it depends on the teacher and the time. This research made it clear that the negative aspect of laughter prevents it to be better accepted in the classroom, so that the subjects perception on laughter starts to interfere with the relationship they establish with it in the classroom. / Pouco discutido no âmbito pedagógico, o riso tem sido historicamente dissociado da escola, motivo pelo qual este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar como ele é percebido em sala de aula. A proposta é entender como o riso e sua função social são vistos por professores e alunos. Para isso, foi selecionada uma escola pública estadual na cidade de São Bernardo do Campo, SP. Lá são atendidos adolescentes que frequentam as aulas no Ensino Fundamental II e Médio. A pesquisa foi realizada com estudantes que estão terminando o Ensino Fundamental. Cem alunos responderam a questionários estruturados, compostos por itens de perfil e questões abertas. O mesmo foi feito com dezenove professores da referida escola, entretanto as questões para cada público sofreram variações. Como categoria analítica, foi utilizado o conceito de representação da Teoria de Representações Sociais, de forma instrumental. Os resultados obtidos indicam que os sujeitos observam um conceito híbrido presente na composição do objeto em análise, de forma que o avaliam ora como um elemento nocivo, ora como um recurso estimulante a aulas mais agradáveis. Foi constatado que os alunos riem na escola, mas é expressivo o fato de não associar essa ação ao contexto escolar. Os estudantes reforçam que o riso na sala de aula atrapalha a concentração, embora sejam conscientes de que essa constatação é circunstancial. Em contrapartida, mais de 60 alunos afirmaram já terem aprendido algo com a interferência do riso, sendo o professor o principal protagonista nesses momentos. Com relação aos docentes, a maioria afirmou que o riso pode ajudar o aluno a aprender algo, mas compreendem que a maior contribuição desse elemento na sala de aula é a de proporcionar um ambiente mais agradável. As duas desvantagens mais listadas pelos professores sobre o riso na sala de aula é a de que ele pode provocar a falta de atenção do aluno e também momentos de bullying entre os colegas de sala. Acredita-se que a associação do ambiente escolar com manifestações de seriedade justifique as frequentes referências feitas ao seu aspecto negativo, retratado na pesquisa pelos sujeitos. Mais da metade dos docentes analisa que o riso pode servir como instrumento pedagógico, entretanto os alunos afirmam que isso depende do professor e do momento. A pesquisa deixou evidente que o aspecto negativo do riso impede que este objeto seja mais bem aceito na escola, de forma que a percepção que os sujeitos fazem sobre o riso passa a interferir na relação que estabelecem com ele em sala de aula.

My thesis journey was initially motivated by an interest in the individual’s search for God, the self and the other (neighbour, men/women and enemy) as represented in the play texts. This call for a personal relationship with the ‘other’ highlights the individual’s feelings of unease and strangeness at a time when, one might argue, the majority belittles the role of religion, in support of scientific discoveries and human rights. Here, the French philosopher René Girard - whose anthropological and scientific interest in violence, religion and human culture has shaped my research - argues that the progress of humankind would not have become a reality without what he terms sacrifice. Here, I should confirm that the main influence on the early steps of finding my research topic were Peter Shaffer, Slavoj Žižek, Julia Kristeva and Mikhail Bakhtin rather than Rene Girard. This thesis explores several interconnected relationships, the most important of which is between humour and violence or forms of ‘sacrifice’ in the plays of six British playwrights – Peter Barnes and Peter Shaffer, Howard Barker and Sarah Kane as well as Caryl Churchill and David Rudkin. It is this strange relationship which leads me later on to uncover and explore the representations of the stranger, the victim/iser and the foreigner in their works. The return of the stranger – the dead, the ashes of victims of extreme violence, the ghosts, the prisoners and the children - is inseparable from the search for individuality in a world ruled by the gods of war, money and dark humour. My research findings are viewed in the light of two narratives: the first is to do with the upper world and the second is to do with the lower as defined by Bakhtin’s idea of the carnival and the culture of folk humour in the Middle Ages. The upper is serious, official, exclusive and authoritative whereas the second is festive, comic, mythical and popular. It is hard to describe the relationship between these narratives as simply oppositional (some say iconoclastic) because they are coexistent and rely on one another. At this point, the different professional and ideological positions of the playwrights are important aspects in arriving at an understanding of the ways they collapse the borders between humour and terror, the banquet and the battle, carnivals and trials, the parade and economic exploitation, clownery and politics. Though these playwrights are not preachers or reformers, they challenge our easy laughter and our role as we witness the risen from the dead, those in the flames or in the future signalling to us to halt our participation and face responsibility for the victims.

The study seeks to explore the experiences of care workers participating in laughter therapy. Community care workers play a vital role in the support of the HIV/AIDS infected and affected members of the community. However, the nature of this type of work contributes to high levels of emotional distress such as depression, anxiety and stress. The purpose of the study is 1) to explore the effects of working with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) on the care workers and their experiences of participating in laughter therapy; and 2) the effects of laughter therapy on care workers’ levels of depression and stress. Given that laughter has been found to have several positive effects, many variations of this intervention have been developed. For the purpose of this study, a specific type of laughter therapy was used, namely that of Aerobic Laughter Therapy (ALT). The study was part of a project run by InHappiness Institution and was conducted at Nanga Vhutshilo in Soweto. The care workers at the centre provide care services for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Purposive sampling was utilised to recruit seven care workers from the centre who participated in a laughter intervention. The study was phenomenological in nature and utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Quantitative data was collected through two questionnaires administered before and after the laughter therapy intervention: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used to compare pre- and post- results of the scale scores for each participant. Results showed a significant difference between the pre- and post-intervention assessment scores for both Anxiety and Depression (-2.226 (p<0.05) and -1.876 (p<0.05) respectively). In addition, the Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that the post-intervention total scores for PSS were significantly lower than the pre-intervention assessment total scores (-1.863). The significantly lower post-intervention assessment scores show that the laughter therapy intervention produced a positive change with regards to anxiety, depression and stress in the participants. Qualitative data was collected through pre and post –intervention face- to- face semi-structured interviews and were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The three themes that emerged from data analysis of the pre-intervention interviews were: motivation to become a care worker, work stresses and coping mechanisms. The five themes that emerged from the post-intervention interviews were: Initial reactions and expectations, effects on interpersonal relationships, improved effective coping ability, collective participation and laughter as a change agent. The study revealed that care workers experience high levels of stress, and anxiety. These emotions manifested in emotional distress in the form of frustrations, exhaustion and feelings of being overwhelmed. Emotional distress was found to be related to care workers’ personal involvement with their clients and high levels of emotional investment in them. Furthermore the study revealed the cyclic link that identification not only contributed to employment in such contexts, but it served to increase levels of personal involvement. Such personal involvement subsequently caused care workers to experience high levels of emotional distress when unable to meet the needs of the community in this respect. Findings from this study support laughter, with specific reference to Aerobic Laughter Therapy (ALT), as a positive therapeutic intervention that can possibly improve behaviour with regards to coping with difficult situations and providing a buffer against the negative effects of stress. However, the sample used in this study was not sufficient to conclusively make a generalised finding. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Psychology / unrestricted

Establishing a decisive nexus between gender, laughter, and media, this article not only critically discusses the often contradictorily defined concepts of humour, the comic, and laughter but also introduces to the most important theories in these fields with reference to Henri Bergson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Charles Baudelaire, Sigmund Freud, Mikhail Bakhtin, Helmuth Plessner, Anton C. Zijderveld, Judith Butler, Bernhard Greiner, Hans Robert Jauß, Peter L. Berger, and others. Basic concepts such as the “significantly comic” versus the “absolutely comic” or the “comedy of denigration and exclusion” versus the “comedy of valorization and inclusion” are interrogated and the link between comedy, citationality, performativity as well as parody is established. Moreover, this article explores the sociological, psychoanalytical, bodily and theological dimensions to laughter and questions notions such as the carnivalesque and the grotesque. It is argued that the liberating potential of “full laughter” can be understood as the return of the body, of the repressed, and of the Other, and that if it is precisely this ‘other realm’ which ultimately makes laughter possible, laughter simultaneously is humankind’s best means of dealing with it.