Thesis (M.A. in Theological Studies)--Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-182).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Nicholas Wuehrmann. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-69).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

This thesis is concerned with the challenges of devising a full-masked theatre performance that is largely accessible to audiences of every age, social background and culture. The contribution to original knowledge is in the study's examination of the relationship between the devising processes of a full-masked performance, neurobiology, human ethology and the accessibility of audience reception (Bennett, 1994). The thesis addresses the concept of accessibility by taking a phenomenological approach to devising and audience reception, with particular focus on the role of neurobiological systems and structures, in particular the mirror neuron system, the pleasure-reward system, and pattern recognition systems, in the communication and reception of performance meaning (McConachie, 2008). The research is framed by the concept of a universal theatrical language proposed by practitioners Peter Brook and Tadeshi Suzuki, which has the potential to connect people at the deepest levels of their humanity (Pavis, 1996: 6). Practical approaches adopted in the research are informed and supported by anthropological and human ethological claims of universality (Ekman, 1975; Brown, 1991; Eibl-Eibesfeldt; 2007 [1989]; Schmitt et al. 1997). This thesis theorizes that human beings possess innate neurobiological systems that interact with culturally specific concepts, conditions and knowledge in such a way that when deployed appropriately, these innate neurobiological systems can be a platform for human cognition and for the designing of performances accessible to an audience of different ages, social backgrounds and cultures. It also proposes that innate neurobiological systems create a universal framework that makes it possible for the said broad-based audience to read and receive a performance using similar codes of cognition and aesthetic reference irrespective of age, social and cultural backgrounds. The research process led to the creation of an original full-masked theatrical performance and eighteen performances of this piece were given to different audiences in a range of venues and locations in Northamptonshire. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis of how the various audiences received the performance suggest that the devising methods employed did contribute to making the performance accessible to an audience with a broader constituency than theaters normally envision (Pitts-Walker, 1994: 9-10). This research enables practitioners for whom a wide audience and accessibility are an explicit focus to adopt devising approaches that will help to achieve the desired wide-ranging reception and accessibility in mixed audiences irrespective of race, age, gender and culture.

This dissertation is a study of ordinary North Korean people who have persevered in the face of tremendous social, political, and economic trials throughout their country's modern history and a tribute to their unflagging ingenuity and good humor that allowed them to hold onto their humanity. Focusing on the question of agency within the realm of everyday living, my inquiry examines the emergence of a laughing subject during the post-Korean War period and the state's efforts to discipline him through cinema in the succeeding decade. A product of the new Soviet-sponsored cultural policy of the 1950s that promoted social and political satire across the socialist world, the jester became an identity tactically adopted by various individuals, which was responsible for the proliferation of nonconformist practices in North Korea. Using Michel de Certeau's concept of the everyday as a sphere of creative inventiveness, this work describes and analyzes the small acts of "comic disobedience" by means of which the ordinary person has been able to outmaneuver the existing order and create a thriving underground culture of antidiscipline. Spanning a variety of media from print cartoons to live-action cinema to animation, the official response to the jester's challenge, on one hand, sought to create identifiable comic characters and, on the other, effectively demarcate between humor and satire with a view of turning a jarring cacophony of laughing voices into a harmonious chorus of collective mirth serving the state's needs. Based on Bakhtin's notion of heteroglossia, my method of analysis suggests that, despite the government's attempts to eliminate any ambiguity from newly constructed ideological texts, the ordinary individual always finds myriad ways to exercise autonomy through his unending playful subversion of official discourse. By tracing the evolution of this dynamic in the North Korean streets, movie theaters, and film studios over the course of nearly two decades, I argue that the production of formal film comedy was inextricably bound up with the state's desire to interpellate a politically loyal and socially conformist subject and should be seen as part of the larger everyday aesthetic of living that took root within the socialist world. / East Asian Languages and Civilizations

An oral history of television comedy from the early 1950s through the mid 1970s as told by the writers Sydney Zelinka, Larry Rhine, Milt Josefsberg, and the team of Seaman Jacobs and Fred S. Fox. The shows they wrote for included "The Honeymooners," "The Phil Silvers Show," "The Red Skelton Hour," Bob Hope specials, "Here's Lucy," "All in the Family," and "Maude." These five writers were working in the earliest days of the medium and spent years writing for the personalities--from performers to producers--who pioneered and defined it. Most of them also wrote scripts during one of broadcast television's greatest periods of transformation, when comedy took a decidedly topical turn that continued to have a significant impact on television comedy in the decades that followed. / text

Swiss-German director Dani Levy uses humor to explore recent German history in his films "Alles auf Zucker" (2004) and "Mein Führer: Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler" (2007). In a move unusual for German-speaking film directors, Levy pokes fun at Adolf Hitler and his regime in "Mein Führer." Levy also plays with the tension among formerly estranged members of a Jewish family in "Alles auf Zucker" to create a metaphor for the strained relations in reunified Germany.This project explores how Levy uses humor to break taboos in contemporary German society and prompt audiences through humor to critical debate about recent German history and its implications for contemporary and future society. This analysis is important to the German-speaking world and global audiences because Levy's work begs viewers to ponder what they can laugh at, who is allowed to make jokes, and how comedy can promote debate about societal norms and taboos.

No description available.

This dissertation examines religion’s satirical portrayal in The Simpsons. Building upon a sociological theory of humour developed from Peter Berger’s sociological theories of knowledge, religion, and humour, it assesses how The Simpsons criticizes America’s major religious traditions and their social roles. Arguing that the program presents a spectrum of acceptable religious practice, this dissertation demonstrates how The Simpsons constructs its arguments by selectively interpreting each tradition through its most recognizable characteristics and the common sentiments through which those characteristics are interpreted. These “ignorant familiarities” are used as a basis for understanding what Americans presumably know about religion, what is deemed acceptable “religious behaviour” in the public sphere, and what the consequences are for those religions that The Simpsons caricatures.

No description available.