Dark Humor (Bloom's Literary Themes)

ISBN 10: 1604134402 ISBN 13: 9781604134407

Publisher: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2010

Synopsis

The technique of dark humor seeks to create comedy through the use of satirical wit and grotesque situations. This thematic technique can be found in A Clockwork Orange, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," A Modest Proposal, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," White Noise, "The Yellow Wallpaper," and many others, as examined by this new volume.

Featuring original essays and excerpts from previously published critical analyses, this addition to the Bloom's Literary Themes series gives students valuable insight into the title's subject theme.

About this title

About the Author:

Harold Bloom is Sterling Professor of Humanities, Yale University, and Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School

From School Library Journal:

Grade 10 Up—Following a brief introduction, each book presents 18 essays, all critical analyses on specific authors and their works. Half of the essays are reprints from journals or books and date as far back as 1675, and as recently as 2007; the other articles were written for the series. The theme of dark, or black, humor is discussed in the plays of Aristophanes, Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, T. S. Elliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues, and a number of other works. Each essay is directed to an academic audience, and, at times, the ideas are expressed in literary jargon. For example, "Metahumour teases disorder into parodic order in its own borderland, in the play of re-creative fictivity" (Patrick O'Neill, in Canadian Review of Comparative Literature). Likewise, in The Trickster, the motives of this ubiquitous character are sometimes difficult to understand. The essays on this topic suggest that some authors such as William Shakespeare and Mark Twain are themselves tricksters. The choice of works discussed includes Homer's "Odyssey," Jack Kerouac's On the Road, William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Toni Morrison's Tar Baby, and Joel Chandler Harris's "Uncle Remus" stories. The essays presume some background knowledge and an interest in serious literary criticism. These fascinating themes offer material for research papers, but due to the scholarly nature of the writing, they would best serve honors and AP students.—Peggy Fleming, Churchville-Chili High School, Churchville, NY
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About this edition

• Publisher: Blooms Literary Criticism
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1604134402
• ISBN 13: 9781604134407
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 273
• Editor: Hobby Blake