Controlling Laughter [Hardcover]

Anthony Corbeill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 1996

Previous scholarship has offered two explanations for why abusive language proliferated in Roman oratory. The first asserts that public rhetoric, filled with extravagant lies, was unconstrained by strictures of propriety. The second contends that invective represents an artifice borrowed from Greeks. The author assesses evidence outside political discourse - from prayer ritual to philosophical speculation to physiognomic texts - in order to locate independently the biases in Roman society that enabled an orator's jokes to persuade. Within each instance of abusive humour - a name pun, for example, or the mockery of a physical deformity - resided values and preconceptions that were essential to the way a Roman citizen of the Late Republic defined himself in relation to his community.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Well written, amusing, and instructive. This is a welcome contribution to Roman cultural history and to the culture of Roman politics. There does not exist any other work in English that covers such a vast field, and covers it with erudition and elegance. -- Review

From the Publisher

Although numerous scholars have studied Late Republican humor, this is the first book to examine its social and political context. Anthony Corbeill maintains that political abuse exercised real powers of persuasion over Roman audiences and he demonstrates how public humor both creates and enforces a society's norms.

Previous scholarship has offered two explanations for why abusive language proliferated in Roman oratory. The first asserts that public rhetoric, filled with extravagant lies, was unconstrained by strictures of propriety. The second contends that invective represents an artifice borrowed from the Greeks. After a fresh reading of all extant literary works from the period, Corbeill concludes that the topics exploited in political invective arise from biases already present in Roman society. The author assesses evidence outside political discoursefrom prayer ritual to philosophical speculation to physiognomic textsin order to locate independently the biases in Roman society that enabled an orator's jokes to persuade. Within each instance of abusive humora name pun, for example, or the mockery of a physical deformityresided values and preconceptions that were essential to the way a Roman citizen of the Late Republic defined himself in relation to his community.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 5, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691027390
• ISBN-13: 978-0691027395
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,306,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Useful, December 26, 2000

By 

J. P. Johnson (Ewing, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Controlling Laughter (Hardcover)

This is the best work in English for humor in the late Roman republic, and Corbeill writes with insight, sensitivity, and excellent handling of the sources. My only complaint (and it is a small one) would be that Corbeill makes no attempt to distinguish between humor, invective, the laughable, the ridiculous, and so on. The conflation of these terms is a weakness, because I think there is a genuine difference between humor and invective, the latter of which Corbeill discusses at length. The book is still very good, and I would recommend it to those interested in Roman history and literature, or to anyone researching humor and theories of the laughable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invective In Roman Trials and Politics, March 1, 2005

By 

Octavius (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Controlling Laughter (Hardcover)

The people of the Roman Republic prized their freedom and were very active in the civic life that revolved around the Forum. Particularly during the Late Republic, rhetorical training was of great importance and civic participation was taken as a duty. Although significantly less so in during the imperial period, political speeches were frequent in both assemblies and trials that always involved large crowds of free citizens performing their civic duty.

Corbeil's book focuses on the function of invective in persuasive speeches during the Roman Republic. His primary reference materials are Cicero's trials and speeches. Corbeil shows that such invectives reinforced social norms and preconceptions Romans had about traits and behaviors. Corbeil demonstrates how humorous references to a person's name, appearance, or traits were used to support a conclusion about whether such a person was inclined to be dishonest, foolish, careless, etc. and thus disbelieved or shunned.

This is altogether innovative look into the cultural and political dynamics of ancient Rome studying rhetorical practices in the use of invectives as exemplified through Cicero's speeches and trials. A good companion to this book would be Gregory Aldrete's 'Gestures and Acclamations in Ancient Rome' that covers the nonverbal aspects of rhetorical practice in both the Late Republic and Principate.