An examination of the literary-historical record suggests that the comic spirit undergoes a definite and proscribed dialectic. As a culture progresses from a robust infancy, to a self-reflective maturity, and eventually on to an introspective senescence, there is a corresponding development of the aesthetic forms through which that society expresses its sense of humor. Using the metaphysical and aesthetic principles of Hegelian philosophy, I construct a theory of three broad-based komische Formen, or "comic forms," that describe and analyze the general stages through which this dialectic passes. The symbolic, classical, and romantic komische Formen represent distinct phases in the growth of man's spiritual and comic sensibilities. As Geist propels man from sense-consciousness, to self-consciousness, to reason, it also reshapes his sense of humor. Eventually, when the comic spirit has maximized its full potential and gained the power to laugh at everything, it dissolves within its own mirth and paves the way for a transcendent rebirth of values.;To demonstrate the validity of this thesis, I apply this theoretical construct to representative works from classical antiquity. It is there that we find both the beginning of comedy as an art form, as well as many of the original models that have influenced later periods. The comedy of antiquity originates in the symbolism of Old Comedy; attains its perfection in the refinement of New Comedy; and transcends itself in the more prosaic genres that emerged in the last phases of the Greco-Roman world.
展开▼
