Fool and the Clown in Western Culture and Literature - Homo Insipiens

The Fool and the Clown in Western Culture and Literature: Homo Sapiens is a fascinating description of these two perennial figures in European and North American history, folklore, theatre, literature, arts, and popular culture.

List of contents

Acknowledgement
Introduction
Brief Literature Review
Scope and Aim of this Book
Part I. Folly in History and Culture
1. The Fool The Meaning and Origin of the Fool
The Silly Fool
The Serendipitous Fool
The Wise Fool
The Jester
The Holy Fool
A Note on the Link between Creativity and Madness
2. The Clown
Definition and Origin of Clowns
Clowns in Modern Performances
The Circus Clown
The Happy Clown and the Sad Clown
The Evil Clown
The Buffoon
The Trickster or the Prankster
Collective Clowning
A Note on Humor and Comedic Performance
II. Folly in Literature and Drama
From Panurge to Félicité
The Grotesque and Absurd Fool
3. Shakespearean Fool
Communal Practices, Popular Entertainment, and Shakespeare's Jovial Players
From the Rustic Clown to the Wise Fool
Shakespeare's Ship of Fools and the Death of the Fool
4. Dostoevsky's Buffoons and Pranksters
Russian Folly and Dostoevsky
Humor and Satire in Dostoevsky's Works
Buffoons and Pranksters in The Possessed
5. Beckett's Pitiful Clowns
The Absurd Theatre Clown
Humor and Comedy in Beckett's Work
Vladimir and Estragon as a Consummate Pseudocouple
6. Fictional Fools from Shakespeare to Beckett
Conclusion: The Transcendent Role of the Fool and the Clown
Index

About the author

Svetozar Pošti¿ is Associate Professor of Philology at Vilnius University in Lithuania. He is the author of books about Bakhtin, Montaigne, American culture, and the Russian Revolution in Serbian, as well as Seven Russian Archetypes: Recurring Types in Russian History and Culture (Wipf and Stock, 2023).

Product details

• Authors: Svetozar Postic, Svetozar Poštić
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.07.2025
• EAN: 9781041001485
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4100148-5
• No. of pages: 204
• Series: Literary Criticism and Cultural Theory
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture, European History, HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies), HISTORY / Europe / General, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, PERFORMING ARTS / Circus, LITERARY CRITICISM / Comparative Literature, Comparative Literature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Humor, Social and cultural history, Literary studies: general, History of the Americas, Circus and circus skills