FAVz070 Comedy in Film: an Undefinable Genre?

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2018
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Toufic Ishaya El-Khoury, Ph.D. (lecturer), PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Petra Fujdlová (assistant)
Mgr. Petronela Vavreková (assistant)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: PhDr. Jaromír Blažejovský, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 9. 4. 15:50–19:05 U34, Tue 10. 4. 17:30–19:05 U34, Wed 11. 4. 9:10–12:25 U34, Thu 12. 4. 10:50–14:05 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 69 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/69, only registered: 0/69, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/69
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Comedy presents itself with a problem as for its artistic legitimacy and its generic definition. First, it still suffers, in genre hierarchy, from a certain critical disdain, regardless of all the contemporary efforts, from film historians and critics as well as philosophers (Noel Carroll, Stanley Cavell), to give it literary and intellectual credit. If some directors can gain authority through certain genres, comedy seems only to be gaining momentum through directors. We will therefore look into the crit-ical evaluations of comedy tropes through the lens of different critics and authors.
Secondly, and according to Rick Altman, genre works on a dual level, the interweaving of its semantic level (‘iconography’, narrative conventions, familiar type characters…) and its syntactic one (the subtext of a genre, thematic occurrences, philosophical and ideological ramifications…). Comedy has the particularity of having no identifiable semantic elements, no socio-cultural context, no characters, nor story conventions of its own, except its perlocutionary function (the emotional effect it is supposed to create in an audience), which is laughing. So what does define comedy as a genre? To quote Jean Emelina, “comedy is not a genre, but the opposite, the reverse of all the others, and the reverse of all behaviors determined by action, thought, feelings and emotions”. Hence, there is an ironic-parody dimension in Comedy that is far of negligible when it comes to study its functions and dynamic.
In this seminar, we will study the literary and theatrical sources of movie comedy, from the renewal of Greek-Roman New comedy through Seventeenth Century theater, the influence of Shake-spearian comedy and Cervantès’ Don Quixote to the filmic adaptations of Nineteenth Century comedy of manners and farces from France and Mitteleuropa countries.
Based on the historical evolution of Western comedy conventions, we will present the main narrative conventions used in comedy, as well as the syntax of classical comedy: comic representations of sexual and social power relations, parody of our way to envision one’s place in the world, satire of our desire patterns, etc.
An introduction to three film comedy subgenres will allow us to explicit the evolution of comedy aesthetics and narratives during the classical cinema period: Slaptick during the silent era (1910s-1920s), Screwball comedy during the first two decades of talking movies (1930s-1940s), and Italian comedy during the 1950s and 1960s. We will also examine the impact of the former subgenres and the way contemporary comedies pay tribute or revise them.
We will then use as a case study, during the last two sessions, Arab comedy in film, with a special emphasis on Egyptian comedy (the most prolific cinema in the Arab World) and Lebanese comedy. Comedy tropes in Arab Cinema, while influenced by Western farces, propose a different, lighter approach to serious topics. Will be discussed representations of gender relations, as well as satirical treatments of social, cultural and political subjects.

Course objectives
Introduce the students to the basics of Comedy, and especially Film Comedy. Present the evolu-tion of comedy through Theater and Film, main comedy tropes and conventions, and subgenres in Movie History (slapstick, Screwball, 1950s-1960s Italian Comedy), with a specific case study of Arab Comedy in Egyptian and Lebanese Cinemas.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student will be able to identify and analyze the basics of comedy, and especially film comedy, the evolution of comedy through theater and film, main comedy tropes and conventions, and subgenres in movie history (slapstick, screwball, 1950s-1960s Italian Comedy).
The student will also understand the dynamics of modern comedy. He will be especially acquainted to a less accessible cinema: comedy in Arab countries (Egypt, Lebanon…)
Syllabus
  • Session 1 (90x2 minutes): Introduction to comedy and film comedy. Literary sources and theatrical evolution of narrative and comic structures: from Greek-latin new comedy to modern comedy (Shakespeare, Corneille, Lope de Vega). Literary sources of film comedy, from Shakespearean tropes to farcical conventions: parody of major contemporary genres’ stereotypes and themes (tragedy, melodrama, social drama), shifting gender power balance, the hero’s inability to align his aspirations with his actions (with the ultimate reference being the character of Don Quixote)… Film extracts and analysis. Reading: See Extracts document.
  • Session 2 (90 minutes): Introduction to main comedy subgenres. An outline of the history of film comedy: the three “phases” in the development of Twentieth Century film comedy (Cf. Dictionnaire de la pensée du cinéma). Slapstick, the « comic body » and the origins of mise-en-scène (1910s-1920s): Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Film extracts and analysis. Reading : CLIPPER Lawrence J., « Archetypal Figures in Early Film Comedy », in Western Humanities Review, 28: 4, Fall 1974, p. 353-366. TRAHAIR Lisa, « Shor-circuiting the Dialectic : Narrative and Slapstick in the cinema of Buster Keaton », in Narrative, Vol. 10, no 3, October 2002, pp. 307-325.
  • Session 3 (90x2 minutes): Introduction to main comedy subgenres (continued). Screwball comedy (1930s-1940s): a new equilibrium between Shakespearean character typology and Continental farce: Ernst Lubitsch, Howard Hawks, Leo McCarey. Italian comedy (1950s-1960s): the realist/absurdist comedy, from comedy of manners to social satire. Contemporary comedy (1970s-1990s): between tribute, pastiche and aesthetical revisionism. Film extracts and analysis. Reading : GEHRING Wes D., « Screwball Comedy : An Overview », in Journal of Popular Film and Television, 13 : 4, Winter 1986, p. 178-185. PREUSSNER Arnold W., « Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo and The Genres of Comedy », in Literature / Film Quarterly, 16:1, 1988, p. 39-43.
  • Session 4 (90x2 minutes): Arab Comedy (Egypt, Lebanon and Palestinian territories): Comedy in the midst of political and social turmoil. An introduction to comedy in Egypt and Lebanon, and the place of the genre in those countries production systems. Comedy as the main victim, in Arab cinemas, of production and distribution “partitioning”: the insurmountable dichotomy between local popular productions and art films. Main authors and stars: A genre (within the suggested cinemas) without definite authors, but with a substantial gallery of iconic actors. A comic author as a cultural exception: Elia Suleiman (Palestinian territories). Comedy as political statement. Main themes and subjects of Classical and Contemporary Comedy. Film extracts and Analysis. Reading: SCHURMAS Fabrice, « De quel postcolonial parle-t-on ? Intervention Divine d’Elia Sulei-man », in e-cadernos Ces, 22, 2014, pp. 78-92. URL : http://eces.revues.org/1854 LAACHIR Karima, « Sectarian Strife and ‘National Unity’ in Egyptian Films: A case study of Hassan and Morqos », in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, vol. 31, no 1, 2011, pp. 217-226.
Literature
    required literature
  • CLIPPER Lawrence J., « Archetypal Figures in Early Film Comedy », in Western Humanities Review, 28: 4, Fall 1974, p. 353-366.
  • ALTMAN Rick, « A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre », in Cinema Journal, 23 : 3 (spring 1984), p. 6-18.
  • LAACHIR Karima, « Sectarian Strife and ‘National Unity’ in Egyptian Films: A case study of Hassan and Morqos », in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, vol. 31, no 1, 2011, pp. 217-226.
  • TRAHAIR Lisa, « Shor-circuiting the Dialectic : Narrative and Slapstick in the cinema of Buster Kea-ton », in Narrative, Vol. 10, no 3, October 2002, pp. 307-325.
  • PREUSSNER Arnold W., « Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo and The Genres of Comedy », in Literature / Film Quarterly, 16:1, 1988, p. 39-43.
  • SCHURMAS Fabrice, « De quel postcolonial parle-t-on ? Intervention Divine d’Elia Suleiman », in e-cadernos Ces, 22, 2014, pp. 78-92. URL : http://eces.revues.org/1854
  • GEHRING Wes D., « Screwball Comedy : An Overview », in Journal of Popular Film and Televi-sion, 13 : 4, Winter 1986, p. 178-185.
    not specified
  • ÉMELINA Jean, Le Comique. Essai d’interprétation générale, Sedes, Paris, 1991.
  • KENDALL Elizabeth, The Runaway Bride, Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s, New York, Anchor Books, 1991.
  • BAECQUE Antoine de, CHEVALLIER Philippe (dir.), Dictionnaire de la pensée du cinéma, Paris, PUF, « Quadrige », 2012.
  • HUNTER I. Q., PORTER Laraine, British Comedy Cinema, London, Routledge, 2012.
  • SHUMWAY David R., « Screwball Comedies : Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage », in Cinema Journal, vol. 30, no 4, Summer 1991, p. 7-23.
  • KRUTNIK Frank, NEALE Steve, Popular Film and Television Comedy, New York, Routledge, 1990.
  • SHAFIK Viola, Popular Egyptian Cinema, Gender, Class and Nation, Cairo / New York, The Amer-ican University in Cairo Press, 2006.
  • SARRIS Andrew, « The Sex Comedy without Sex », in American Film 3, mars 1978, p. 8-15.
  • POAGUE Leland E., « Cavell and the Fantasy of Criticism, Shakespearean Comedy and Ball of Fire », in Cinéaction, no 9, Summer 1987, p. 47-55.
  • KRUTNIK Frank, « The Faint Aroma of Performing Seals : The ‘Nervous’ Romance and the Come-dy of the Sexes », in Velvet Light Trap, no 26, Fall 1990, p. 57-72.
  • DIBATTISTA Maria, Fast-Talking Dames, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2001.
  • GOTTLIEB Sidney, « From Heroine to Brat : Frank Capra Adaptation of Night Bus (It Happened One Night) », in Literature / Film Quarterly, 16: 2, 1988, p. 129-136.
  • POAGUE Leland E., « As You Like It and It Happened One Night: The Generic Pattern of Come-dy », in Literature / Film Quarterly, 5: 4, Fall 1977, p. 346-350.
  • CAVELL Stanley, À la recherche du bonheur, Hollywood et la comédie du remariage, Paris, trad. Christian Fournier et Sandra Laugier, Cahiers du cinéma, « Essais », 1993.
  • MAST Gerald, The Comic Mind, Comedies and the Movies, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1973.
  • THOMPSON Kristin, « Lubitsch, Acting and the Silent Romantic Comedy », in Film History, Vol. 13, no 4, Before Screwball (2001), p. 390-408.
  • HORTON Andrew S. (dir.), Comedy / Cinema / Theory, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1997.
  • GEHRING Wes D., Romantic vs. Screwball Comedy, Charting the Difference, Oxford, The Scare-crow Press, 2002.
  • ALTMAN, Rick. Film/Genre. London: British Film Institute, 1999, 246 pp. ISBN 0-85170-717-3. info
  • Classical Hollywood comedy. Edited by Kristine Brunovska Karnick - Henry Jenkins. New York: Routledge, 1995, viii, 430. ISBN 0415906407. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, homework.
Assessment methods
Written test.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught only once.
General note: Obligatory 100% attendance (with the exception of distance students who are allowed to miss 2 out of 6 sessions).
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2018/FAVz070