Se souvenir d'Humoresques

Revisiting the forty-two issues of Humoresques (together with two volumes of conference proceedings) is a fascinating experience. Long attentive to research on laughter, the editor-in-chief set out to examine how the themes addressed in the journal have evolved and how representations of laughter and humour have emerged through the articles published over time. The objective was less to compile an inventory than to engage with the conceptual landscape of this necessarily diverse body of texts, and to understand how certain unresolved questions gradually took shape.

Following a brief overview of the origins of Humoresques, the book presents the main issues explored by more than 400 contributors–researchers, students, academics, and amateur scholars alike. Its aim is to highlight avenues for reflection on the forms of sociability expressed through comedy, and on the distinctive features of community-based and national forms of humour.