The archaeology of humour

 

The 'umbrella' research theme that underpins much of my work can be termed  'the archaeology of humour'.  In short, I am interested in what made people laugh in the ancient world, especially within the visual realm, and how culturally specific humour systems reflect on other aspects of life (political, social and economic).  Although focussed principally on the Greek origins of humour in western culture, some of my research interests intersect closely with those of scholars from  related disciplines such as anthropology and humour studies, and thus my work is by necessity multi-disciplinary in nature. My work can be organised into three sub-projects described below:

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Visual humour in Ancient Greece and its contemporary cultures: popular culture and social cohesion

Key words: Greek origins of visual humour in western culture; ancient artefacts in their ancient political, economical and archaeological context; biases and cultural  problems of interpreting ancient art

 

This project which began in 1999 as a D.Phil  focussed largely on comic images in ancient Greek vase-painting, a relatively neglected subject at the time.  It involved analysing images on over 40.000 Greek vases stored in over 30 European museums, and carrying out a reconnaissance survey in and around the Kabirion Sanctuary, Thebes (Greece). I also carried out a systematic analysis of the entire Beazley archive and the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. I worked at the Beazley Archive during my D.Phil and for another year and a half as a full-time researcher for the CVA project. This research resulted in an extensive database, the foundation of my D.Phil, articles and a monograph. I drew many vases during that period, including over a hundred vectorised line-drawings of vase paintings.

 

The Research questions focused on identifying visual humour in ancient Greece (mainly Athens and Boeotia), from the 6^th to the 4^th centuries B.C., through unchanged mechanisms/genres (surprise, parody, caricature, situation comedy); and comparing each comic image to a series of 'usual' or 'serious' representations. The decorated Greek vases are found in the hundreds of thousands, and depict minute details of everyday life and mythology. They also mock many aspects of social and political life, as well as the religious and the mythological spheres; they offer a humorous perspective on popular subjects such as women, foreigners, workers, peasants, poliadic and Dionysian cult (in Attica but also in Boeotia: a chapter of  Mitchell In Press 2009 concerns the Kabirion Sanctuary near Thebes) and democracy.  The study enabled me to establish certain patterns within painters workshops, where certain painters seem to almost specialise in comic scenes. A principal contention was that the products were relatively cheap to produce and purchase, and that because they were made by artisans for the market rather than for a patron, they exhibited a freedom of expression which was lacking in most other patronised art forms of the 6^th to the 4^th centuries B.C. Just as Aristophanic comedies provide insights into general trends in Greek culture -- to win democratically at the yearly dramatic competitions a playwright had to offer something to please most citizens -- Greek vases were aimed at universal appeal, or in other words, at being purchased! Humour was a powerful marketing tool in ancient Athens just as it is today in modern advertising .On the one hand, I interpret the comic images on the ancient Greek vases as reflections of general public sentiments rather than those of the intellectual elite, and on the other, I argue that the artists who produced them enjoyed a freedom of expression which was a direct outcome of the new democratic rule.

 

Research output: Oxford D.Phil 2002, a series of articles (2000, 2004, 2007) a monograph (In Press 2009), and a number of invited lectures.

Democracy and visual humour: Art and freedom of expression from ancient Athens to modern day Denmark

Key words: Art, visual humour, democracy and freedom of expression in the ancient world and today; Greek art/ideals and their modern reception; the power of images

 

My current research builds on this Greek body of visual evidence, but extends to other regions, and time spheres. It begins with the reception and the politics of visual humour in the first democracy in Athens but also covers contemporary debates and controversies on the power of images, the uses and abuses of visual humour, with a special focus on the ways in which humour can test the limits of democracy and inform us on our own limitations and ‘self-censorship’. My principal research questions is, ‘is the type of freedom to mock sensitive subjects in society as depicted in the ancient Greece material an exclusive product of democratic societies?’

 

In the current polarised state of affairs between the conceived 'totalitarian' Middle-East and the ‘democratic’ West, the recent Prophet Cartoon affair, and the proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill in the UK, offers us a useful paradigm for studying problems of the power of images and artefacts, visual humour, auto-censorship, freedom of expression and democracy.

 

Research output: a series of articles (In preparation b, c, d); and a day workshop / conference

The reception of classical myths, ideas, imagery, events and statesmen in 18th-20th centuries political cartoons published in British and American newspapers

Key words: Art, visual humour, democracy and freedom of expression; Greek art/ Roman art; classical reception; ideals and modern reception; the power of images; Punch;  Victorian age; British and American newspapers

 

It is fascinating to observe how many political cartoons there are with Greek or Roman themes, and how and why there were used in each century from the 18th to the 20th centuries. I am hoping to study one century of political cartoons per year over the next three to four years(-2012/2013).