Enlightened Laughter

We follow the development of German comedy and theory of comedy and laughter from the late Baroque to the Enlightenment, comparing comedies and theoretical texts with foreign examples. What kind of laughter is appropriate for a bourgeois stage? A German stage? Why is laughing important? What kind? Texts by Weise, Prehauser, the Gottscheds, Gellert, J. A. Schlegel, Lessing, also Molière, Destouches, Farquahar, Graffigny. German texts read in German. Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission.