Haunted Laughter: Representations of Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, and the Holocaust in Comedic Film and Television [Paperback]

A 2023 Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title

Haunted Laughter addresses whether it is appropriate to use comedy as a literary form to depict Adolf Hitler, The Third Reich, and the Holocaust. Guided by existing theories of comedy and memory and through a comprehensive examination of comedic film and television productions, from the United States, Israel, and Europe, Jonathan Friedman proposes a model and a set of criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of comedy as a means of representation. These criteria include depth of purpose, relevance to the times, and originality of form and content. Friedman concludes that comedies can be effective if they provide relevant information about life and death in the past, present, or future; break new ground; and serve a purpose or multiple purposescapturing the dynamic of the Nazi system of oppression, empowering or healing victims, serving as a warning for the future, or keeping those who can never grasp the real horror of genocide from losing perspective.

In his laudable study of the Shoah/Holocaust event and memory, Friedman proposes a setting marked by the collaboration of historical data and filmography. Abounding with contextual readings and resources, this sociohistorical treatment of over a hundred Shoah centered comedic film and TV productions investigates the constituent characteristics of why and how learning and teaching the Shoah tragedy through a comedic framework can be inspirational and not trivial nor irreverent. Friedmans chapters reflect on different aspects of comedy and humor and attempt to show how the personification of laughter is an experiential device to confront, content, and make right not light the trivialization of catastrophic victimhood. The Introduction charts the books divisions and sections and explains their rationale for selection and interpretation. Ils\