The Lessing Society Panel "Lessing’s Laughter," MLA, January 4-7, 2018 in NYC

Mary Bricker Announcement
Subject Fields
German History / Studies, Humanities, Languages, Literature

Modern Language Association Convention, January 4-7, 2018 in New York City

 

The Lessing Society

Call for Papers

 

Panel Title:  Lessing’s Laughter

 

Wir lachen, wenn wir hören, daß bei den Alten auch die Künste bürgerlichen Gesetzen unterworfen gewesen. Aber wir haben nicht immer Recht, wenn wir lachen. Unstreitig müssen sich die Gesetze über die Wissenschaften keine Gewalt anmaßen, denn der Endzweck der Wissenschaften ist Wahrheit. Wahrheit ist der Seele nothwendig; und es wird Tyrannei, ihr in Befriedigung dieses wesentlichen Bedürfnisses den geringsten Zwang anzuthun. Der Entzweck der Künste hingegen ist Vergnügen, und das Vergnügen ist entbehrlich. Also darf es allerdings von dem Gesetzgeber abhängen, welche Art von Vergnügen, und in welchem Maße er jede Art desselben verstatten will.  

                                                                                                            (Lessing, Laokoon 15)

 

We laugh when we read that the very arts among the ancients were subject to the control of civil law; but we have no right to laugh. Laws should unquestionably usurp no sway over science, for the objective of science is truth. Truth is a necessary of the soul, and to put any restraint upon the gratification of this essential want is tyranny. The object of art, on the contrary, is pleasure, and pleasure is not indispensable. What kind and what degree of pleasure shall be permitted may justly depend on the law-giver.

                                                                        (Frothingham, translator, Laocoon 10)  

 

This panel focuses on laughter and humor in Lessing’s domestic plays and theoretical writings ("Laokoon," and the "Hamburgische Dramaturgie"). What aesthetics are associated with laughter and humor? Does humor help lead to an enlightened state of tolerance? Are laughter and humor used to depict disgust or to reject socially-anchored biases? What mysteries reveal themselves through laughter – is humor a means to speak about what is repressed? Are there limits to laughter and humor? In what ways do laughter, humor, and truth intersect?

The panel invites papers that examine the role of laughter and humor in Lessing’s works.

 

Please send your abstracts of 250 words or less to Mary Bricker at mbricker@siu.edu by March 1, 2017.

Contact Information

Mary Bricker

Assistant Professor of German

Department of Languages, Cultures, and International Trade

Southern Illinois University

1000 Faner Drive

Carbondale, Il 62901

Contact Email
mbricker@siu.edu