Strong on theory, insightful in application, this study illuminates 20th-century literary humour, emphasising the vital duality of concepts of imprisonment and liberation. This is a book that emanates from deep literary understanding of its examples, chosen from several different Western cultures, and which successfully connects the lessons learned to the broader field of humour studies. A book not to be missed by scholars of humour and laughter, regardless of disciplinary background. * Jessica Milner Davis FRSN, Honorary Associate in the School of Literature, Art and Media, University of Sydney, Australia * At once rigorous and illuminating, Mathieu-Lessard's brilliant book poses major challenges to humor theories that celebrate laughter as pure transgression or liberation. She insightfully reveals the stakes of literary humor in representations of imprisonment, spanning diverse sites of confinement from the Nazi war camp to the social mask to the mortal body. With eloquence and imagination, she grounds the very idea of humor in structures of captivity. * Maggie Hennefeld, Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota, USA *
