1st Edition
Comedy and Distinction The Cultural Currency of a ‘Good’ Sense of Humour
1. Introduction: Funny to Whom? Part I: Positioning the Research 2. From Music Hall to the Alternative Boom: The Changing Field of British Comedy 3. Cultural Capital: From Resources to Realisation Part II: The Cultural Currency of a ‘Good’ Sense of Humour 4. Liking the ‘Right’ Comedy 5. Working for your Laughter: Comedy Styles and Embodied Cultural Capital 6. Cultural Omnivores or Culturally Homeless? Exploring the Comedy Tastes of the Socially Mobile Part III: Comic Cultural Capital: Strength and Legitimacy 7. Comedy Snobs and Symbolic Boundaries 8. The Tastemakers: Comedy Critics and the Legitimation of Cultural Capital 9. The Hidden Tastemakers: Comedy Scouts as Cultural Brokers 10. Conclusion
Biography
Sam Friedman, from September 2014, is Assistant Professor in Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He has published widely on comedy, social mobility and social class. He is also the publisher of Fest magazine, the largest magazine covering the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
"Certainly his book is a thoughtful and thought-provoking study which, though relating to popular culture, is addressed to an academic audience and I doubt that those looking for an ‘easy option’ will find this an ‘easy read’… [the book] produces a ‘highly recommended’ rosette, particularly for students of sociology and cultural studies."— Sep Meyer, ASPEN
"Overall, Comedy and distinction is a strong, well-articulated piece of research that provides important elements for contemporary debates on cultural consumption. It should be read by sociologists of culture at large, and not only by specialists of humour. Friedman highlights the importance of ‘embodied cultural capital’: cultural capital is not only made of educational degrees, but is inscribed in behaviours and dispositions, in abilities to enjoy various kinds of cultural objects."— Samuel Coavoux, Lectures
