Death by Laughter: Female Hysteria and Early Cinema

by Maggie Hennefeld

Can you really die from laughing too hard? Between 1870 and 1920, hundreds of women suffered such a fate--or so a slew of sensationalist obituaries would have us believe. How could laughter be fatal, and what do these reports of women's risible deaths tell us about the politics of female joy?

Maggie Hennefeld reveals the forgotten histories of "hysterical laughter," exploring how women's amusement has been theorized and demonized, suppressed...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231213298
• ISBN13: 9780231213295
• Release Date: March 2024
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"