Laughter in modern culture emerges in various ways, often exposing the ambiguity of meanings assigned to it. The multiplicity of genres incorporating laughter, the plethora of responses to it and all the related cultural nuances gain a renewed sense of importance after meticulous studies centred on the works of Bergson and Bachtin.
In this issue, we would like to provide space for studies pertaining to different cases drawn from various media: literature, theatre, movie, advertisement and visual arts. We notice the need to expand the analytical purview of those events which in modern world are inspired by the philosophy of laughter – not only of the carnivalesque sort! – while at the same time we hope to describe them in a diachronic perspective.