New Books Network Delia Casadei, "Risible: Laughter without Reason and the Reproduction of Sound" (U California Press, 2024)
Oct 21, 2025
Delia Casadei, an independent scholar based in Italy and the UK, discusses her intriguing new work, "Risible." She explores the evolution of laughter from ancient times to its role in modern sound reproduction. Delia highlights how laughter transcends comedy, acting as a vital human technique linked to language and identity. She examines its commodification in the late 19th century and its influence on media, including recorded laugh tracks during the McCarthy era, raising questions about authenticity and the socio-political implications of laughter.
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Laughter As Its Own Scholarly Object
- Delia Casadei pursued laughter as a focused scholarly subject because existing musicology addressed causes not the act itself.
- She credits Anka Pavlulescu's work for enabling a study of laughter-as-phenomenon rather than as comedic cause.
Declare Your Lens Upfront
- Be explicit about your theoretical lens and confirmation bias when writing intellectual history.
- Use that conscious projection as a productive methodology, not a hidden flaw.
Methodological Fold And Honest Projection
- Casadei approaches laughter through a historiographical "fold": modernist sensibilities guide what she seeks in older texts.
- She treats this projection as an explicit methodology rather than hiding confirmation bias.
