The Relevance of Irrelevance: Games and Puzzles in the Humoristic Tradition Since the Renaissance

Abstract

An encyclopaedic drive and ironic self-critical consciousness have informed the humouristic tradition in Western narrative from Rabelais, Cervantes, Grimmelshausen and Sterne down to Joyce, Mann and Barth. But also copresent at every major stage in the development of humorous fiction has been a spirit of playfulness that enables dynamic movement toward a larger synthesising vision, as well as the recognition of cultural complexity and error. The ludic principle not only accommodates but also seems to draw creative energies from •irrelevance•, from childish games, human folly, and narrative digression – to name but a few manifestations. Remarkable is the extent to which, because of ludic openness, great humouristic novels have captured so many essentials of revolutions or crises in Western thought – examples range from the comic enactment of the conflict of humanist and medieval values in Rabelais, over the radical deconstruction of literary structures and languages to express the new subjectivist sense of psychological identity in Sterne, to the polyphonic modernist symposium on the possible directions for humanity in Mann and even a postmodern stock-taking in Pynchon. The Judie principle also appears to link the impressive evolutionary series of humouristic-encyclopaedic works over the past five centuries insofar as these overtly "play" with their own antecedents and thereby constitute an ongoing self-adjusting textuality.

Opsomming
Die humoristiese tradisie in die Westerse verhaalkuns is vanaf Rabelais, Cervantes, Grimmelshausen en Sterne tot by Joyce, Mann en Barth geïnformeer deur 'n ensiklopediese dryfkrag en 'n ironiese self-kritiese bewustheid. Terselfdertyd was daar egter in elke hoofstadium van die ontwikkeling van humoristiese fiksie 'n gees van speelsheid teenwoordig wat dinamiese stuwing in die rigting van 'n ruimer sintetiserende visie, sowel as die erkenning van kulturele kompleksiteit en feilbaarheid, moontlik gemaak het. Die beginsel van lighartigheid akkommodeer nie bloot nie, maar put oenskynlik kreatiewe energie uit "irrelevansie", uit kinderspeletjies, uit menslike swakheid en narratiewe afdwaling – om maar 'n paar manifestasies te noem. Merkwaardig is die mate waarin beroemde humoristiese romans daarin geslaag het om, te danke aan lighartige openheid, ruimskoots die essensie van rewolusies en krisisse in die Westerse denke vas te vang. Voorbeelde hiervan wissel van die komiese uitbeelding van die konflik tussen humanistiese en middeleeuse waardes in Rabelais, tot die radikale dekonstruksie van