Laughter through the ages in Classical and European culturesLaughter Down the Centuries 1, 2, 3, Siegfried Jäkel and Asko Timonen (Eds.) : review article
There are times when certain special topics in the humanities attract international attention. It is certainly not by chance that during the last few years the phenomenon of laughter has been discussed at a couple of conferences. The Salzburg Symposium in 1993 analysed 'Die lustige Person auf der Buhne'. In the same year the splendid series of symposia on Seili Island in Suomi started, followed by the symposia on 'Laughter Down The Centuries'. It was also not by chance that the three Finnish meetings took place in Turku. Here, Siegfried Jakel has held the chair of Classics since 1972, combined with an appointment in German Language and Literature; the comparative aspect of this arrangement is obvious. Indeed Jakel has organised conferences under comparative aspects for many years: Literature and Philosophy in Antiquity (1985, 1986); Sprachaspekte als Experiment (1988, 1989); History, Literature and Philosophy In Classical Antiquity and in the Modern World ( 1991).