Cosmic Humour and Philosophical Pessimism in Contemporary Culture

An in-depth look at the concept of cosmic humour, a politically influential, philosophically pessimistic form of humour, this book explores the popularity of this comedic form across Anglophone culture since 1969 in literature, film and television. Connecting intergalactic hitchhikers to discworlds and Black segregationists by explaining how such absurd images spring from the rise of neoliberalism, techno-nihilism and political despondency, Cosmic Humour takes a cultural materialist approach to demonstrate the existence and significance of this as-yet-overlooked turn in popular humour.

Reflective of and reproducing an increasingly pervasive loss of faith in established ideological and political institutions, and an increasing distaste for capitalist machinations, Oliver Rendle examines representations of cosmic humour in the novels of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Jason Pargin and Paul Beatty as well as the Monty Python films and the Daniel’s Everything Everywhere All at Once. Charting its course from the its origins with the Monty Python comedy troupe to its cultural turn towards more diverse and politically proactive developments in the millennium, this book brings to the fore the increasingly widespread and insistent anxieties that link Oxbridge dons to parodic cosmic horror and the satirical potential of Afropessimism. Addressing a critically significant oversight regarding intersections between the philosophy of horror, humour and contemporary politics, Cosmic Humour reveals why humour expressing a pessimistic outlook is becoming increasingly resonant over time.