Faculty
Amanda Krauss
Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Texas (Austin), 2004
Research Interests
History of comedy; humor theory and practice; jokewriting; women in comedy.
Email: amanda.n.krauss@vanderbilt.edu
Office: 302 Cohen
Professor Amanda Krauss learned Latin solely for the purpose of reading Plautus' jokes in their original language. Aristophanes' Greek soon followed, as did an interest in what humor looked like in every era. Believe it or not, there are a finite number of joke structures; most of them can be found in the fourth-century joke collection Philolegos or, alternately, in the television show M*A*S*H.
Professor Krauss has a background in humor theory, but considers it a major methodological flaw that humor theorists never actually talk to practicing jokewriters or comedians. One finds it difficult to believe Freud's theories, for example, when he uses such awful puns as examples. Nor can current humor theory explain the often-painful comedy of The Office. For this reason, Professor Krauss finds comedian autobiographies a much more useful (and entertaining) approach to thinking about what is funny.
Having written about ancient comedy, Machiavelli's humor, and translating jokes, Professor Krauss' interest has turned to modern comedy, and (perhaps inevitably) to practice rather than theory. Along with her intrepid collaborator, Dr. Jess Miner, she is creating a new translation of Aristophanes' Women in Congress with one simple goal: to make modern audiences laugh as hard as Aristophanes' comtemporary audience would have.
Her current book project focuses on modern comedy in America, and especially the influence of women in comic roles.
In her free time, Professor Krauss watches anything that makes her laugh, keeps lists of surprisingly funny people, and blogs about comedy