On Puns: The Foundation of Letters

by Jonathan D. Culler

Essays discuss literary puns, the psychological implications of puns, the role of puns in concept formation, and poetic use of punning

Paperback

Published January 1, 1988

About the author

Culler's Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics and the Study of Literature won the James Russell Lowell Prize from the Modern Language Association of America in 1976 for an outstanding book of criticism. Structuralist Poetics was one of the first introductions to the French structuralist movement available in English.

Culler’s contribution to the Very Short Introductions series, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, received praise for its innovative technique of organization. Instead of chapters to schools and their methods, the book's eight chapters address issues and problems of literary theory.

In The Literary in Theory (2007) Culler discusses the notion of Theory and literary history’s role in the larger realm of literary and cultural theory. He defines Theory as an interdisciplinary body of work including structuralist linguistics, anthropology, Marxism, semiotics, psychoanalysis, and literary criticism.

Reviews

[Candy Wood]

Jonathan Culler's introduction starts the book off in great form, with wordplay and references to folk etymologies, Shakespeare, and Milton. Things get more challenging in Frederick Ahl's essay on puns and anagrams in Greek and Latin poetry, but in a good way--recognizing wordplay in ancient texts leads to greater understanding. R.A. Shoaf carries the same kinds of insights into Middle English poetry, especially Chaucer. Krystian Czerniecki focuses on "The Jest Disgested," a mouthful of puns in Shakespeare's Henry V, and Debra Freed looks at correspondences of rhyme and puns not only in Shakespeare but also in Pope and Housman. In chapter 6, though, Freud and Lacan make a major appearance in Joel Fineman's essay, along with Derrida, and the challenge starts getting too much for me. I enjoyed, if that's the word, Avital Ronell's punning essay on Freud, the Rat Man, and suppositories, but the last three essays have way too much Lacan, Derrida, and Finnegans Wake for me. Much to think about, anyway.

[Ivan Labayne]

the pun is not funny; it snaps