Transmedialne losy wybranych fragmentów XVI- i XVII-wiecznej poezji i prozy Johna Donne’a jako ilustracja społecznej użyteczności śmiechu

Abstract

This article indicates the specific manner in which early modern literature is exploited in contemporary media. It focuses on the interaction involving the trans-position of philosophical texts to the domain of laughter embedded in the everyday life of the modern recipient. Selected passages of John Donne’s (1572-1631) prose and poetry serve to illustrate how an old literary work encourages new creativity, how it transcends the boundaries set by a given epoch, culture and form, to undergo a specific thematic and structural transformation. What seems particularly interesting in this process is the conversion of philosophical sadness into a useful joke incorporated in, inter alia, the transition from meditation to motivation, from inspiration to action. In other words, this article examines laughter provoked at the interface between a profound philo-sophical message and popular entertainment which combines images and words and activates the intellect as well as the senses and emotions. Such foundations give rise to a transmedia message being socially functional – not only as comic relief, but also as a didactic tool for shaping attitudes.