Humor Across Media in the 1920s and 1930s: An Introduction

This introduction to a special issue on American humor across media in the 1920s and 1930s frames the five essays that follow in relation to two major analytical issues. It proposes, first, that transmedial analysis attend to the material factors that support the circulation of comic tropes and personas across media forms; and second, that specific manifestations of those tropes/personas be examined in relation to the varying properties of the media involved. The 1920s and 1930s present a case study for such an investigation.