Comedy of the human being

Abstract

Human existence can be conceived as playing a comic character in the “theatre” of the human world, which is directed by the structures of power. This is one of Giorgio Agamben’s suggestions for thinking about humanity without making a difference between a human being and a living being. In the article, I examine Agamben’s discussion of comedy in light of his concepts of style and mannerism. I propose that particularly in mannerism, which is the opposite of style, human potentiality and impotentiality are emphasised. Mannerism stems from an individual being’s resistance to his or her character and to the character’s actions, which always remain inappropriable to that being. However, the deliberate and self-reflective play of a character is the point of indifference between a living being and a human being. This can also be seen as both the source of comedy and the comicality of human existence.