British Comedy and the End of Empire

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What are the connections between the end of the British Empire and the emergence of a distinctly British form of comedy? How might we read classic texts of decolonization as comedic? And is there a distinct comedy of what became known as multiculturalism that emerges in London in the 1990s? Reading novels and some essays, and viewing television and radio episodes, this class aims to address these questions, amongst others. How also are we to understand the strange links between the imperialist family histories of famous perhaps the most famous British comedians Peter Cook and Spike Milligan? Finally, we might ask, is the breakdown of empire the foundation of 20th century British satire itself?