Whether viewed as work or play, entertainment has proven itself to be a universal theme that has transcended different media and formats. This collection explores how familiar forms of entertainment have evolved and how their themes, images, and structures have become ingrained in our cultural psyches. The word “entertainment” derives from the Medieval Latin intertenere, which means to hold inside. Its root is also connected to the words for intestine and stomach (as in enteral feeding). It seems appropriate that entertainment has more physiological connotations than cerebral ones.
What is entertaining to one person may be boring or even offensive to another.