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Today and Always: The Role of Jokes in Russian Humor
| Article
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10519 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1993 |
3,936 Words |
| Author
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Zinovy Paperny
Zinovy Paperny is professor of Russian literature at the
Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of
Sciences in Moscow. |
Contemporary Russian society is torn apart by contradictions and conflicts, by ethnic problems and border fights, and by economic uncertainty. But every Russian loves a joke. Jokes make people forget their daily problems and squabbles--at least for a little while. The joke is the Russian everyman's diet staple and favorite entertainment. And each joke is a small mirror of reality, contributing to an expressive and authentic picture of current life.
The new joke is almost a sacred matter. Suppose that you are talking on the phone; the person at the other end is apologizing that he is in a rush and must run, "I'm sorry," you say. "I didn't realize. Well, that's okay, I'll tell you this recent one some other time…."
"What?" asks your friend. "A new joke? Oh, no! Why wait till later? Go ahead. I always make time for a new joke…."
This perhaps also explains why Russians are always late.
Life is witty, and the joke is life
What is humor? Perhaps God alone knows! I would suggest that humor is the only field of human activity that does not lend itself to scholarly definition. Some of my colleagues would disagree, and several already have in the pages of this journal [see The Mission of Humor, The World & I, April-August 1992]. Certainly the scholar who tries to define humor generally only succeeds in becoming the butt of another's laughter.
In fact, I actually disagree with myself. Humor is not the only undefinable thing. So are life and human happiness. But this company underscores the fact that humor is an important, essential concept. I would say that laughter is like the wind of our life. Geography teaches us that wind is created by the movements of large masses of air caused by uneven barometric pressures. Equally, as social pressures, or even repressions increase, the more irresistibly our laughter helps us to live and to work. Not so. Laughter helps us to survive in spite of everything else that interferes with our life and work.
Russian humor has many faces. Sometimes, when its official genres are listed--from comedy to epigram--the joke is overlooked. Is this because jokes do not have specific authors? I think not. A joke's very anonymity is at the source of its popularity. Perhaps this omission simply reflects the commonplace character that we
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