Russian humour
Encyclopedia
Russian humour gains much of its wit from the inflection
of the Russian language
, allowing for plays on words and unexpected associations. As with any other culture's humour, its vast scope ranges from lewd jokes and wordplay to political satire.
s (анекдо́ты — anekdoty), which are short stories with a punch line
. Typical of Russian joke culture is a series of categories with fixed and highly familiar settings and characters. Surprising effects are achieved by an endless variety of plots and plays on words.
can take the form of anecdotes or not-so-short stories, concluded with "So here's to..." with a witty punchline referring to the initial story.
s, songs composed of four-line rhymes, usually of lewd, humoristic, or satiric content.
and short poems including nonsense and black humour
verses, similar to some of the macabre "nursery rhymes" of Edward Lear
.
Often they have recurring characters such as "little boy", "Vova", "a girl", "Masha". Most rhymes involve death or a painful experience either for the protagonists or other people. This type of joke is especially popular with children.
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
of the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, allowing for plays on words and unexpected associations. As with any other culture's humour, its vast scope ranges from lewd jokes and wordplay to political satire.
Jokes
The most popular form of Russian humour consists of jokeJoke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
s (анекдо́ты — anekdoty), which are short stories with a punch line
Punch line
A punch line is the final part of a joke, comedy sketch, or profound statement, usually the word, sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to be funny or to provoke laughter or thought from listeners...
. Typical of Russian joke culture is a series of categories with fixed and highly familiar settings and characters. Surprising effects are achieved by an endless variety of plots and plays on words.
Toasts
Drinking toastsToast (honor)
A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening," for whom someone "proposes a toast"...
can take the form of anecdotes or not-so-short stories, concluded with "So here's to..." with a witty punchline referring to the initial story.
Chastushka
A specific form of humour is chastushkaChastushka
A Chastúshka is a traditional Russian or Ukrainian folk poem which makes use of a simple rhyming scheme to convey humorous or ironic content...
s, songs composed of four-line rhymes, usually of lewd, humoristic, or satiric content.
Black humour
Apart from jokes, Russian humour is expressed in word playWord play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
and short poems including nonsense and black humour
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
verses, similar to some of the macabre "nursery rhymes" of Edward Lear
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
.
Often they have recurring characters such as "little boy", "Vova", "a girl", "Masha". Most rhymes involve death or a painful experience either for the protagonists or other people. This type of joke is especially popular with children.
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See also
- KVNKVNKVN is a Russian humour TV show and competition where teams compete by giving funny answers to questions and showing prepared sketches. The programme was first aired by the First Soviet Channel on November 8, 1961...
- most popular humour show in Russia - YeralashYeralashYeralash is a Russian children's comedy TV show and children's comedy magazine. Yeralash also runs an actor studio and the "Yeralash Island" camp. The word Eralash means "muddle, mess, or jungle" in the Russian language.-TV show:...
- FitilFitilFitil is a popular Soviet/Russian television satirical/comedy short film series which ran for about 500 episodes. Some of the episodes were aimed at children, and were called , Little Fuse....
- HumorinaHumorinaHumorina is an annual festival of humor held in Odessa, Ukraine on and around the April Fools' Day since 1973. It was invented in 1972 by the Odessa KVN team after the all-Union KVN contests and the corresponding TV show were discontinued....
- Comedy Club (Russia)Comedy Club (Russia)Comedy Club is a Russian stand-up comedy TV show broadcasted by the Russian TNT channel since April 23, 2005.Long-time residents of the club are Garik Martirosyan, Timur Batrutdinov, Pavel Volya, Alexandr Revva, Alexander Nezlobin and others...
- Nasha RussiaNasha RussiaNasha Russia is a Russian sketch show created by Comedy Club Productions. It was written by former KVN player Semyon Slepakov and producer Garik Martirosyan. This show has not got a license from the famous English sketch show Little Britain....
- British humourBritish humourBritish humour is a somewhat general term applied to certain comedic motifs that are often prevalent in comedic acts originating in the United Kingdom and its current or former colonies...
- German humourGerman humourGerman humour refers collectively to the conventions of comedy and its cultural meaning within the country of Germany. Although comedy is a staple of German culture, with many Germans making light of situations in social conversation, and with a large amount of time allotted to comedy in German...
External links
- Hammer & tickle, Prospect MagazineProspect (magazine)Prospect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
, May 2006, essay by Ben Lewis on jokes in Communist countries