Sylabus
Anotace
The course deals with the phenomenon of Soviet jokes (anecdotes) which were very popular during the existence of the Soviet Bloc. They were told in each Soviet Bloc state as a Czechoslovakia, Poland, and others because they shared the same culture and live conditions of that period.
The term “Communist jokes” could be more precisely described as anti-Communist or anti-Soviet jokes because this term better captures the sense of shared culture.
There are many reason why Communist political jokes were very special. They had a unique homogeneity: the absolute monopoly of state power meant that any joke about any aspect of politics, the economy or media was a joke about Communism. Communism regime was inherently “funny” because of a unique combination of factors. The ineffectiveness of its theories, the mendacity of its propaganda and the ubiquity of censorship were all important. The cruelty of its methods interacted with the sense of humor of the people on whom it was imposed.
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the reality of everyday life under the Soviet rule in the countries of the Soviet Bloc through Communist Jokes. An educational excursion (National Memorial on the Vítkov Hill) is a part of the syllabus.