The following master thesis is dedicated to a phenomenon that was often overlooked in expert discussions, but widespread in Soviet society - political jokes. Although we commonly associate jokes with free time and leisure, political jokes can also perform other functions that were particularly expressed in the social environment of Soviet (real)socialism, that was marked, among other things, by explicit censorship and a unified political discourse, which was under monopoly of the Soviet authorities, concentrated in the hands of the Communist party. In such an environment, political jokes represented more than just laughter and relaxation: they were a form of alternative thinking and judging of social-political events in the Soviet Union, an unofficial or "underground" outlet for communication and spreading of unofficial information on political topics, a form of political criticism, they allowed relaxation of aggressive thoughts, feelings and frustrations in connection with the Soviet system, in an environment, where, for most people, chances for verbal or physical resistance, even less for active solving of problems in Soviet society, were practically denied. In addition to this, they could help to overcome fear toward certain phenomena of the Soviet system or helped to better understand and adapt to the system, although their attractiveness also allowed them to serve simply as a form of establishing contact with another person. They are also useful as a potencial historical source, especially for understanding widespread political mentalities, beliefs and stereotypes among the Soviet population. Political jokes did not always perform all of their functions: their functions depended on the particular context, personalities and circumstances in which people were telling each other political jokes. Although they allowed to express thoughts and feelings that deviated from discourse, ideas and political practices of the Soviet authorities, they by themselves did not yet represent a "weapon" for resistance against the authorities and could not change the existing order. On the level of society, they particularly served as a "valve" for release of thoughts and feelings. In addition to this, there are also parallels with carnivalisation, a concept of Mihail Bakhtin - jokes, similarly to Bakhtin's descriptions of carnivals, flipped over the "high" and the "holy" of the Soviet ideology and order, but did not destroy them. Even more, despite the laughter, many joke tellers respected the Soviet system or even occupied influential political functions. The relations between political authority and joke tellers were therefore complex and not necessarily antagonistic. A comprehensive part of the thesis is also dedicated to the gradual development of the genre in Russian culture and the changing attitudes of the Soviet authorities towards political jokes.
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