Humour and Censorship in Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Humour likes nothing more than to speak truth to power. And authoritarian regimes suppress truth. But the way states have regulated comedic content has varied by time and place in the (post-) Soviet sphere. As Soviet censorship laws tightened and thawed comedy, like literature and art, took different forms. Restrictions varied by format, as well. Throughout the Soviet period live comedy could get away with more subversive content than print media. Now the ability to crack jokes in Eastern Europe and Eurasia correlates with freedom of expression overall. Ukrainian comedians can critique anything they like. Comedians in Russia and Kazakhstan face jail time if they cross political redlines. Our panel investigates the relationship between state control and humour in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, highlighting how variations in time, place, format, and circumstance affect comedic production.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Austin Garey, Concordia College

Papers

• Laughter and Morale in Ukrainian Humour - Austin Garey, Concordia College

• Humor as Soft Power of Kazakhstan: Analysis of National Identity Narratives in Kazakhstani Media - Sholpan Kozhamkulova, KIMEP U (Kazakhstan)

• Comic Observations: Stand-Up Comedy in Wartime Russia - Daria Ganzenko, Central European U (Austria)

Discussant

• Neringa Klumbyte, Miami University

Session Manager

• Liladhar R. Pendse, UC Berkeley