HUMOR AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY IN THE CONDITIONS OF SOCIOCULTURAL TRAUMA OF THE RUSSIAN INVASION TO UKRAINE Cover Image

HUMOR AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY IN THE CONDITIONS OF SOCIOCULTURAL TRAUMA OF THE RUSSIAN INVASION TO UKRAINE
HUMOR AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY IN THE CONDITIONS OF SOCIOCULTURAL TRAUMA OF THE RUSSIAN INVASION TO UKRAINE

Author(s): Zlata Osipova
Subject(s): Crowd Psychology: Mass phenomena and political interactions
Published by: Universitatea de Stat „Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu” din Cahul
Keywords: sociocultural trauma; full-scale invasion; humor; comedy; memes; gallows humor;

Summary/Abstract: The full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022 threw the citizens of Ukraine into a state of shock, causing a social collapse that, according to the Kremlin’s idea, should have led to the capitulation of state power and the end of Ukraine's resistance. However, the citizens of Ukraine mobilized, and already 15 months have been giving a worthy rebuff to the enemy. As a paradox, the ability of Ukrainians to reflect on tragic events comically helped in this opposition. In this article, we describe humor features that helped Ukrainians pass the sociocultural trauma of the war, namely: creating a new heroic epic, creating a new identity, ridiculing enemies' narratives, and proposing survival tactics to the human psychics. These features transforming the traumatic experience into a non-traumatic narrative and give Ukrainians hope to win the war.

  • Issue Year: 17/2023
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 124-131
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: English