Poliitiline anekdoot II
Political anecdotes II

Summary/Abstract: A political anecdote is, first of all, a popular and not a scientific concept. It is a forbidden story told only to those you trust. who think like the speaker does. This phenomenon characterises primarily a society of repression where people have no opportunities to express their dissatisfaction in a legal way. Political subject is found in conundrums just as often as in anecdotes. For some subjects, the conundrums even appears to express attitudes and opinions more colourfully and precisely than the anecdote, the longer performance style of which has been forgotten over time, may sometimes take the form of the conundrum. The so-called introduction is omitted and the colourful punch line of the anecdote is used in the new conundrum. Political anecdotes and conundrums may occur in anecdotes about persons, ethnicity or animals. Political anecdotes can be divided into three groups: 1. Anecdotes and conundrums about statesmen. Typical subjects are a visit, a competition or an outdoing of each other; 2. Anecdotes which make fun of the socialist or communist system, but in which specific statesmen are not mentioned; 3. Anecdotes about living conditions, in which situations created by the crumbling system are described. The majority of material used in this article originates from the Estonian Folklore Archives, especially form the collections handed in by children during the competition of recording school traditions in 1992. In the second part of the article series, an overview is given of political anecdotes told in 1939-1945.

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