Poliitiline anekdoot
Political anecdotes I

Summary/Abstract: A political anecdote is first all, a popular and not a scientific concept. It is a forbidden story told only to those you trusted, who thought like the speaker did. This phenomenon characterises primarily a society of repression where people have no opportunities to express their dissatisfaction in a legal way. Political subject is just as often found in conundrums as in anecdotes. For some subjects, it even seems that the conundrum expresses attitudes and opinions more colourfully and precisely than the anecdote. An old-fashioned anecdote, the longer style of delivery of which has been forgotten over time, may sometimes take on the form of a conundrum. The so-called introduction falls away and the colourful punch line of the anecdote is used in the new conundrum. Political background may occur in anecdotes about persons, ethinics or animals. Political anecdotes and conundrums can be divided into three groups: 1. Anecdotes and conundrums about statesmen. Typical subjects are a visit, competition or outdoing each other; 2. Anecdotes which poke fun at the socialist or communist system, but in which specific statesmen are not mentioned; 3. Anecdotes about life conditions, in which situations created by the crumbling system are described. Most of the information used in this article originates from the collections of the Estonian Folklore Archive, especially from the collection of materials handed in during the children's competition of school traditions in 1992. In the first part of the series of articles, an overview of political anecdotes at the time of the Estonian Republic (1920-1939).

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