SSSR v Satiře i Humoru
The USSR in Satire and Humor

Author(s): Naděžda Melniková-Papoušková
Subject(s): Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), History of Communism
Published by: CEEOL Digital Reproductions / Collections
Keywords: Communism and Humour;
Summary/Abstract: Published in 1933 by ORBIS Publishing House, Prague as Vol 4 of the series „Veselá mysl“ (Humorous Mind), edited by Josef MachThe Russian people know and are interested in Europe very little, and the target of their ridicule is usually only a person and a thing that is close and, so to speak, tangible, since the Russian people are downright fanatical realists, even in abstract matters. The concept of a European is as far removed from them as any astronomical interpretation, but a living European who happens to get to the USSR can easily arouse their attention and irony. That is why we have recently found quite a few anecdotes about reckless tourists who want to get to know Russia in a week and get fooled in every possible way. Topics of this kind are permitted or almost permitted, but there are many more forbidden and therefore tempting questions that touch the sensitive Russian person and his personal life. These are questions of government, political, but also mostly private: food, housing, love. It is forbidden to talk about all this publicly, because the government considers it necessary to control even the intimate life of citizens. Anecdotes are the only outlet through which the longing or ridicule of the contemporary Russian can escape. (PUBLISHED IN 1933 BY ORBIS PUBLISHING HOUSE, PRAGUE AS VOL 4 OF THE SERIES „VESELÁ MYSL“ (HUMOROUS MIND), EDITED BY JOSEF MACH)

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