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The course deals with the phenomenon of Soviet jokes (anecdotes) which were very popular during the existence of the Soviet Bloc. They were told in each Soviet Bloc state as a Czechoslovakia, Poland, and others because they shared the same culture and live conditions of that period.
The term “Communist jokes” could be more precisely described as anti-Communist or anti-Soviet jokes because this term better captures the sense of shared culture.
There are many reason why Communist political jokes were very special. They had a unique homogeneity: the absolute monopoly of state power meant that any joke about any aspect of politics, the economy or media was a joke about Communism. Communism regime was inherently “funny” because of a unique combination of factors. The ineffectiveness of its theories, the mendacity of its propaganda and the ubiquity of censorship were all important. The cruelty of its methods interacted with the sense of humor of the people on whom it was imposed.
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the reality of everyday life under the Soviet rule in the countries of the Soviet Bloc through Communist Jokes. An educational excursion (National Memorial on the Vítkov Hill) is a part of the syllabus.
Poslední úprava: Marková Alena, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2018)
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Students are expected to answer to the following questions: What is soviet „anecdote“? Why could one describe it rather as anti-communist or anti-Soviet? What is the reason that made it (or them) so special? What role do they play in the totalitarian regime? What place do they have in our understanding of the history of totalitarian regimes and the everyday life of an ordinary citizens of the Soviet bloc? Poslední úprava: Marková Alena, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2018)
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Lectures, discussions. An educational excursion (National Memorial on the Vítkov Hill) is a part of the syllabus. Poslední úprava: Marková Alena, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2018)
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Course Requirements: Students are expected to discuss the current issues in class. Students are allowed to miss only two classes per semester. Terms of passing the course: final test Final test based on the lectures and recommended readings. In preparation of the final test, students should use notes from the lectures, materials from the recommended readings, relevant secondary sources based on the student´s own research, and are also encouraged to relate the material to current issues. Student’s own critical observations, experience and critical reflections are invited as well. For LEAVING STUDENTS (such as Erasmus program students etc.) ONLY: students who leave the Czech Republic before the first term of the final test have the option of writing a final essay instead of the final test. Final essay (1 850 – 2 200 words long) on a pre-agreed topic needs to contain exact references and to state all their sources, i.e. also a bibliography. Student’s critical observations, experience and critical reflections are very welcomed. This option is open for Erasmus students (or students of international exchange or similar program) only. Evaluation Method: Grades will be based on attendance (20%), active participation in discussions (20%), and a final test (60%). Poslední úprava: Marková Alena, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2018)
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Syllabus: An educational excursion (National Memorial on the Vítkov Hill) is a part of the syllabus. Lecture 1. Introduction. Methodology. What is social and cultural history (what does social and cultural history study, it’s goals, approach to studied topics, examples of main questions to focus on)? What is political history (goals, approach to studied topics, examples of main questions to focus on)? What is soviet „anecdote“? Why could one describe it rather as anti-communist or anti-Soviet? What is the reason that made it (or them) so special? What role do they play in the totalitarian regime? What place do they have in our understanding of the history of totalitarian regimes and the everyday life of an ordinary citizens of the Soviet bloc? Which topics or objects of derision could one not find in official humor magazines of the USSR and the Soviet bloc? Why? What is the main difference between official communist and people’s anti-communist humor? Recommended Readings: Ben Lewis, Hammer & Tickle. A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008, Chapter 5, The Golden Age of Communist Jokes, pp. 147-203.
Lecture 2. Jokes, Red Terror and Repressions. Person and Totalitarian Authorities. Terror, censorship and self-censorship were an essential part of communist regime. Is it still possible to make a jokes about them? Do politically incorrect and inappropriate jokes have right to exist? During the lecture we will focus on communist purges, red terror, repressions and their ideological substantiation, i.e. the idea of classes and the Bolshevik system of class-divided society as an instrument of communist (Bolshevik) repression. Recommended Reading: Catriona Kelly, Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero, Granta Books, 2005, Introduction, Death in the Taiga.
Lecture 3. Soviet Propaganda or How Important is to have “an Enemy”. Is it important to have “an enemy” in a totalitarian (soviet, communist, post-communist and post-soviet) regime? Why? How can one create the image of “an enemy” and describe it? How not to be fooled by propaganda in mass media? The lecture will deal with soviet mass media and the mechanism of the soviet propaganda: its tasks, goals, channels of distribution, target groups, historical context and concrete examples.
Lecture 4. Shortages and the Phenomenon of “Blat”: Social (In)Equality? Planned economy was probably the most significant feature of socialism and the communist model of economy. The main feature of the administrative command economy of socialist bloc was the significance of centralized hierarchical decision-making in the absence of popular control over the economy. Shortages were essential part of soviet economic system. What is “blat” and what did “blat” mean in soviet economy and everyday life of soviet citizens or citizens of socialist bloc? We will study the main mechanism and the main principle of distribution of socialistic society of shortage, the phenomenon of so called «blat» as a network of mutual favorable interactions between individuals. Recommended Reading: Alena Ledeneva, Russia's Economy of Favours: Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange, New York, 1998, Chapter 4, 104-138 pp.
Lecture 5. Fashion and Lifestyle in the Socialist Bloc Despite of all commonly maintained convictions and at the same time despite all the communistic ideas of modesty and equality the phenomenon of luxury and luxurious goods did exist during the socialistic period. How was it possible? We will discuss socialist fashion and luxurious lifestyle, at the same time we will discuss the system of distribution of luxurious goods. We will acquaint ourselves with the for the general public inaccessible V.I.P. socialistic Czechoslovakian department store with luxurious goods called “Tuzex”. Recommended Reading: Larissa Zakharova, “Dior in Moscow: A Taste for Luxury in Soviet Fashion Under Khrushchev”, in: David Crowley, Susan Reid, Pleasures in Socialism: Leisure and Luxury in the East Bloc, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2010, pp. 95-119.
Lecture 6. Subcultures in Soviet Bloc We will be dealing with everyday activities of the members of contemporary subcultures. Examples such as hippies, the so-called “stiliagi” and others will shed light on the more or less openly pronounced culture of protest. We will also study the image of such subcultures in the only officially published Soviet humoristic magazine “Krokodil”. Our leading question will be: from what direction did the authorities try to satirize these subcultures? Recommended Reading: Paul Wilson, “What’s it Like Making Rock’n’Roll in a Police State?”, in: Martin Machovec (ed.), Views from the inside: Czech underground literature and culture (1948-1989): manifestoes - testimonies – documents, Praha: Ústav české literatury a literární vědy, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2006, pp. 33-48.
Lecture 7. Protest Movement in Soviet Bloc During the classes, we will study the protest movement that existed during the socialistic period in Eastern and Central Europe. We will acquaint ourselves with the crucial role of the Charter 77, with activities of Czech and Russian dissidents, protest groups and organizations. Which role in the protest culture did music bands play (on the example of The Plastic People of Universe and others)? Recommended Reading: Václav Havel, “The power of the powerless”, in: Václav Havel, John Keane (eds.), The power of the powerless: citizens against the state in central - eastern Europe, London: Hutchinson, 1985, pp. 23-97. or: http://www.vaclavhavel.cz/index.php?sec=6&id=2&kat&from=6&setln=2
Lecture 8. Sports and Propaganda: Together Forever? We will be dealing with soviet sport (mass sport and professional sport) in the Soviet bloc and propaganda, which is often connected to the soviet sport. During the classes, we will focus our attention on some ideological aspects of the Spartakiades (Spartakiáda) in Czechoslovakia and mass gymnastics under the communism and socialism. Yet we will study the Czechoslovak Hockey Riots at the beginning of 1969 and Olympic games in Moscow in 1980. Recommended Reading: Petr Roubal, “Politics of Gymnastics. Mass gymnastic displays under communism in Central and Eastern Europe“, in: Body and Society 9, no. 2 (2003), s. 1-25. Petr Roubal, «Mass Gymnastic Performances under Communism: The Case of Czechoslovak Spartakiads », in Balazs Apor, Peter Apor (eds.), The Sovietization of Eastern Europe. New Perspectives on the Postwar Period, Washington, New Academia Publishing, 2008, pp. 171-180.
Lecture 9. Women’s Rights and a Socialistic Reality What did the social role of socialistic women look like? What roles, rights and obligations did they have? Were socialistic women truly equal with men economically and socially? Could socialistic women freely treat their body and life, freely choose roles in the society? Besides these issues, we will discuss the problematic existence of the so-called “Interruption committee” in Czechoslovakia. Recommended Reading: VeraSokolova, “State Approaches to Homosexuality and Non-Heterosexual Lives in Czechoslovakia under State Socialism”, in: Hana Havelková, Libora Oates-Indruchová, The politics of gender culture under state socialism: an expropriated voice, London: Routledge, 2014, pp. 82-108. Hana Havelková, Libora Oates-Indruchová, „Expropriated voice: transformations of gender culture under state socialism; Czech society, 1949-89”, in: Hana Havelková, Libora Oates-Indruchová, The politics of gender culture under state socialism: an expropriated voice, London: Routledge, 2014, pp. 3-29.
Lecture 10. Church and Religious in a Socialistic Bloc Our point of departure will be anti-church propaganda in the contemporary magazines, most notably in the satirical multi-million issue “Krokodil”. What was the relationship between the church (or churches – Orthodox, Catholic and others) and the communist regime? We will be devoting a large section of the class to the study of communist persecution of priests and religious organizations (socialistic propaganda and priest Toufar’s case). Recommended Reading: Paul Froese, The plot to kill God: findings from the Soviet experiment in secularization, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008, Chapter The Atheist Crusade.
Lecture 11. Back to Socialist Retro: Real Ostalgie or Clever Marketing Strategy? What is the phenomenon of Ostalgie? As a rule, ostalgie is based on many socialist myths such as “The socialist society was egalitarian society of justice and equal opportunities”, “Everything was cheaper”, “Socialist way of agriculture and economy was more ecological” or finally “Food was far tastier and much better“. The motiv of ostalgie is very strong now (in Czechia or post soviet countries), that it successfully used by commercials or by different stores. It’s a cool to buy retro now, it’s cool to wear retro or vintage. In case of fashion it’s just a new international trend which doesn’t have an ideological basic on it. On the contrary, there is strong ideological basic in the case of ostalgie.
Lecture 12. Final Discussion. Poslední úprava: Marková Alena, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2018)
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Recommended Reading: Natalya Chernyshova, Soviet consumer culture in the Brezhnev era, New York: Routledge, 2013. David Crowley, Susan Reid, Pleasures in Socialism: Leisure and Luxury in the East Bloc, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2010. Paul Froese, The plot to kill God: findings from the Soviet experiment in secularization, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. Václav Havel, “The power of the powerless”, in: Václav Havel, John Keane (eds.), The power of the powerless: citizens against the state in central - eastern Europe, London: Hutchinson, 1985. Hana Havelková, Libora Oates-Indruchová (eds.), The politics of gender culture under state socialism: an expropriated voice, London: Routledge, 2014. Catriona Kelly, Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero, Granta Books, 2005. Alena Ledeneva, Russia's Economy of Favours: Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange, New York, 1998. Ben Lewis, Hammer & Tickle. A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008. Martin Machovec (ed.), Views from the inside: Czech underground literature and culture (1948-1989): manifestoes - testimonies – documents, Praha: Ústav české literatury a literární vědy, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2006. James Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance. Hidden Transcripts, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1990. Sheila Fitzpatrick (eds.), Sedition: everyday resistance in the Soviet Union under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. James R. Millar (ed.), Politics, Work, and Daily Life in the USSR. A Survey of Former Soviet Citizens, Cambridge, New York, New Roghelle, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambrige University Press, 1987. Katarina Katz, Gender, Work and Wages in the Soviet Union A Legacy of Discrimination, Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Publishers, 2001. Jonathan Bolton, Worlds of Dissent. Charter 77, The Plastic People of the Universe, and Czech Culture under Communism, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2012. Christopher Marsh, Religion and the State in Russia and China, London and New York: Continuum, 2011. Anne Gorsuch, Diane P. Koenker, The Socialist Sixties: Crossing Borders in the Second World, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013. Sheila Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s, Oxford University Press, USA, 1999. Poslední úprava: Marková Alena, Mgr., Ph.D. (09.09.2018)
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