«DECISIVE FIGHT AGAINST LONELY BOOSTERS»: CREATING COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES USING LAUGHTER PRACTICES IN THE SOVIET SOCIETY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of creating collective identities in Soviet society with the help of ridiculous practices. Humor has always occupied an ambiguous place in society. After the Civil War, the very existence of laughter as a phenomenon in the new society was questionable. During the discussions of the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet cultural figures legitimized «socialist humor». It was found that laughter in the official Soviet discourse was associated with «nationality» and the «element», which needed organization and control. It is concluded that by appealing to folk laughter culture, Soviet cultural figures tried to develop an image of the collective «we», using typicality and stereotypes in different ways in order to create images of «their own» and «foreign». The creators of the Soviet satirical publications, such as «Pepper » and «Crocodile», attracted amateur cartoonists. The abstract «people», represented as the creator of the pro-government discourse, henceforth had to reduce the resistance to this discourse by correlating themselves with it. During the period of perestroika, laughter in the official space is transformed from a collective practice into an intimate experience of personal experience.