12024-02-12T22:31:50-08:00Liza Senatorova215b93ec3a738e50d057fdc1b2e2df5f1991cc71444961plain2024-02-12T22:31:51-08:00Liza Senatorova215b93ec3a738e50d057fdc1b2e2df5f1991cc71Dear Violetta, thank you so much for the discussion and the great content to watch before going to bed! I think your analysis fits perfectly into the theoretical framework developed by Claudia Smola: in the performances you presented, one can trace the use of Aesopian language, puns and satire in the Soviet manner. In your analysis, you raise important questions about whether a joke on a taboo topic, uttered aloud from the stage of a Russian stand-up club, can undermine the state regime. It's hard to give a simple answer to that question, and I think even Smola, who has spent far more time on her research than probably both of us (me for sure!), avoids it. But I agree with you that modern humor is taking on healing characteristics. I think it's a very Bakhtinian idea that humor helps overcome fear. I would perhaps only add that it is also a cultural code that allows you to identify those of your opinion and circle (although this reminds me of the prank on Slava Komissarenko when one guy in the audience pretended to be a member of the Belarusian KGB - but it could have been real!).