This comment was written by Violetta Soboleva on 12 Feb 2024.

Remediating Protest Blog

When Parodies Speak Louder than Words: Critique Through Humor

You make an excellent point that parody should not be defined solely through the lens of comedy. As Tynianov argues, comedy is merely one potential tool used in service of parody's broader act of mimicry and critique. Your examples of Soviet jokes showcase this clearly - while humor arises from the precise imitation of official propaganda slogans, the parody is not reliant on laughs alone to succeed.

I appreciate your analysis of how skaz functions in these political jokes without needing to be comedic per se. By channeling recognizable voices, the cemetery joke mocks lofty service promises by deploying them verbatim in an absurd context.

Your argument aligns with my own analysis of dissenting jokes circulating during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While dark humor offers some comic relief, replicating voices of power more critically unmasks the hollowness of official war rhetoric. So I agree that parody should be understood more expansively than just generating laughs through imitation. Mockery, exposure, and truth-telling better capture parody's defiant spirit targeting regimes of lies. Its versatile forms of coded dissent reveal that tongue-in-cheek jokes can speak more serious political truths between the lines.

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