Naljad kirikutegelastest eestis ja valgevenes XIX-XXI sajandil
Clergy Jokes in Estonia and Belarus in the 19th-21st Centuries

Summary/Abstract: Clergy jokes play with contradictions between normative and actual behavior. The normative role of the clergy is to set an example and engage primarily with the spiritual world, but jokes hint at a potential of violating that role. The vices that the clergy display in humorous tales and jokes are exaggerated and mostly related to the material or bodily, which is something that they as carers for the mind and soul should be wary of. The aim of this article is to describe the connection between humor and social reality, taking clergy jokes as a case in point. The analysis is based on comparative samples, from Estonia and Belarus, of humorous tales, jokes and examples of visual humor from the late 19th century up to the present day. Taking into account the changing cultural, ideological and political context of the jokes in the sample, it is possible to add some necessary insight into this understudied area. The article will (1) give an overview of the historical background of the jokes, (2) analyse its influence on the status and collection of jokelore, and (3) describe the content of clergy jokes in a diachronic and comparative perspective.

• Details
• Contents