Humour, Resistance and Czech Culture

Since Antiquity, humour has been listed as one of the defining traits of human beings. At the same time, it often serves to express antagonism or resistance. Jokes can be the "weapon of the weak" in a repressive regime. But humour can also serve a disciplinary function by means of ridicule. And although laughter and humour seem to be universally present among human beings, humour can be very idiosyncratic and culture-dependant. For this reason, it can serve as a great gateway to the study of the peculiarities of a particular culture.

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to the phenomenon of humour, combining literary studies, culture studies, rhetoric, philosophy, ethics, psychology and political theory. The course will present a historical introduction, comparing examples of humour and comedy from different parts of the world and different eras, focusing on the political power of laughter and comedy. Key concepts like satire, irony, parody, black humour, wit, resistance, subversion, absurd humour etc. will be clarified and major philosophical theories of humour will be discussed. The main focus of the course will be Czech culture and the many ways humour is present in it. Was communism a "regime that was laughed out of existence"? Why did Czechoslovak citizens find absurd humour so relatable? Is there "nothing sacred" for Czechs?