Humor and Rumor in the Post-Soviet Authoritarian State - Hardcover

by Anastasiya Astapova (Author)

Informed by ethnographic fieldwork in an authoritarian regime, this book shows how jokes and rumors remind communities of their fears, support paranoia, shape conformist behavior, and, consequently, reinforce the existing hegemony. In this study on everyday life in a repressive regime, Anastasiya Astapova unveils political humor as it is lived.

Author Biography

Anastasiya Astapova is senior research fellow at the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu and a board member of the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences.