Dissertationsprojekt

The research focuses on various forms of estrada verbal comedy (razgovornyi zhanr, spoken genre), which have played a significant role in Russian humor tradition and popular culture development. Their contribution to entertainment, indoctrination, and socio-political critique in 20th-century Russian society is particularly noteworthy.
Through analysis of comic routines and performances of the most influential Soviet and post-Soviet Russian comedians, the project aims to trace the continuity and breaks in the evolution of Russian language verbal comedy over the past 80 years. Considering Soviet and post-Soviet traditions and forms of verbal comedy within various contexts, including the history of popular culture, media, and the global landscape of humor production, it proposes a multilayered analysis of Russian verbal comedy genres and their transformation throughout late Socialism and the post-Soviet period.