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© House of Humor and Satire Facebook page – Gabrovo
Collage with gen. Ventsislav Mutafchiiski and the new Facebook emoticon
“In Skopje, it must be called the ‘Macedonian virus’. And again:” Man: I am the king of nature! Nature: Well, here is your crown. “Georgi Lozanov writes in” Deutsche Welle “about the jokes that gave rise to the coronavirus.
“Come on, get up, who will spread these viruses!”
Although the jokes are about us, it is not wrong for us to say something about them. As in any restricted social situation, the coronavirus epidemic unexpectedly led to jokes and ingenuity. In the days of socialism, there was talk of a “joke society” because only they were allowed to speak shameful truths out loud. What was said with laughter made it easier to overcome censorship, and laughter reduced their vigilance.
Today, of course, there is no such censorship; Everything can be said, especially on social networks. And it was from them that the jokes (in words and images) dedicated to the coronavirus epidemic began, this time not in the fight against censorship, but because of the inherent function of a joke to ease tension, to ease their fears. Therefore, these popular culture examples of laughter are evidence of the trauma people experience, of the sources of their anxiety, of the objects of their anger.
Jokes and jokes
The first thing that impresses in the hundreds of jokes about the pandemic is that, at least for now, it has not caused civil unrest, such as that of mothers or sisters. The hypothesis that the powerful information flowing about the coronavirus in our country, even before the appearance of infected people, was aimed at forgetting the protests against the government may be true. And especially that of the nurse who stepped on the windowsill in the National Assembly in early March. People seem to have made a temporary truce with politicians while trusting them to protect them from contagion. And that’s why he didn’t shoot his pranks. I found it difficult to find two more sarcastic than the fact that Borisov does not wear his mask correctly: Ladies and gentlemen, the people have nothing to live on! The answer: He who has nothing has no reason. OR: General Mutafchiiski: When Boyko has absorbed the billions, then you can get out.
On the other hand, General Mutafchiiski, personally, not the headquarters or the government, is the protagonist of humorous folklore. And this is understandable, because it entered a paper that itself contained a grotesque element. He appeared as commander-in-chief of an army of civilians, which he led from television in a battle with an invisible enemy. Incidentally, presenting the virus as an enemy in a military model is a dangerous strategy because it creates a suggestion of intention and blame and makes people want to deal not only with viruses but also with people. It will not be surprising if it turns out that the enemy is General Mutafchiiski himself (he has already admitted that he receives death threats).
Most of the jokes on his back are because it is not characteristic of the austerity and edification of civil communication, due to the prohibitions he imposed. And the preferred form of jokes is visual (in the collage genre) and this is understandable, as long as the general enters the public eye as a screen image and, as such, remains in the public mind.
Here are two verbal “samples” of the general’s joking attitude: The situation is like in kindergarten. Bend, turn, alias and listen to General Mutafchiiski. OR: Questionin a medical contest: what did you graduate from? Nothing, but I saw “ER“, “Doctor House” and two months General Mutafchiiski. And another joke about the pandemic’s attachment to television, recognized by the genius of the people: Dialogue in 2039. Where did you finish your primary education? According to BNT 2 – and basic, and secondary, and you? According to BNT 4.
Of course, at first the role of the enemy fell on China, as “homeland of contagion”, but also as an expression of lasting intolerance towards the distant other, the xenophobic attitudes it incites. The coronavirus directed them at the Chinese, temporarily amnesting earlier targets of hostility. For example: A Chinese man who coughs today is more suspicious than an Arab with a backpack. But then xenophobia began to regain its family fixations, going through the Macedonians to reach the Roma: In Skopje, it must be called the “Macedonian virus”. Still, it started from a bat. And therefore: Angry residents of Stolipinovo and the Faculty ask how much longer they have to wash their hands.
Kovid 19 = 19 vodkas
Most of the jokes were caused by the compulsion to stay locked up at home, proving that it is the most traumatic consequence of the pandemic.
It became clear that the private space is very uncomfortable for many, that the relationship behind the walls of the house is full of mutual intolerance, boredom and aggression. For which, by the way, the symptoms have not disappeared for a long time. For example, the fact that a third of men commit domestic violence against their wives and children. But the humor in this case is self-parody. For example: This virus was invented by a 100% woman. There are series, there are no coincidences. OR: The second week in quarantine: I started looking at the woman and saying I run. OR: I will not be surprised if tomorrow it is clear that my husband went to work in secret. OR: On the ninth day of quarantine, a mother of three children invented a vaccine against the virus. OR: Towards the end of the quarantine, the woman turns to her husband: You can’t blink easier, crazy!
Jokes have fun with two results from staying home: drinking and going crazy. If we move the Kovid 19 letters, we get 19 vodkas. And therefore: It turned out that quarantining is not that boring. However, I wonder why there are 8972 grains in one package of rice and another: 8986.
Sometimes humor goes beyond the social horizon. The pandemic, on the other hand, is experienced as a mega-event that affects the world at large and raises big questions. For example: In time, I will tell my grandchildren how I lay down, ate, and slept for days to save humanity. OR: One ate an apple and we were all banished from heaven. One ate a bat and now we all stay home. Come be more careful with the food, please! OR: Man: I am the king of nature! Nature: Well, here is your crown.
Conversation with the director of the House of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo about the irony of the crown crisis: read here.
