Jewish Humor

Catalog description

Why are the Jews so funny? (Are Jews funny, or at least funnier than other people?) What is unique about Jewish humor? Why are so many comedians, satirical novelists, and film directors Jewish? Are Jews as funny as they used to be? In this course we will seek to answer these questions by tracing the history of Jewish humor in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will begin with the birth of Jewish humor in the Yiddish-speaking shtetls of nineteenth-century Eastern Europe, where Sholem Aleichem and other writers brought schlemiels, schlimazels, and schnorrers to life through their colorful stories. We will then track the evolution and migration of Jewish humor across the European continent and on to America, where the Jewish funnyman and woman have transformed the cultural landscape. During the twentieth century, a “Yiddishization” of popular humor took place in both the United States and the Soviet Union. Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Sarah Silverman, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and an even newer generation of comedians have made American humor Jewish, and Jewish humor American. We will also look at how the Jews have used laughter as both a coping mechanism and an instrument of self-defense against pogroms, forced migrations, antisemitism, and even the Holocaust.