SUMMARY:

Opening a discussion forum “Mainstream Narratives of Soviet History and the Laughter of Surprise,” Sheila Fitzpatrick’s essay proposes applying the mode of black comedy to the narration of Soviet history. Noting that all comedy thrives on the unexpected, Fitzpatrick points to humorous reactions to social paradoxes and conflicts in the Russian and Soviet literary tradition as well as in western Sovietology. The essay implies that the comedic mode can be productive in highlighting heterogeneity and incongruities in Soviet history.