Title Pending 16293

This study explores the social and psychological functions of humour in totalitarian societies, and traces how political jokes in Hungary between 1963 and 1989 may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the link between state oppression and human rights. By analysing jokes that mocked the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party, János Kádár (1956–1988), or addressed the violence and fear in Hungary and the Eastern bloc, this study highlights the changing functions of political jokes in the aftermath of the 1956 Revolution. It analyses the tone, subject, and main aims of the jokes after the 1963 General Amnesty that aimed to serve as a compromise between the Communist state and Hungarian society. The abundance of jokes revealing human rights concerns in the collections of ethnographer Imre Katona illustrates how laughter flourished in repressive societies given the everyday need to navigate through the absurdity of the system. The main goal of the present study is to demonstrate the multifaceted nature of humour, with special attention to how individuals’ freedom of opinion remained restricted even after the Stalinist terror of Mátyás Rákosi (1948–1956) had been replaced by Kádár’s ‘soft dictatorship’ in the mid-1960s. Despite this shift, the civil population in Communist Hungary could still not openly criticise its leaders or their policies. Fear and helplessness proved to be central features of the Hungarian People’s Republic that remained a dictatorship until 1989 and continued to limit individuals’ human rights. This study emphasises how despite these circumstances, sharing jokes could be linked to resilience due to their potential to provide a sense of control and agency.