ANDREI SINIAIfSKI
361
abstract and hypothetical question: isn't the joke (like all of art) an
appearance of essence, no matter how much it sinks into the mire of
general inertia and lifeless uniformity?
This may be the reason why the history of so-called realism is
intertwined with the joke. I can't and won't go into the distant past, a
time when the joke as a genre was different in form from what it is
today.
It
is, however, not accidental that as a collection of jokes,
The
Decameron
lies somewhere close to the source of realism. In Russian
literature, the clearest expressions of realism are associated specifi–
cally with the jokes of Gogol and Chekhov. Yet, Gogol, it seems,
was a writer of the fantastic, first and foremost. He saw the enticing
and fabulous nature of the most trivial aspects of life and, with the
help of the joke, created such a clear manifest image of reality that he
was included among the realists .
Conversely, the joke is in no way a mere reflection of life in its
normal flow, its logical and visual consistency.
It
is constructed to
spite logic and that which we gain from our immediate life ex–
perience. I don't know whether there is such a concept as reverse
logical connection; if not, it should be introduced in relation to the
theory of the joke. The analogy wi.th anecdotal "feminine logic" can
be applied here: "My husband has been cheating on me so much that
I don't know anymore who got me pregnant!" A person intends to
say one thing and says something very different . It is the "other" or
different reason which ends up being the real one , reestablishing the
logical connection but in a reversed direction. For the speaker this is
the only "logic."
There are many such examples in Soviet letters, especially the
press, touching upon everyday life , politics, fiction, and the Soviet
man's way of thinking . For example, besides freedom of speech, the
press , and the right to demonstrate, all of which are aimed at
strengthening socialist society, the new Constitution also stipulates
the right to criticize defects of individual enterprises and institutions.
Look, we have become so free and humane that we even can afford
to criticize shortcomings in our work in order to fortify our virtues.
If
we proceed further in the Constitution, we are granted the right to
"self-criticism."
Is that meant as profanity or mockery? No, it is an expression
of reverse logical connection , implying that there are no other rights
but to work harder and better. The final conclusion ("the right to
self-criticism") serves as a premise which reverses the whole chain of
previous proofs regarding how wonderful and free life in our country
is. The thought proceeds along the line from the end to the begin-
