Making War, Not Love

Published by St. Martin's Press (1999), this book shows how one pithy joke encapsulates a world of knowledge about a culture. Because humor plays with the most deeply seated cultural assumptions, it makes visible areas of unacknowledged attitudes and behaviors in private realms. In this groundbreaking study, through the content analysis of over 600 jokes, proverbs, sayings, and popular rhymes, Emil Draitser offers an insider's view on the sociological and psychological functions of Russian sexual folklore and the way it reflects male/female relationships. Draitser leaves no dirty joke untold as he examines such taboo subjects as adultery, impotence, and gender and violence. This timely study sheds light on Russian popular culture and the nature of sexual humor everywhere.