Santa Fe Distinguished Lecture Series and
Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival
Why are the Jews so funny? What is unique about Jewish humor? Why are so many comedians, satirical novelists, and film directors Jewish? In this short course with Professor Avinoam Patt we will seek to answer these questions by tracing the history of Jewish humor from the nineteenth century to the present.
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 to America, where the Jewish funnyman (and woman) have transformed the cultural landscape. 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, and even the Holocaust. Finally, we will compare American Jewish humor to Israeli Jewish humor – how much does a Jewish audience influence the nature of Jewish comedy?
Meet Avinoam Patt
Avinoam Patt is the Doris and Simon Konover Chair of Judaic Studies and Director, Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life at the University of Connecticut. He is co-editor of the recently published Laughter After – Humor and the Holocaust and has lectured on Jewish humor, Jewish fiction and post-Holocaust history among other subjects.
