Laughing at Carnival Mirrors: The Comic Songs of Vladimir Vysockij and Soviet Power

Much of Vladimir Vysotskiiʼs enormous popularity throughout the Soviet Union arose from his audienceʼs appreciation of his humorous songs. The current studyʼs primary focus is on the relationship between these songs and the Soviet State. It explores his use of satire and examines the connection between Vysotskiiʼs comic songs and Russian jokelore culture, examining how they construct Russian masculinity. It also contains an analysis of certain themes in Vysotskiiʼs works in order to discern the ways in which his satires are a response to Soviet totalitarianism and to what degree they consist of universal carnival themes.