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Abstract
There was a time when priests started cracking jokes, telling anecdotes, speaking in an obscene manner to entertain their audience and raise a laugh. Their indecent buffooneries transformed Easter celebrations into carnivals - some of which took on quite extreme shapes. Later, the Church persecuted those involved in this practice, but traces of it still remain in Eastern Orthodox traditions. We cannot find a single link to risus paschalis in the Scriptures, nor in the writings of the Apostles, nor even a clue in the religious practices of the first Christian generations. We laugh at the transgression of the dying and rising Christ in the same way as we laugh at the clown thrown on the ground and jumping up again. Still, the cultural history of the clown rituals rs an even more contested issue. What does Christ have to do with this tradition? What epistemological qualities bind them together?
Keywords: Jesus Christ, clown, laughter, risus paschalis - Easter laughter, mock kingdom, Mikhail Bakhtin, Maurice Lever, Akos Szilágyi, Enid Welsford, Easter holidays, Passion Slowa kluczowe: Jezus Chrystus, klaun, smiech, risus paschalis - smiech wtelkanocny, falszywe królestwo, Michal Bachtin, Maurice Lever, Akos Szilágyi, Enid Welsford, Swiçta Wielkanocne, Pasja
I would like to start with some general questions. Is there a place for humour in the world of religion and faith? Is there any academic position m religious studies that highlights the importance of humour and pinpoints the significance of laugher in matters of piety? Of course, there are massive differences between the practices of various cultures and ages, but are there any similarities in terms of function and impact? It is usually considered to be, to say the least, "impolite" when somebody caricatures the conceptual hierarchy of a religion and its objects of faith. In fact, it is highly offensive. But what happens if the joke comes from within, rooted deep within the concept of religion? There are some books written about different religious traditions approaching laughter and religious laughter. I would like here to discuss just one of them, concerning the old traditions of the Easter holidays of Christian churches. Some strange customs are connected to this usually depressing feast, which mediates cheer and serenity. Sometimes even loud laughter can be heard -...