Chukchi without borders. Fortunes and misfortunes of a russian joke cycle outside Russia

Abstract

Chukchi are a minority people from the Chukotka Peninsula, the easternmost tip of the Russian Federation. On the second half of the last century, Chukchi became targets of Russian-language jokes and they soon were a favourite butt of Soviet ethnic humour. However, the popularity of this joke cycle did not remain within Russian borders. Previous research works (Castañar 2021) show that the image of these targets did not change in Russia in post-soviet times. However, the fate of these characters in other countries has not been studied. This article deals with the evolution of post-socialist ethnic jokes about Chukchi outside the Russian linguistic area, specifically in Estonia.