Critical policy analysis examining how powerful actors use educational policies to reproduce unequal social structures presents many challenges. These challenges are amplified by the politics of spectacle, where duplicity comes to dominate how educational policies are conceptualized, presented to the public, and subsequently enacted. The pursuit…

The article attempts to introduce, describe, and theoretically justify the phenomenon of the children's prank as one of the natural features of childhood. According to the author, the children's prank deserves to be conceived of as a particular category due to the many descriptions of this phenomenon in children's literature. The author defines…

The analysis of Russian humor shows that perceptions of Russian cultural traits, social structure, and history can be perpetuated and reproduced in ways that are politically and socially safe. [This article was translated by Kim Braithwaite.]

This article presents findings from a study of the therapeutic effects of group art therapy in a psychotherapy unit of a Russian hospital for war veterans. The researchers randomly assigned 112 veterans being treated for stress-related disorders to an experimental group (art therapy) and a control group. The emphasis was on the use of humor in the…

Satire, as a mode, is not frequently employed in Chinese narratives. "Cat Country," or "Mao Cheng Ji," written by Lao She (pen name of Shu Qing Chun, 1898--1966) has come under much attack of its literary values. Whereas most critics have no doubt that this work sets out to satirize China through the portrayal of a society of…

Describes features of the successful Soviet humor magazine "Krokodil" and concludes that the secret of its success is that it has evolved a strong, recognizable, appealing character over the years, maintaining its familiar identity while also being innovative and fresh. (GT)

Characterizes the telling and learning of political jokes as a powerful socializing tool for children to learn about the world. Maintains that this activity serves as a means of storing and transmitting social knowledge as well as information about the world of public affairs. Includes some representative examples. (MJP)