ABSTRACT
This chapter explores content and function of in-group, ethnic humor of Russian Jewish immigrants to Israel. The argument is made that satire and humorous journalism is a crucial element in the study of the resocialization of this immigrant group. The compensational functions of nostalgia for the old culture, lost status and traditional ways of life are important. In-group humor helps immigrants to uphold high self-esteem and cultural levels, reducing the stigma of marginality. Humorous displacement, according to S. Freud, functions by "finding a means of withdrawing the energy from the release of displeasure that is already in preparation and of transforming it, by discharge, into pleasure." The tradition of Jewish folk humor found numerous outlets in the Yiddish literature of Russian Jews. Humorous journalism evolved in the Russian-language press, first in the form of special sections devoted to humor in all the leading newspapers, and after by the publication of some specialized humor magazines.
