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Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Dark Times, Black Humor”

Categories: Eastern & Central Europe, North America, Bosnia Herzegovina, U.S.A., History, Humor, War & Conflict

A Sarajevo-based Boston native writes [1] on Notes from Sarajevo Tumblr blog that “the last few days [since the Boston Marathon bombings] have served as a reminder of Bosnia’s particularly dark brand of humor”:

[…] To be sure, friends and colleagues here have been kind and considerate, asking if everyone I know is OK (they are.) But some also wasted no time joking about the situation. […] one said, “Who would want to bomb a marathon? Must have been a smoker.” I’m not one to get prickly about a joke I can’t appreciate, and in fact I respect the instinct to use humor to cope with tragedy, but it did strike me how very badly that would go over in the States right now. […]