In German-speaking cultures, () is a genre of short funny tale, verse, song, play, opera, etc.Elfriede Moser-Rath, Predigtmärlein der Barockzeit. Exempel, Sage, Schwank und Fabel in geistlichen Quellen des oberdeutschen Raumes, 1964"Die Situationskomik in Schwank und Posse", 1926 In German, common meanings for the word are "prank", "funny tale", told for entertainment.Schwank,
The (1966) offers a distinction of from other forms of comedy: delivers light, harmless, carefree humor, which distinguishes it from comedy, which ridicules something; from , which offers much hilarity; and from farce (:de:Posse), with its crude boisterousness.
In relation to the narrative tradition, the term presents a difficulty in translation, being inadequately translated as "joke" or "anecdote". Elliott Oring explains the difference between the German terms Schwank and Witz.Oring, Elliot 1989, Between jokes and tales: on the nature of punch lines. Humor, vol. 2-4, pp. 349–364.Arvo Krikmann, "ATU jokes": old and abandoned (retrieved November 11, 2025), ISHS 20th Annual Conference hosted by the University of Alcalá (Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain) July 7–11, 2008
Other German types of literary and scenic art involving comedy include the , , , , and .
See also Fabliau Facetia
References
Further reading
Neumann, Norbert 1986. Vom Schwank zum Witz: Zum Wandel der Pointe seit dem 16. Jahrhundert. Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag. Oring, Elliott 1992. Jokes and Their Relations. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.
External links :de:Kategorie:Schwank :de:s:Kategorie:Schwank