Schwank (comedy)

In German-speaking cultures, Schwank is a genre of short funny tale, verse, song, play, opera, etc. In German, common meanings for the word wikt:Schwank are "prank", "funny tale", told for entertainment.
The Kleines Literarisches Lexikon offers a distinction of Schwank from other forms of comedy: Schwank delivers light, harmless, carefree humor, which distinguishes it from comedy, which ridicules something; from, which offers much hilarity; and from farce, with its crude boisterousness.
In relation to the narrative tradition, the term presents a difficulty in translation, beinng inadequately translated as "joke" or "anecdote". Elliott Oring explains the difference between the German terms "Schwank" and "Witz.
Other German types of literary and scenic art involving comedy include the Posse mit Gesang,,,, and.