Development of anecdotes in the era of baroque

The present paper studies the impact of the baroque style on the development of anecdotes. The analysis is performed on the material of Russian and Spanish anecdotes of the XVIth-XVIIIth centuries. The baroque style is opposed to all previous styles: it is strange and unintelligible. Its basic dominants are contrast, inconsistency and coexistence of reality and illusions. The paper presents a particular structure of anecdotes and techniques that authors use to write comical texts. The author also describes how features of the baroque style are reflected in literature.