“I think the most honest answer is: we do not know”, said Maksymiuk of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin told Polish Press Agency (PAP), when asked about the custom’s origins.
She said theories linking the tradition to the Roman festival of Hilaria or to France’s 1564 calendar reform were both plausible, but neither fully explained it.
From a cultural studies perspective, she said, April Fools’ Day is best understood as part of a wider pattern seen across many cultures, where seasonal transitions were marked by laughter, chaos, and the temporary reversal of norms.
“It was a moment when one could ‘suspend the world for a while’ — allow oneself something that would normally be unacceptable”, she said. “In this sense, April Fools’ Day is a rite of passage: from winter to spring, from order to temporary chaos”.
Maksymiuk said the custom took hold in Poland not only as an import from the West, but because it met a universal social need for play, bonding and releasing tension.
She said older pranks were more intimate and based on direct relationships, while modern ones were often staged “for the camera” and shaped by social media reach. The scale had changed, she said, but not the underlying mechanism, since jokes still rely on trust and human relationships.
She also said the tradition had left its mark on language by teaching caution toward information.
“This is the day when the standard rules for interpreting reality stop working”, she said.
In the internet age, however, the line between a joke and disinformation is harder to distinguish, she said, adding that people are increasingly urged to avoid pranks involving health, safety or politics.
“As long as there is a need for laughter, distance and community, there will be a day when we can deceive the world — and the world can deceive us”, Maksymiuk said.
(jh)
Source: PAP