Images of national characters and humorous characters of the Balkan peoples of South Slavia through the prism of their stereotypical reflection in modern anecdotes. This article reviews one of the small forms of folklore – anecdote and, more specifically, ethno-anecdote (ethnic joke) as a way of reflecting national specifics, national colour, a form of expression of the most characteristic features of the mentality and way of life of a certain people, nation, social group. Based on texts of anecdotes that are most typical and widespread in the area of the Slavic Balkans, the characteristics of representatives of the so-called “Serbo-Croatian dialect continuum” are explored. National specific qualities reflected in ethnic jokes and stereotypes are discussed. It is concluded that ethnic jokes, as a special thematic kind of anecdote, contain, among other things, important extralinguistic information and can become an objective source when studying the ethnolinguistic and culturological characteristics of a particular country and its inhabitants. Keywords: anecdote, national stereotypes, view of the world, Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrins, image, symbol, national character