From joker to the butt and back

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-151
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Takovski

Ethnic humour research has mostly conceived and studied ethnic humour as a humour that sets boundaries between jokers and joke targets and that ridicules the targeted ethnicities by assigning them (non) ethnic, universal qualities like stupidity, cunningness or asexuality. By relying on such universal categories this approach has not produced a satisfactory account of how humour can function as a mode of expressing, negotiating and even questioning ethnic identity. This can be accomplished by considering ethnically specific joke texts and focusing on the discourse of the joke target and his response to joking, rather than the joke text itself. To validate the claim, the study will first draws on theories of ethnic and national identity as to establish a workable understanding of ethnic identity constituents to be able to recognize and discuss their emergence in the material selected. It will then examine how and to what success the question of ethnic identity enactment through humour has been dealt by the ethnic humour theory and by some newer studies of the identity humour relation. After which, I will present the research carried out towards testing the hypothesis that is the discourse of the joke target that provides a more comprehensible insight into the question of ethnic identity display through humour. For this purpose, a corpus of little over than two hundred ethnic jokes coming from several Balkan countries was collected and two questionnaires were conducted in the neighbouring countries of Macedonia and Bulgaria.

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-464
Author(s):  
Alevtina Vasilevna Kamitova ◽  
Tatyana Ivanovna Zaitseva

The paper reflects the specificity of the fundamental ideas of the artistic world of M. G. Atamanov, which includes a wide range of literary facts from the content level of the text of the works to their poetics. A particularly important role in the works of M. G. Atamanov is played by cross-cutting themes and images that reflect the author's individual style and his idea of national-ethnic identity. The subject of the research is the book of essays “Mon - Udmurt. Maly mynym vös’?” (“I am Udmurt. Why does it hurt?”), which most vividly reflected the main spiritual and artistic searches of M. G. Atamanov, associated with his ideas about the Udmurt people. The main motives and plots of the works included in the book under consideration are accumulated around the concept of “Udmurtness”. The comprehension of “Udmurtness” is modeled in his essays through specific leit themes: native language, Udmurt people, national culture, mentality, geographic and topographic features of the Udmurt people’ places of residence, the Orthodox idea. The “Udmurt theme” is recognized and comprehended by the writer through the prism of national identity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Szto

Arguably, two aspects of national identity that Canadians are most recognized for are hockey and multiculturalism; yet, few scholars have examined the implications of Canada’s mythological and nostalgic hockey culture for immigrants from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. This analysis uses Twitter to gain uncensored insight into how Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi (HNIC Punjabi) is received by the general Canadian public. It is argued that when people of color become visible in traditionally white arenas (such as hockey) some Canadians are flummoxed by the sight of multiculturalism, while not necessarily being opposed to the idea of it. Laughter was also observed as a common reaction to HNIC Punjabi; consequently, despite the promise of a multicultural society, Punjabi Sikh Canadians are situated as paradoxical to hockey in Canada.


2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (21) ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Zegar ◽  
Maria Łoskot ◽  
Julia Pierzyńska ◽  
Małgorzata Siemiątkowska

Introduction: Referring to the knowledge about the number of Ukrainian students in Poland, James Marcia’s theory of identity development and Henri Tajfel’s theory of social identity, the authors examined how the Ukrainian minority studying in Poland describes its ethnic identity. Method: For this purpose, nine semistructural interviews were conducted, which were then subjected to a semantic narrative analysis. Results: It turned out that the respondents identify most strongly with the group of international students and students, and with their national identity in the second place. Polish nationality was cited as a group of belonging, spending time, while the Ukrainian nationality was individual, related to origin. Polish groups were positively evaluated by the respondents. The analysis also distinguished categories of differences between Poland and Ukraine, indicated by the respondents. They were: culture and religion, customs and tradition, decision-making and self-confidence, social issues, as well as mentality and science. The categories of stereotypes that were mentioned in the interviews were also identified: cheating and stealing, complaining and the similarity of nations. Conclusions: The results showed that the identity of Ukrainians is in a state of moratorium. The respondents define Ukraine as “their” country, while the strongest ones describe themselves as international students.


Author(s):  
Christopher Mudaliar

This chapter focuses on the role that constitutions play in national identity, particularly in states that are recently independent and constrained by a colonial legacy. It uses Fiji as a case study, exploring how British colonialism influenced conceptions of Fijian national identity in the constitutional texts of 1970, 1990 and 1997. The chapter explores the indigenous ethno-nationalist ideals that underpinned these constitutions, which led to the privileging of indigenous Fijian identity within the wider national identity. However, in 2013, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama introduced a new constitution which shifted away from previous ethno-nationalist underpinnings towards a more inclusive national identity through the promotion of a civic nationalist agenda. In doing so, Bainimarama’s goal of reducing ethnic conflict has seen a constitutional re-imagining of Fijian identity, which includes the introduction of new national symbols, and a new electoral system, alongside equal citizenry clauses within the Constitution. This study offers a unique insight into power and identity within post-colonial island states.


Author(s):  
Ian Shaw

‘Identity’ addresses the iconography of Egypt's early ethnic identity, considering the significance of the Narmer Palette with regard to the early pharaonic Egyptians' definition of their own national identity. How did the ancient Egyptians view themselves? The chapter looks at how they portrayed themselves in painting and sculpture and analyses their depictions of ‘foreigners’. As in many other cultures, the Egyptians seem to have gained a sense of their own identity primarily by contrasting themselves with the peoples of the world outside their borders. Gender and sexuality played a massive role in Egyptian identity, as did the evidence for same-sex relations in ancient Egypt.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey Ricke

This article expands the recent sensorial turn in identity studies. It illustrates how individuals embody and link together multiple identities through the multivocality of a particular sensory experience as well as the various meanings encapsulated within the sensory experiences of a particular event. Through a case study of King and Queen celebrations in Santa Catarina, Brazil, this article investigates the social meanings associated with the aesthetics of one of the oldest German traditions in the country. While on the surface the King and Queen celebration appears to be solely a celebration of German roots, a focus on the multivocality of the sensory experiences reveals a more complicated situation where the hosts are claiming not just a German ethnic identity but a Brazilian national identity by drawing upon the multiple social meanings associated with certain sensory experiences and foregrounding particular aesthetics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 318-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Moore

Purpose This paper aims to explore and discuss the use of the flexible, discursive nature of ethnic identity as a means of facilitating the construction and use of transnational knowledge networks. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the influence of “intangibles” on international business (IB), using a case study examining how Taiwanese people in London construct and use their professional networks for knowledge management. The methodology is ethnographic, including participant-observation, interviews and archival research. Findings Taiwanese businesspeople in London used their ethnic identity for networking, not only within the Taiwanese community, but also combined different identities to network through different groups. The findings suggest that the flexible nature of identity provides a means by which knowledge networks can be constructed across borders, providing insight into the actual processes through which knowledge is transferred in IB. Research limitations/implications An identity approach can add a more nuanced analysis of real-life situations to the more traditional culture-focused approach. Greater methodological variety is needed if IB studies are to incorporate more complex perspectives on cross-cultural management, and to develop this study’s conclusions. Practical implications Managers who are aware of the complexities of ethnic identity can exploit these among themselves and their employees to seek out new sources of knowledge. Originality/value This paper provides insight into the means and processes through which transnational networks are constructed and knowledge shared across borders, and the seldom-analysed role of identity, in this case ethnic identity, in these phenomena.


2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-229
Author(s):  
Benedict Taylor

Abstract Samuel Barber's ““lyric rhapsody”” for soprano and orchestra, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), is one of his most celebrated and complicated pieces. The most ostensibly backward-looking, nostalgic work of this ““conservative,”” neoromantic composer, Knoxville is yet atypical of Barber in that by most accounts it is the most American piece in an oeuvre otherwise rarely seen as touched by national flavor. Dating from an era just recovering from the cataclysm of World War II, Knoxville can be seen as conjuring a gentler age, a state of lost innocence, which as its subsequent reception has showed proved an enduring site of cultural memory. And this work that appeals to so many as an embodiment of collective national identity is simultaneously wrapped up in a highly personal response by Barber to a text of James Agee with a deeply autobiographical meaning for author and composer. Knoxville: Summer of 1915 offers a rich source of insight into Barber's music and aesthetics, in its constructions of memory and nostalgia at both a personal, autobiographical level and broader cultural one. Excavating these layers reveals a fuller picture of the composer and what his music has been taken to mean, exposing the relationship between Barber's private world and wider cultural movements and his often understated politics.


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