TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT: The kernel of truth in ...
Saturday, 10:00-17:15
Sala Jacopo da Bertinoro
Session: Discourse Analysis and Humour: Writing (Christian Hempelmann and Cornelia Wells)
TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT: THE KERNEL OF TRUTH IN TOPICAL JOKES
Liisi Joon, Estonian Literary Museum, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, Tartu University, Estonia
liisi@haldjas.foklore.ee
In the present study I deal with joke scripts and stereotypes (more boardly with their creation and its relation to the social reality) in Estonian internet portal chatroom-type joke page () completed daily by net-surfers as contributors. I suggest that joke scripts are basically similar to stereotypes used in everyday interaction, in the sense that they both simplify and help to categorize the world. This in turn means that they express a part of social reality that would otherwise be well-hidden behind politeness.
Stereotypes are affected by social reality. Short-time, anonymous contact with some other nation sets the perfect conditions for the rise of stereotypes about them. Following issues stemming from that are addressed in the study: What is the process behind the creation of topical jokes? What is the part of social reality in this process? Can analysis of topical contemporary jokes be useful in describing the society that creates the jokes or is the butt of them?
The aim is to establish more firmly the nature of relationship between joke scripts and social reality. Running issues in Estonian internet portals like daily news and their representation in jokes in the course of the year 2001are being analysed. Joke "waves" and their relation to daily politics and opinions are described in detailed discourse analysis and complementary quantitative methods.
The issue has a wide appeal – if jokes can be viewed as reflecting the censored side of attitudes in the modern politically correct society, they are an informative termometer of intra- and international relations. The other possible conclusion is the assertion that there is a certain functionality to jokes, not so much as a means for purposeful communication but mostly as a mental tool for categorizing and discussing social phenomena.
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