The Mirth of NationsChristie Davies Routledge, 28.07.2017 - 263 Seiten The Mirth of Nations is a social and historical study of jokes told in the principal English-speaking countries. It is based on use of archives and other primary sources, including old and rare joke books. Davies makes detailed comparisons between the humor of specific pairs of nations and ethnic and regional groups. In this way, he achieves an appreciation of the unique characteristics of the humor of each nation or group.A tightly argued book, The Mirth of Nations uses the comparative method to undermine existing theories of humor, which are rooted in notions of hostility, conflict, and superiority, and derive ultimately from Hobbes and Freud. Instead Davies argues that humor merely plays with aggression and with rule-breaking, and that the form this play takes is determined by social structures and intellectual traditions. It is not related to actual conflicts between groups. In particular, Davies convincingly argues that Jewish humor and jokes are neither uniquely nor overwhelmingly self-mocking as many writers since Freud have suggested. Rather Jewish jokes, like Scottish humor and jokes are the product of a strong cultural tradition of analytical thinking and intelligent self-awareness.The volume shows that the forty-year popularity of the Polish joke cycle in America was not a product of any special negative feeling towards Poles. Jokes are not serious and are not a form of determined aggression against others or against one's own group. The Mirth of Nations is readable as well as revisionist. It is written with great clarity and puts forward difficult and complex arguments without jargon in an accessible manner. Its rich use of examples of all kinds of humor entertains the reader, who will enjoy a great variety of jokes while being enlightened by the author's careful explanations of why particular sets of jokes exist and are immensely popular. The book will appeal to general readers as well as those in cultural stu |
Im Buch
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Seite 1889
... Church? Why are there no American jokes about Japanese-Americans or, indeed, the Japanese? Why are there no jokes about drunken Jews or dirty Irishmen or Costa Rican American Princesses? Why were there no jokes about William Jefferson ...
... Church? Why are there no American jokes about Japanese-Americans or, indeed, the Japanese? Why are there no jokes about drunken Jews or dirty Irishmen or Costa Rican American Princesses? Why were there no jokes about William Jefferson ...
Seite 1909
... church , the established Presbyterian Church of Scotland : When I was assistant in Dalry , Ayrshire , the wife of a farmer in the parish whom I knew died and was buried in the churchyard of Kilwinning where he was the owner of a farm ...
... church , the established Presbyterian Church of Scotland : When I was assistant in Dalry , Ayrshire , the wife of a farmer in the parish whom I knew died and was buried in the churchyard of Kilwinning where he was the owner of a farm ...
Seite 1910
... Church of Scotland, about his revered and respected colleague, the Rev. Alexander Banks of Braehead in Lanarkshire: Mr. Banks used to tell a good story about himself which referred to the beginning of his ministry. Early in 1849, when ...
... Church of Scotland, about his revered and respected colleague, the Rev. Alexander Banks of Braehead in Lanarkshire: Mr. Banks used to tell a good story about himself which referred to the beginning of his ministry. Early in 1849, when ...
Seite 1911
... church or chapel were recorded and published and a source of status competition , there was a further layer of humor about the canny Scots as is recorded by the Very Rev. John Gillespie ( 1904 : 141-2 ) : On my way home from Edinburgh ...
... church or chapel were recorded and published and a source of status competition , there was a further layer of humor about the canny Scots as is recorded by the Very Rev. John Gillespie ( 1904 : 141-2 ) : On my way home from Edinburgh ...
Seite 1912
... church collections ( Ford 1891 : 44-5 ; Jerdan 1920 : 225-6 ; Ramsay 1874 : 297 , 232 , 336 ) . There are , of course , many other contexts in which the Scots of the jokes avoid expenditure in ways that are either comical in them ...
... church collections ( Ford 1891 : 44-5 ; Jerdan 1920 : 225-6 ; Ramsay 1874 : 297 , 232 , 336 ) . There are , of course , many other contexts in which the Scots of the jokes avoid expenditure in ways that are either comical in them ...
Inhalt
1880 | |
1883 | |
1903 | |
The Balanced Jewish Sense of Humor | 1946 |
Jokes about Jewish Women and Australian | 1980 |
Neighborly Bilingual North American | |
Jokes about Newfies and Jokes Told by Newfoundlanders | |
American Jokes about Poles | |
Polish Jokes and Polish Conflicts | |
Conclusion | |
General Bibliography | |
Index | |
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Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
African Americans American jokes anecdotes anti-Semitism asked Australian English Australian jokes Barry Humphries Barry McKenzie Blason Populaire British Canada Canadian Canadian jokes canny chundering Church Collected comic conflict contrast culture Davies distinctive drink English ethnic groups ethnic jokes ethnic stupidity jokes explain folklore Folklore Archive gentiles German hostility Humor Research Humphries identity individuals invented Irish Italians Japanese Jewish American Jewish humor Jewish jokes Jewish women Jews joke books joke cycle joke tellers jokes about dirty jokes about Jewish jokes about Poles jokes about stupidity jokes and humor jokes told Journal of Humor kind Kohen laugh London mock modern Newfie jokes Newfoundland particular patterns of jokes playing with aggression Polack Poland Polish Americans Polish jokes political popular Presbyterian rabbi Sabbatarian Sabbath says Scotland Scots Scottish jokes script self-mockery self-mocking sense serious sets of jokes social society story stupidity jokes tradition University Upper Island Cove York