SHARPENING THE SWORD AND ROUNDING THE SHIELD: ONLINE JOKES AND THE VERNACULAR RESPONSE TO POLITICAL REFORM IN IRAN by Saeedeh Niktab Etaati A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Folklore Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s, Newfoundland June 2017 Abstract This thesis is an ethnographic study of Iranian political jokes: a hybridized genre of folklore which intersects in both online and oral spheres where it is created and shared. It specifically explores the emergence and growth of politicized humorous cellphonelore, which I term “electionlore”, during and after the 2016 February elections in Iran. Analysing different joke sub-cycles in this electionlore, I argue that these jokes serve as a powerful tool for my informants to construct their own “newslore” (Frank 2011) and make manifest what I term and define “vernacular politics” through which they were mobilized and unified in their political activism. I diverge from the theory of “resistance jokes” (Powell and Paton 1988; Bryant 2006; Davies 2011) and propose a new framework for studying political jokes in countries in suspense between democracy and dictatorship: jokes as an effective and strategic form of reform and unquiet protest. ii Acknowledgments This thesis would not have come into shape without the jokes and stories of twenty-five people who not only opened their homes to me, but also their hearts as we discussed sensitive matters like Iran’s politics. I am greatly indebted to their trust and participation in my research. Among them, I owe special thanks to my informant and friend, Fifi, whose long-term friendship and passionate engagement never left me from the first day of this research. Throughout my three years as a master’s student in the Department of Folklore at Memorial University, I benefited from and was inspired by the presence and guidance of faculty members and graduate students. First and foremost, I wish to greatly thank my supervisor, Dr. Philip Hiscock. It was in his class, Language and Play, where I was pushed to think more critically about verbal art and their relation to culture and politics. Throughout different stages of this research, he not only provided me with indispensable guidance but also generously offered me his kindness and support. Whenever I felt discouraged and frustrated, his office door was open to me. If it was not for his in-person and long-distance support, endless patience, and insightful feedback, I could not have completed this thesis. I would also like to especially thank Dr. Diane Tye. In 2013 when I was having issues with my visa and could not come to Canada for the fall semester, her decision as then department head allowed me to start my studies in the winter semester. If it was not for her wisdom, I could not have made it to Canada to start my master’s studies and would not be adding these lines of gratitude to my finished thesis. I want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Jillian Gould and Dr. Mariya Lesiv; the former administrative staff, Ms. Sharon Cochrane and Ms. Melanie Sears; and the MUNFLA staff, Ms. Patricia Fulton and Ms. Pauline Cox, whose loving presence, along with their support, made the department feel like a second home to me. I am especially grateful for Kari Sawden, Behak Rueentan, and Lydia Bringerud whose cheerful and deep friendships accompanied me on both my rainy and sunny days. This research has benefited from the Scotiabank Bursary for International Studies which facilitated my travel to Iran in 2016, and the David Buchan Award which assisted me in presenting a part of this research at the 29th Annual Conference of the International Society for Humor Studies in Montreal in July 2017. I am thankful for their generosity. In addition, a shorter version of Chapter Five of this thesis was presented at the annual meeting of Folklore Studies Association of Canada in May 2017 at Ryerson University and received the Letty Halpert Prize for the best student paper. And finally, I cannot adequately thank my family and friends back in Iran: my parents, who sent me their unfailing love and support from afar, my sister for believing in me throughout, and most of all, Hadi, my best friend, partner, and fellow traveller with whom I started a long and difficult journey. I could not have come so far without his intellectual and loving companionship in my life. iii Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………...……………………………………..………………ii Acknowledgements…………………………………..…………………………………………………….iii List of Figures and Tables………………………………………………………………………………...vii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Jokes in the Margins .................................................................................................................... 1 My Methodology and Positionality.............................................................................................. 5 Research Objectives and Overview of Chapters ........................................................................ 12 Chapter 2: Joke-telling Tradition from Taxi to Smartphone: Cellphonelore and Transmission of Hybridized Folklore in Iran ........................................................................................................................ 16 Irancell Saves the Madhouse from the Joke Famine .................................................................. 17 Irancell and the Phenomenon of Cellphonelore in Iran ............................................................. 22 Ahmad’s Story ....................................................................................................................... 23 From Taxi to Telegram: Changes of Joke-telling Tradition ...................................................... 26 Pocket-sized Joke-telling Devices: Mobile phones Have Mobilized Joke-telling Tradition in Iran ............................................................................................................................................. 27 Chapter 3: Digital Joke-telling Culture and Performance in Viber and Telegram ...................................... 32 What is Viber? ........................................................................................................................... 34 Viber’s Joke-telling Culture: General Overview ....................................................................... 35 What Is Telegram? ..................................................................................................................... 47 Telegram’s Joke-Telling Culture: General Overview ................................................................ 50 Digital Joke-telling Performance in the Telegram Space .......................................................... 53 Joke Forwarding/Sharing ....................................................................................................... 55 Digital Laughter and Unlaughter ........................................................................................... 58 Reordering Public and Private Spaces ................................................................................... 62 iv Chapter 4: The Iranian February Electionlore: Political Humor in Turbulent Times ................................. 68 A Brief Overview of Iran’s Electoral System ............................................................................ 69 The February Elections’ Joke Cycle: Their Context, Emergence, and Growth ......................... 76 Digital Electionlore in the “Telegramic Elections”: The Intersection of Politics and Cellphonelore ............................................................................................................................. 83 Chapter 5: From Disqualifications to a Revenge Laughter: Analysing Electionlore in Three Joke Sub- cycles .......................................................................................................................................................... 95 “The Disqualification Office, how can I help you?”: Vernacularized Political Line-ups in the Pre-election Disqualification Jokes ............................................................................................ 95 “I repeat, vote for all the individuals in both the lists”: Making Popular Alliance Through Khatamilore ............................................................................................................................. 104 “The conservatives left the group!”: Constructing Newslore with a Revenge Laughter in the Post-Elections Jokes................................................................................................................. 112 “The last taxi you get on the election day determines which lists you will vote for!”: Un- whispering election jokes in Taxis in Tehran .............................................................................. 123 Chapter 6: Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 131 The Main Disagreement ........................................................................................................... 131 The Dilemma: A Passive Resistance or An Active Revolution? ............................................. 132 Iranian Jokes in Suspense: Neither Revolution nor Resistance ............................................... 136 The ‘Seriously Funny’ February