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Prairie Spass: The Folk Humor of North Dakota's From by Ronald Vossler

of humor in a modern, multicul tural , democratic soci­ There are three things which are real: God, human folly, ety. and laughter. The {irst two are beyond our comprehension. So we must do what we ca n with the third. Much of the material gathered for this project oc­ From The Ramayana, Sanskirt Epic of India curred in the German dialect. The fo rm of the dialect spoken by German --something call ed Umgangsprache-is intimately connected w ith th e hu­ There are more than a few books about German­ mor. The word Umgangsprache sounds li ke it could be and traditions, but the fo lk humor of one of those exotic-sounding foods so dear to the this distinctive people remains relatively unexamined .' German-Russian palate, akin to Koladetz (p ickled pigs' In fact, the exists that German-Russians, feet). or Schwatamaga (head cheese). In reality, it is a known for their work ethic, are generally humorless. term linguists use to describe language in which neutral When I told coll eagues at the University of North terms can be replaced w ith emoti onally charged expres­ Dakota that I was studying German-Russian humor, sions.' So Umgangsprache is just a fancy way of saying several of them, trying to be funny, coul d only reply, that, aft er I'd tracked mud onto my grandmother 's "That shouldn't take you long." clean linoleum fl oor, instead of politely asking me to go Over a period of six months I gathered examples of outside and w ipe my boots, she would announce, in a German-Russian humor from w ritten sources, both combinati on of cranky humor and correction, "Yah du new and old, from tape recordings, from friends, recent glana Hossaschissa, ich sot dich aus dem Haus ins acquaintances, and fa mily members. Not until, as the Sc hneebankgschmissa" ("Yo u little pants pooper, I should old saying goes, "I'd educated myself right up to the throw you out into the snow bank. ")lt is this German horns," did I realize the extent and variety of German­ dialect w hich, at the most fundamental level, shapes the Russian humor. Much had already been lost; it was not fo lk humor of the German-Russians. passed to the next generation, but instead was locked away in an obscure dialect few any longer spoke, or in G erman-Russian culture, both on the Russian steppes, people's memories. The process of transcribing and and the Ameri can prairie, had a w ide variety of folk translating the material into Engli sh enhanced my own proverbs. Scholars, notably Shirley Fischer Arends and knowledge of German dialect, and, at the same time, Joseph Height, have included extensive lists of these sparked the memories of , q uips, and sayings that fo lk proverbs in their books.3 These fo lk proverbs, were so much a part of my own childhood. w hi ch illustrate German-Russian cultural beli efs and This study, seeks to ca tegorize what remains of the attitudes, date back to eighteenth-century Germani c rich variety of this ethnic group's humor and to examine provinces, and are, possibly, the earliest evidence of some of the broader cultural and historical factors that German -Russian humor. Their sheer number and might have shaped the humor, including its similarit ies variety give an indication of the depth of German­ to . Finally, this essay explores the place Russian fo lk culture. Some of the more vivid proverbs

50 The German-Russian immigrants who came to Dakota Territory settled in what is now southeastern North Dakota and northeastern South Dakota. This photo montage captures life for the German-Russian colony at E!lrelw, South Dakota, and origina lly appea red on page 689 of Harper's Weekly, j uly 11, 1896.

51 The guests at a German-Russian wedding posed for this panoramic photograph, ca. 1915. SHSND C-3565. Left: Another German-Russian bridal couple, jacob and Lydia Kirsch, pose for their formal wedding photograph. The bride ;s wearing a homemade bridal wreath made of wax. SHSND 1037-9

German-Russian coloni ts in Russia, and their quick­ ness w ith repartee, has also indicated that the wide variety of jokes, insults, wisecracks, and puns were part of daily German-Ru ssian life. There is even a saying that demonstrates their attitude about joking and fun: "Wer nit kann Spass verstehen, soli nit unler die Leute gehen" ("Whoever can't take ajoke, shouldn't go among people. ')4 This past summer, in Wishek, North Dakota, at my hometown centennial celebration, I overheard a con­ versation about someone who had married for the third time. "Well , you know what they say," one person said with a hearty laugh. "The first w ife is from God. The second w ife is from man. The third wife-that one is from the Devil. ' If that wasn't a folk proverb, it should have been, for its hard-edged brevity seemed typical of include: much German-Russian short humor. German-Rus­ Better a louse in the cabbage than no meat at all. sians, are sometimes described as having a hard nature, but also a grea t beli ef in God. Both of those elements You can't pull hair from a frog. were often refl ected in their humor, w hi ch could be You always give the meanest dog two pieces of used to remind later generations, in memorable terms, how to behave. In the fo ll owing one- liner, w hi ch, out meat. of propriety, I w ill leave untranslated, yo ung women These proverbs are not found onl y in books. On the who wore their skirts too short were not so subtly prairie, German-Russian and their children, reminded of their transgressions: "Sieht mir nuff an der including my mother and grandmother, used them in scheiss hoga." Or, if a son returned home from the army daily life, to pass to future generations distill ed peasant or coll ege with "newfangled" ideas, the father might w isdom, and, also, to have a little fun. Once, comment­ bellow, "Hans, du hoschldeen da dee Hunda dobei (recka' ing on two rather eccentric people who were getting (" Hans, your dumb id eas make the dogs croak. ") 5 married, my grandmother said , "Yah, even a crooked pot has a cover. " T he German colonist in Russia was much given to These proverbs are onl y one part of German-Russian taunting and teasing; he was not afr aid to apply hi s humor. One scholar, noting the ri ch mother wit of the "riotous vocabulary of nicknames, epithets, and jibes

52 traits or behavior, and used to discreetly swap news or gossip. In Russia, in both the and Black Sea areas, there was much intermarriage and little vari ation in naming children; therefore, a nickname provided a sense of individual identity. Volga Germans still li vin g in Russia, w hen asked why they used so many nick­ names, replied, "To keep each other straight."· Nicknames also enlivened everyday German-Russian li fe w ith a dash of humor. Some nicknames were comic; however, the recipient of them- branded forever by some momentary indiscretion, or because of a notable physical defect-might not have thought them so funny. On one li st of ni cknames common among Volga Ger­ man vill agers was a short fat person known as Sackvollsand, li terall y "sack full of sand ," and another elderl y Volga German known as Nudel Deppler, or "Noodle Stepper. " So me said that Nudel D eppler was · .. to lampoon human foibles and frailties."6 Current given this name as an old man because he took slow, political correctness might cast a negative view on such tiny steps, no bigger than fin ely cut noodles. Another name-calling and teasing, or even on the oft en hard­ version of how he got his ni ckname, which indica tes the edged humor of the German-Russians in general. But long memory inherent in German-Russian village life, these practi ces were, for a variety of reasons, a part of was that many years earlier, as a barefoot toddler, he this ethnic group's culture and world view. had stepped on some noodles his mother placed on It should be explained that praise and compliments­ a wooden bench to dry · perhaps because they were thought to tempt fate and Similarly, in Wishek-located in the heart of what is lead to the sin of pride-were not generally used to known as "the German-Russian triangle," twenty-three correct, comment on, or influence behavior. Teasing, counties in North Dakota where German-Russians jibes, and jokes were used in their stead. Terms that, settled heavil y, and w here their descendants still live­ depending on tone and circumstance, could be used as there were, in mid-century, a variety of nicknames in terms of endearment, for teasing, or applied to someone use. The fo ll owing are several of the more innocuous caught in some mischief, included stinkkatz (s kunk), ni cknames from my personal experi ence: Schlang, or vergruptaAp((crippled monkey), and arschkarps (pump­ snake, was a high school basketball player w ith decep­ kin butt). One pastor to a German-Russian congrega­ tive, snake-like movements on the court; Winegar was tion remarked that the German-Russians' understanding a fe ll ow with an accent w ho'd jammed his "tumb" in of "words, stories, sermons, and jokes is markedly at fo otball practice, and, on the day of the big homecoming variance w ith the point of view of American or the game, showed up brandishing his ailing member, say­ native Western European. '" ing that it was in fin e shape because, as the old rem edy In most German-Russian communities permanent indicated, he'd given it a good overnight soak in a cup nicknames often were used. Vo lga Germans called of "winegar"-thus hi s nickname. these Beinamen: ni cknames, usually based on physical

1. For background information about this e thnic group's ori gi n, Press, 1989), 174- 193, and Joseph S. Height's Homesteaders on the history, and culture, see Timothy Kloberdanz, ": The Steppe: The Odyssey of a Pioneering People (Ann Arbor: McNaughton Eastern European Germans,' in Plains Folk: North Dakota's Ethnic and Gunn, 1987). 275·278. History, eds. William C. Sherman and Playford V. Thorson (Fargo: 4. Joseph S. Height , Paradise on the Steppe: The Odyssey of a North Dakota Institute for Regional St udies, 1988), 121 -155. Also, for Pioneering People (Ann Arbor: McNaughton and Gu nn , 1989), 143. a cogent examination of Germans from Ru ssia in North Dakota, see 5. Arnold H. Marzolf, Let's Talk German-Russian, with Ernschtina two articles by Gordon Iseminger: "The McIntosh County German· un Hanswurst (Grand Forks, N. Oak.: University of North Dakota Russians: The First Fifty Years,' North Dakota History 51:3 (1984): 4· Press, 1990), 11·17. 23; and ·C. C. Becker: McIntosh County German·Russian Pioneer," 6. Height, Paradise, 143. North Dakota His/ory 50:3 (1983): 2-16. 7. The Reverend S. Joachim, "Towards An Understanding of the 2. For an examination of interm ediate linguistic forms, and th eir Ru ssia Germans," Co ncordia Co llege Occasional Papers # I (Moorhead, characteristics, see R. E. Keller's The (New Jersey: Minn.: Concordia Coll ege Committee on Publications, August 1939). Humanities Press, 1978). 517·523. 8. Timothy L. and Rosalina Kloberdanz, Thunder on the Steppe: 3. Two of the most extensive lists of folk proverbs occur in Volga German Folklife in a Changing Russia (Lincoln: American Shirley Fischer Arends' The Central Dakota Germans: Their History, Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1993). 121. Language, and Culture (, D.C. : Georgetown University 9. Ibid., 135·136.

53 Co·captain of the Wishek Badgers basketball team, Mike Herr, dribbles the ball in a game at the Wishek High School gym. Author Ron Vossler is pictured in the inset. Both photographs appeared in the 1965 school annual. Courtesy of Wishek High School.

In additi on to the proverbs and nicknames, German· ethnic foods with which we were all familiar: Russians played with language, usi ng nonsense sayings, rhymes, and greetings that were both humorous and Blutwurst, Leverwurst, Schwatamaga, Speck! Veeshek effective in making a point. For example, when I was Hochschule, wek wek wek! a child and hurt my finger, my grandmother would rub IBlood sausage, liver sausage, head cheese, fat! the afflicted area and repeat rhymed jingles in a sing­ Wishek High School, go away, go away, go away.) song voice. These jingles, with their often incongruous humor, helped us forget the hurt. Two popular ones In traditional German-Russian life there were a variety that I remember are these: of children's rhymes, tongue-twisters, or nonsense Heila, heila, Katz dreck. IHeal, heal, cat poop.) phrases that were both a source of verbal fun and a way Morgen fruh isch alles wek. lin the morning every­ adults fended off curious children 'S inquiries!! Here thing will be gone .) are some examples:

A, B, C. IGerman sounds - aw, bay, tsay) Was isch? Mehr Wasser als Fisch. Katz liegt im Schnee. ICat lays in the snow.) IWhat is it? More water than fish .) Der Schnee geht wek. ISnow goes away.) Hasch Hunger? Schlup{ in e Gagumer. Katz liegt im Dreck. ICat lays in the dirt.) IHungry? Crawl in a cucumber.) Dreck geht wek. IDirt goes away.) Katz isch verreckt. ICat is dead.) Wo geht's du nah? Ins Loch, Bohne lese. These chants and rhymes bear some similarities to, or IWhere are you going? Into a hole, to pick beans.) might have their origins in Brauche, the German-Rus­ In German-Russian life, there were also a vari ety of sian folk-healing tradition, still practiced in some places phrases exchanged w hen meeting someone, and these in south-central North Dakota to this daylO short expressions-seasoned with humor, moral in ­ Chants of that nature could also be adapted for other sight, teasing, risque references, or just hard truth­ purposes, like one heard at the Mclntosh County boys' were the perfect vehicle of expression for a hard-working basketball championship in 1965. There was a long­ people who did not want to waste time chatting, but standing, heated athletic rivalry between Wishek and who also wanted to have a little Spass , or fun. The neighboring Ashley, both of which were settled by following is a one-liner said to departing visitors, w ho German-Russian immigrants. During a close game, as might ponder this conundrum on their long way home: a Wishek player stood at the free-throw line, the Ashley cheering section bellowed out, in unison, a resounding Fahr nit so schnell. aber macht das Hamm kommsch. German dialect cheer. Besides attempting to disturb IDon 't drive too fast , but make home come quickly.) the player's concentration, the chant also betrayed, perhaps, how the younger generation felt about the Other playful exchanges-in w hich the reply to the

54 initial query" Wie geht's?" may have several mean­ also has another, sexual meaning. ings to a German dialect speaker, including a risque Some of the short humor of the German-Russians can one: be quite complex. For example, they occasionally combine nonsense ditties, greetings, and bits of two Question: Wie geht's? (How are things going?) languages, English and German-all in one or two Reply: Was nit hangst muss stehe. (Whatever doesn't phrases. Punning of this sort- using similar sounding hang must stand.) words w ith different meanings from two different languges-is termed "interlingual," as in the following The following exchanges seem to fit into a category examples in which the second speaker deliberately and termed "ritual insults," a kind of repartee said to "reduce playfully responds with an English w ord that sounds tension" and maintain social order. One can only like a word the German speaker used : conjecture about the value of these exchanges in a First person: Was isch los? (What is wrong?) small , closed village of German colonists in Russia, Second person: Bread isch loafs [loaves] . w here social order was important. I' First person: Wie geht's? (How are things going?) Two people meet after a long ti me. One of them Second person: The gate's ok, but the fence is says, "I haven't seen you fo r a long ti me." broke.16 The other replies, "Yah, what did I put in your So me "interlingual" humor is playful , other examples way?" ("Was han ich in der weg gelegt?J1 3 are nonsensical. Behind the silliness, though , some Some "ritual insults" involve replies to "thank you "; statements of this kind of humor carry another mes­ these replies might use either playful nonsense rhym­ sage. For example, one might infer from the veiled hint, ing, or a proverb-like retort, as in this example: "the fe nce is broke," that things might not be going too well for the speaker. First person: Dangashay. (Thank you.) Out of expediency, or just by accident, English and Second person: Du hash so langa Zahn. (Yo u have German phrases are sometimes blended, creating odd such long teeth.) linguistic constructions that are often amusing, as in First person: Dangashay. (Thank you. ) this example involving words North Dakotans know Second person: Bezahl die Schulde dann brauchts nit onl y too well : "below zero." The German have a similar danke. (Pay your debts, then you wouldn't have to phrase, untemul/ . Once a friend of my brother 's mixed thank anyone.)I ' them together as he came in from outside and said, "Yah , it must really be 'under-below' today." There was a similar linguistic construction-this is InGerman-Russ ian humor there is also a ri ch tradition said to be a true story- which grew out of an encounter of "linguistic humor." This kind of humor includes in a grocery store in Wishek: overall misuse of language, on purpose and otherwise, along with puns, plays on words, and "reinterpretation An elderl y gentleman was relating a bit of local of familiar words and phrases." 15 German-Russian news to a fellow shopper, who wanted to know jokes often misinterpret, on purpose, similar-sounding about the origin of the information. Disturbed that German dialect words, to create double entendres. his credibility was being questioned, the elderly Sometimes alternate meanings are embedded in the fellow telling the story replied with a huff, "Yah, I dialect phrase itself, as in the fo ll owing example: A saw it standing in the newspaper," w hich is a literal person might ask you in German dialect if you know translation fr om the German phrase, es steht, w hi ch someone, to w hich you might reply: "Ich wass wer du is used in German and German dialect to indicate meinsch, aber ich wass yah nit wo ich ihn her nema sot." (' I material that is printed, as in the Bible, or in a know who you mean , but I don 't know w here I should newspaper. take that person.") The "wo ich ihn her nema sot" ca n be understood literally, as in "where should I take that Inco ntrast to these examples of shorter humor, Ger­ person," but to the German dialect speaker, that phrase man-Russians also had longer jokes, w hich used a

10. Arends, Dakota Germans, 193. recorded in Wishek, No rth Dakota, on August 29, 1998. 11. Ibid. , 93. 14. Ibid. 12. Mahadev L. Apte, Humor and Laughter: An Anthropological 15. Apte, 179. Approach Ilthaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985 , 173. 16. Ibid., 181. 13. Roland Ketterling. Interview of jokes, sayings, and stories

55 narrative or story line-some of which have been col­ Many longer German-Russian jokes contain many of lected by scholar Joseph Height. Using references to the same elements as in "Not Until the Combine is life on the steppes and to Russian locales, these jokes Paid." The narrative, or story line, is in English, obviously derive from German colonies in Russia. German, or a combination of the two languages. The Tame in content, moralistic in tone, these examples punch line is invariably in German dialect, and the illustrate typical German-Russian attitudes and values, includes a number of references to rural prairie life, such as the balance needed between faith in God and along with a few key English words, which are clear reliance upon one's own resources.17 Height remarked indicators that the joke takes place in America. Identi­ on the German-Russians' lack of Puritan inhibitions fiably German-Russian, these longjokes foc us on issues and their penchant for ribald anecdotes, but he offers no that grow out of their experiences, moral attitudes, or examples, and there are no collected narrative jokes, or, values. In "Not Until the Combine Is Paid," the concern for that matter, one-liners or other short humor, that is with making careful purchases and prudent use of illustrate that ribaldry' S money. But the "Combine' joke is different from the Some of th e longer narrative jokes collected here from narrative jokes already collected by scholars in one the oral tradition of the German-Russians are dicentious, major respect: the humor hinges on a sexual reference but, more importantly, they also contain a gold mine of in the punch line. information about German-Russian life, world view, Most of the longer jokes I have collected and trans­ and attitudes. Imbedded within them are markers of lated include, in addition to the German dialect punch the long, and often difficult, historical journey of this line, other shorter comedic elements, like name calling ethnic group. Some of the people who told these jokes in the "Combine' joke, "Du Sutton' IYou Satan). or often insisted that they "actually happened, " that they colorful exclamations like "Grossa Blend" IGreat Mis­ were based on real people and incidents. I was telling ery). such as appears in the rock-hauling joke on page a dialect joke about a hired man named Hoff, during a 57. These phrases, when given verbal emphasis by the formal presentation at an international Germans from joke teller, seem to operate as cues for laughter, at least Russia convention in the summer of 1999, when a to German-Russian ears. fellow in the audience who was waving his hand Some jokes gathered from the German-Russian oral excitedly, blurted out, "That's me! That happened to tradition use other groups, such as Englishmen, Rus­ me! I'm that Hoff! " sians, or, as in our next example, Norwegians, as the Another example of a narrative joke that reveals butt of the joke: much about the humor of German-Russians is the story, "Not Until the Combine is Paid," translated here into Once there was a young man who went into the English. hospital for an operation on his brain. After they'd removed his brain, they placed it in clear fluid of a Once there was a very poor farm family with glass jar so it could be examined. When the nurses three boys. The oldest, who was eighteen, told his and doctors gathered around to observe the brain father one day, ''I'd really like to have a car." more closely, the young man escaped. They hunted "No," his father said. "We just bought a combine. high and low for him, but they just couldn't find Until that combine is paid you won't get a car.' him. For three days the hunt went on, but to no Several days later the second boy, who was four­ avail. They had his brain, but not him. After three teen, told the father, "I'd really like to have a years, they finally found him. He was being held in bicycle." "No," his father said. "Your old er brother a Norwegian school. And he was the teacher' o won't get a car, and you won't get a bicycle- not until the combine is paid for." Finally the German-Russians not only aimed their jokes at other youngest, who was five, went up to his father one ethnic groups; they also targeted German-Russians day and said, "Father, I'd really like a tricycle.' from other locales, or at German-Russians of different "No,' his father said. "The other boys won 't get faiths from themselves. In Russia, German colonists anything, and neither will you-not until that com­ kept to their own village and faith , w hether it was bine is paid." Catholic or Protestant. On the Ameri can prairie the Oh, my! The youngest ran away, screaming and tradition of marrying w ithin one's own faith continued throwing a tantrum-until he looked up and saw a until well past the middle of the twentieth century. hen coming across the yard, with the rooster in Here is an example of a short, fairly simple joke, which pursuit. When the rooster tried to get onto the hen, turns the table on a couple of prejudiced Protestants: the boy booted the rooster aside and said, "You Satan, you can walk too, until that combine is paid Once there was a Catholic nun who broke her for.' I"Du Sutton, laufsch au bisch der Combine bezahIt arm. She was walking down the street in town isch.") 19 when she was approached by two old bachelors

56 The A. L. Ceil and Co. store in Braddock, one of the first communities established il1 Emmons County, in the "Cerman­ Russian triangle" of North Da/1Ota.

who asked what happened because her arm was in a cast. "Oh," the nun said, "I fell in the bathtub." As one can see from the next joke, w hich comes from As they walked on, one of the bachelors turned McIntosh County, North Dakota, that type of bitter to the other and said , "What's a bathtub?" The other humor is not uncommon to German-Russi ans: said , "How should I know? I'm not Catholi c." ("Wie soli ich wisse? Ich bin nit Katholische. ")21 In the first years on the prairie, there was an unmarried man named Jacob, w ho one day w ho went to his neighbor and said , ''I've just taken up a G erman- Russian humor has much in common w ith claim of land, which has many stones on it. So now Jewish humor, which has so enriched Ameri can life. I need a w ife to help me pick those rocks." They share a root language; is a German dialect The neighbor said that he knew just the woman spelled with Hebrew letters. In addition to these for Jacob, and directed him to a nearby fa rm. "Eva similarities, both ethnic groups have jokes w hi ch con­ is tough and strong. She'll get those stones picked tain more harshness than merriment. That kind of fo r you." humor, in Jewish tradition call ed "laughing w ith liz­ Several months passed, and the neighbor fin ally ards," is ill ustrated by th e foll owing: meets up with this Jacob again. He asks Jacob how it went w ith Eva. Jacob replies, "During my first Mrs. Bl oomberg was complaining to her neighbor visit to Eva's house, I thought that she could bake about the rats in her house: "I tried rat poison, but really good raisin bread. When I started to eat it, I it doesn't work." found out those weren't raisins but flies. I married ' Have you tried giving them rat biscuits?" asked her anyway, and, Grossa Blend! (Great Misery!) I her neighbor. never would have believed that those rocks could "If they don 't like w hat we have in our kitchen ," get picked so fast. " Mrs. Bloomberg said, "Let them starve." "I told you Eva was just the person to help yo u,"

17. Joseph S. Height, Memories of the : High­ 19. Curtis Schultz. Cassette tape of German-Russian dialect jokes lights of Their History and Heritage (Bismarck, N. Da k.: Richtman's recorded at Germans from Russia Heritage Society Internati onal Press and associated German·Russian sponsors, 1979),216·22 1. Convention in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Summer, 199 1. 18. Height, Paradise, 143. 20. Ibid.

57 the neighbor said. "B ut I still don't know how you managed to get those rocks picked so fast. " "Well , I'll tell you," Jacob said. "She was in the box, and ran the whip. I was out in the fields picking stones. Better a heart attack than a crack from Eva's whip." ("Sie warim box mitgrossa Beitsch, und ich, ich war daraus und hap Stan gelast. Lieve ein Herz schlak wie ein Eva schlak.") 22

That theme of adjustment to American life, and the accompanying economic struggle, was common in Jew­ ish jokes of the previous era. Some scholars have indicated that the kinds of oral humor that survive in a society are those relevant to, or which reflect an important issue of, the existing cultural situation.23 In modern Jewish humor, as the fortunes of that group have improved, jokes about the struggle to gain an economic foothold have disappeared. But with the German-Russians, many of whom have been weath­ ering the current farm crisis, jokes of that kind still circulate. For example, on a German- Russian web site, one still can find jokes like the following: German-Russian farmer from Emmons County, Herman Becker, moving a large rock from a field with his gas tractor and a A woman of German-Russian descent whose heavy-du ly chain. SHSND 281-25. E-6 husband had just died went to the small-town newspaper office to make sure that the obituary of her recently deceased husband was printed. "Fifty cents a word," the obituary editor said. to venture out and visit his cousin, who lived a ways "Let it read: Konrad Scherer died," the widow to the south, in the small town of Ellendale. replied. With his wife beside him, he drove his car onto "But there is a seven-word minimum for all the first highway near his home. The sign said obituaries," the editor said. "Highway 32, " so that was how fast he drove. It was "Well , then," the widow replied, without missing a slow journey, but eventually they came to another a beat, "Let it read: Konrad Scherer died. 1984 blacktop road, and this time the sign said "Highway pickup for sale. " 24 46, " so he drove a little faster. Finally, when they came to another road, which was marked "Highway Another theme which Jewish humor introduced was 281 ," the farmer turned to his wife and said, sternly, that of the "loser" or "the fool ," a character which runs "Hold onto yourself. Now we're going to drive counter to the more heroic American folk type. This fast. " ("Hepdich Weib,jetzl fahren wirwiedichschnell. ") "fool" was the extreme version of the "little man," or common man, whose strength is sometimes in his weakness, like the Jew who finds himself on a battle­ Ethnic humor may reflect or be inspired by the rela­ field, and cries out, "Stop shooting. Someone might, tionship between ethnic groups in a geographical area. God forbid , lose an eye."'s For example,when they first arrived in this country, There are a lot of "fool ," or "noodle" jokes in German­ some German-Russians were called "dumb Rooshians." Russian humor, too. Some of these derive from immi­ This lack of understanding and prejudice escalated grant themes, the stranger in a strange land experience. during the World War I era, particularly in areas less Here is a "fool" joke, set in rural south-central North isolated than North Dakota's German-Russian triangle. Dakota during the automobile era, but it reflects prairie In , South Dakota, and , the easily iden­ isolation and the continuing adjustment of traditional tifiable immigrants were viewed as unpatriotic, and, as ways to the ways of the wider world: a result, many legal restrictions were leveled against the use of the German language. There were also many There was a hardworking farmer who lived near threats, some of which were carried out' 6 the small town of Streeter in south-central North That era illustrated differences between German­ Dakota. Only rarely did he venture from his farm, Russian immigrants and their neighbors. It was clear and then just to deliver his crops to the town that there were differences in power, authority, and elevator, or to get supplies. But one day he decided status. Scholar Mary Louise Pratt suggests that ethnic

58 humor often develops as a means for a minority group have been some friction , or even prejudice, between to fight the oppression of a dominant group, and that the some storekeepers and their German-Russian clients; minority group often uses "a utoethnographic texts,' or, at least, some struggle to understand each other. No along with other skills such as storytelling, parody, and doubt some German-Russian shoppers felt ignorant, or bilingualism, to respond to those differences in power, backward, not knowing much English, and the store­ authority, and status.27 keepers and businessmen, viewing them the same way, Here is a joke my mother sometimes told me, which might have treated them accordingly. But the ignorant we can examine in light of that theory: person in this joke is not, of course, the German­ Russian grandmother, but the clerk who does not know In the early years on the prairie, there was an that shiel is the word for spray or pour in German elderly German from Russia grandmother on an dialect. (High German verb, schutten.) This joke seems infrequent trip from her homestead to town to get to support the theory that German-Russians were fight­ supplies. In a dry goods store, this alta grossmutter ing back against how the "majority" viewed them. browses around. The storekeeper, who has been There are a variety of other theories which examine observing her impatiently, asks her sternly in En­ the role and purpose of ethnic humor. Some scholars glish: "What can I do for you?' state the obvious, that humor in general, including Nodding and pointing to an atomizer of perfume ethnic humor, "serves the purpose of pleasure and on the counter, our old granny holds out her hand entertainment,' and that ethnic humor, even if it uses towards him and asks, venturing into English as another ethnic group as the butt of the humor-such as best she knows, if he could please "shiel a little into our earlier "brain" joke, which pokes fun at Norwe­ my hand." Of course, the storekeeper, who doesn't gians-does not necessarily make the listeners, or the speak German, can only stare back, horrified and tellers of such jokes, hostile, or aggressive29 embarrassed at what he thinks the harmless old Others take a more complicated view of ethnic hu­ granny wants. mor. Some scholars would agree that jokes which disparage another group, like our "brain" joke, act as a This joke is "bilingual": the text or narration completely unifying force in group identity, but they also indicate in English, except for the one word in German dialect, that such "exoteric" jokes have their origin in "fear, shiel, which the storekeeper misunderstands. If we mystification about, or resentment of the group to examine this joke in light of Pratt's theory, we note that which one does not belong. " The result of such jokes is the humor fights against the stereotype that German­ that they "mold" negative attitudes towards those to Russians are ignorant. The storekeeper, who does not whom the jokes are directed, in this case, the Norwe­ speak German dialect, represents the Main Street busi­ gians. 3D Most interesting is that German-Russian hu­ nessmen, most of whom were, at the time the joke is set, mor- the "exoteric jokes,' the numerous folk proverbs, not German-Russian: "In the early years on the prai­ and even the "ritual" greetings familiar to only those of rie." That was generall y true in the town of Wishek, German-Russian background-is seen by at least one North Dakota, the joke's locale, as evidenced by the last scholar as evidence of this ethnic group's isolation, names of Main Street business owners.'" So our harm­ either geographic or cultural, or both.3l less granny, viewed the same way, represents the There are other views of ethnic humor which empha­ number of German-Russian farmers who had settled size that jokes of this sort are not destructive, or around the town. negative, but actually work to ' mediate conflicts be­ From this joke we can also surmise that there might tween groups' by bringing differences, and

21. Ibid. Anniversary Book IDubuque, Iowa: Hoerman Press, 1948), 3-5. 22. Ketterling. 29. Apte, 145. 23. Apte, 264. 30. William Hugh Jansen,'The Esoteric-Exoteric Factor in Folk­ 24. Germans from Russia li st-serv : bttp-{lwww lib ndsu nodak lore' in The Study of Folhlore, ed. Alan Dundes IEnglewood Cliffs, N. J.: edylgerrll s/ Prentice Hall, 1965), 46. 25. Ruth R. Wisse, The Schlemiel as Modern Hero IChicago: Univer­ 31. ibid. , 49. sity of Chicago Press, 1971), 23. 32. For a broad discussion of Ihe role of elhnic humor, see John 26. See Frederick C. Luebke, Germans in the New World: Essays in Lowe, ' Theories of Ethnic Humor: How to Enter Laughing,' in the History of Immigration IUrbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990), American Quarterly 38 11986): Lois Leveen, ' Only When I Laugh: 31-47, and Gordon Iseminger, ' Germans, Russians, or Americans?' Textual Dynamics of Ethnic Jokes,' and Holger Kersten, ' Using the in North Dakota History ISpring 1992, Vol. 59, No.2). Immigrants' Voice: Humor and Pathos in Nineteenth Century 27. Mary Louise Pratt, ' Arts of the Contact Zone' in Reading the 'Dutch' Dialect Texts,' both in Melus: The journal of the Society for the Lives of Others IBoston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1995), Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the 21.41Winter 1996) . 183- 194. 28. Spirit of Wisheh: Wisheh, North Oahota's Golden jubilee

59 out into the open. This view suggests that ethnic humor's value lies in its ability to cast a critical eye on the dominant culture; it is important because ethnic group members are more sensitive to issues of identity; it helps to mark and clarify boundaries, reinforce a sense of collective identity, and to "define ethnicity positively." Though some ethnic joke may be under­ stood to confirm stereotypes, those ame jokes al o show that the teller of the joke i aware of, and intends to overcome, that stereotype. 32 Further study of German-Russian humor, and ethnic humor in general, is important because, as citizens of a mtilticultural democracy, we are all concerned with finding the best way to live together, to become full member of American society. In our current era, with so many different ethnic groups and nationalities becoming citizens of our coun­ try, German-Russians serve as a good example of a group that has already gone through a lengthy process of assimilation into the American mainstream. Much can be learned from the experience of this ethnic group, who, despite marked differences with mainstream atti­ tude and ideas, eventually merged with and enriched the American character. My view is that humor, whlch German-Russian grossmuller {gra11dmother/, Regina Bender is essentially democratic, creates community, and that Leingang, was born in Steinberg in , Russia, but one way German-Russians adapted was by means of immigrated to St. Anthony, North Dakota, where this their humor-which allowed them to endure difficult photograph was taken, ca. 1920. Her husband was Nikolai P. lives, get along with other groups, and keep part of their Leingang. Courtesy of her greal•grandson, Brian R. Austin, culture and birthright, as they made the long journey Mandan, North Dakota. from their old peasant life into the modernity of America. The following old German-Russian aying, used when people depart from each other, shows the combination Acknowledgments of good will and humor, tempered with a healthy dose of hard-knock experience: "Nichts fur Ungliick, aber sau There are many people who contributed, directly and kievel furstreu Hut." ("I wish you nothing but good luck, indirectly, to this project. Some of the people are long but please, as you go, wear this metal slop pail for a gone from the earth now, like my grandmother, Mary straw hat, just in case.") !NDI Kremer Fetzer, who by skewering me wilh h r wit, also taught me to laugh; Gideon Breitling, my st pfather's friend, whose reputation as a storyteller lingers yel in McIntosh County, North Dakota; and John and Chizzy bout the Autho1· Ackerman, who planted the first seeds of my interest in this topic. With a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Ari­ I also want to thank many of my relatives, friends, and zona State University, and a master's degree in English acquaintances who have shared their jokes, puns, and from the University of North Dakota, Ron os ler is a stories with me. One early contributor was schooJmak native of Wishek, North Dakota, of Black Sea German Jerry Moser, now of Denver, Colorado. Recent con­ descent. His writing credjts include an award-winning tributors include Howard Breitling, Dorothy Bader documentary film ( Germans from Russia: Children of the Breitling, and Ida Hagel of Wishek; Gary Bader of Steppe/Children of the Prairie), a book of short stories Minneapolis; Roland Ketterling and Lorraine Fetzer (Horse, I Am Your Mother), a book of translations Ketterling of Bismarck; LuAnn Hagel of Fargo; and (Pilgrims, In The Valley of Tears: Letters from the "Terror Stephan Kloetzel of Stuttgart, . Special thanks Famine"), and many contributions to journals, maga­ to my best source, my mother, Alma Woehl Engelhardt zines, and anthologies. He is currently completing his of Aberdeen, South Dakota, who also helped translate fifth book, Homelands: A German Russian FamilyAlbum. some of this material.

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