This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Weaver, S. J Title: Humour, rhetoric and racism : a sociological critique of racist humour General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. Humour, Rhetoric and Racism A Sociological Critique of Racist Humour Simon John Weaver A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirementsof the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Departmentof Sociology, May 2007. Word Count: 89,250 Abstract This thesis is a sociological examination of racist humour that uses a) linguistic models of humour to highlight how the mechanisms of humour work rhetorically, and b) the sociological theories of Zygmunt Bauman on the characteristics of order-building discourse in modernity and postmodernity. These ideas are applied to four specific modes or case studies of racist humour to show how it impacts on modem and postmodern discourse. In my first case study, embodied racist humour, a derivative of biological racism, is identified as a racism primarily aimed at black people in the US context, by expressing racist dichotomies and images of the removal of the black `other'. Second, culturally racist humour is shown to have a similar impact on racism aimed at British Asians. Third, the humour of black and Asian comics is examined as a key site of resistance to embodied and cultural racism, but one that is fraught with problems associated with the rearticulation of racism. Lastly, in the postmodern period, liquid racism is highlighted as an increasingly confused and diluted type. Throughout the thesis, racist humour is shown to have a series of interconnected roles in supporting the meaning systems of racism. Overall, the thesis provides a means of analysing racist humour, and in so doing moves sociological humour studies beyond accounts that fail to negotiate the particular semantic frame and functions of racist humour. 2 Acknowledgements First of all I would like to thank Gregor McLennan and Tom Osborne for their supportive and rigorous supervision. The ideas presented here owe a huge debt to their critical eyes. Brett St. Louis and Stephen May also deserve a mention of thanks as my earlier supervisors. family for love I wish to thank my - Mum, Dad, Andrew and Catherine - their and support, but also for their realism, and for reminding me that most people don't understand sociology and seem to function quite well without it. I would also wish to give special thanks to Louise for her love and encouragement. My good friends in Midsomer Norton deserve thanks for an effective combination of bacchanalian evenings and moral support, especially Jo, Jon, Kay, Michelle, Paul and Tim, and also Dave and Roger in the early days (Murray also for not making me look like the biggest soak). Hopefully I can stay true to the cause in years to come! In Bristol, I'd like to thank Ginny for the entertaining film selection and dinner, and Dave H and Tony for the book group and suggesting some distracting novels. Thanks also go to friends in the Department of Sociology past and present, particularly Annie, Karen, Kate, Lin, Matthew, Mu and Ranji, who have all provided encouragement or advice at one point or another. I should also mention Willow for providing an original perspective, for her `caustic' wit, and for drawing the caricatures. On a more practical level, thanks to everyone who has proof read or commented on my work, and particularly to Claire and her CtG group for their attention to a couple of the chapters. Those who lent or suggested comedy material are also in my gratitude. Finally, I'd like to thank the Chicago Bears for providing much needed entertainment on Sunday and Monday nights, for winning the NFC Championship in January 2007, and the not-so-near-miss in Super Bowl XLI O. Thanks also to the mini supporters club that developed, making the whole experience more collective and memorable. 3 Author's Declaration I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the Regulations of the University of Bristol. The work is original, except where indicated by special reference in the text, and no part of the dissertation has been submitted for any other academic award. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. c-- L....... Signed: 'r.................. Date: 2 1.95. 7.......... ...... ....... ......... .... zog. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Popular Sentiments 9 10 Problems of Studying Humour 13 Summary of Chapters Chapter One Humour Theories, Rhetoric and Critique Introduction 18 19 A Joke is a Joke is a Joke: Exculpatory Approaches to Humour 22 Positive Accounts of Humour Three Traditions in Humour Studies 26 Superiority Theories 26 Incongruity Theories 32 Relief Theories 42 Theoretical Developments 45 46 Towards a Rhetorical Analysis of Humour 51 Humour and Ambivalence Conclusion 55 Chapter Two Humour and Order-Building Introduction 56 Ambivalence and Language 57 Ambivalence and the Social Actor 59 Modern Ambivalence 61 Ambivalence in Embodied Racist Humour 66 Ambivalence in Culturally Racist Humour 70 Reversed Race and Ethnic Discourses in Humour 74 5 Responses to Ambivalence 76 Social Space 77 Proteophobia and Proteophilia in Humour 78 Theoretical Developments 80 Postmodern and Liquid Modern Ambivalence 82 Liquid Racism 84 Postmodern Humour 86 Conclusion 88 Chapter Three `Biological Racism' and Embodied Racist Humour Introduction 89 The Dual Logic of Racist Humour 90 Distinguishing Embodied Racist Humour 92 The Realities of Race and Racialization 93 Embodied Racism and the Dichotomy of Civilisation and Nature 97 Non-stereotyped Black and `Nigger' Jokes 101 'Pseudo-ethnic' or Non-stereotyped Jokes 101 Black and 'Nigger' Jokes 103 The Key Ambivalences of Embodied Racism 109 Civilisation and Intelligence 109 Savagery and Sex 114 Corporeality and Social Activity 118 Conclusion 121 Chapter Four `Cultural Racism' and Humour Introduction 123 Defining Cultural Racism 124 Is Racist Humour a Working Class Problem? 128 Three Rhetorical Themes in Cultural Racism 130 6 1) Cultural Racism as Coded Racism 132 - The Ambivalence of Acceptability in Humour 2) National Identity and Boundary Maintenance 136 - Space and Exclusion in Humour 3) The `Other' as Alien and Neighbour 140 - Identity and Inferiorization in Humour Conclusion 144 Chapter Five The 'Other' Laughs Back Introduction 146 Reversal and Resistance: An Effective Counterstrategy? 147 Humour as Resistance 150 The Reversed Discourse and Resistance of Black Comics 151 Black Resistance to Embodied Racism 152 Black Resistance to Cultural Racism 156 The use of `Nigga' in Reversed Discourses 159 The Reversed Discourse and Resistance of British Asian Comics 162 Resistanceto Cultural Racism 163 Ambivalence and Ethno-Cultural Hybridity 168 Conclusion 171 Chapter Six Postmodern Humour: The Case of Ali G and Borat Introduction 173 Postmodern Humour 174 Liquid Racism 176 The Ambiguity of Ali G 178 Seeing Ali G as 'Real' 182 Three Liquid Racist Readings 183 Postmodern Minstrelsy 185 Ethno-Cultural Hybrid Racism 188 7 Anti-Asian Racism 191 Proteophobia and Proteophilia in Reactions to Ali G 193 Non-Racist Readings: Mocking the Establishment 199 Borat Sagdiyev and Negative Kazakh Stereotyping 201 Conclusion 205 Chapter Seven Postmodern Satire: The Case of the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons Introduction 207 An Analysis of the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons 208 Viewing the Cartoons as Offensive 213 Viewing the Cartoons as Satire 222 Postmodernity and Fundamentalism 224 Conclusion 226 Conclusion The Relevance of this Research for Sociological Humour Studies 228 A Way Forward 230 Bibliography 232 Appendix One 253 Appendix Two 254 8 Introduction I think humourless books about humour are a bad idea; some would say, of course, that all books about humour are a bad idea. (Arthur Asa Berger, 1995a: 3) Popular Sentiments Many in contemporary society would agree with Arthur Asa Berger's sentiment. Humour, it is assumed, is usually a good thing, the analysis of it is either unnecessary, or, worse than that, politically correct. This thesis argues against this sentiment. It is hoped that the thesis is, as far as any text can be, humourless for the reader, and it is implicitly and explicitly asserted throughout that the sober or serious study of humour is far more important for sociology than has been recognised to date, that there are serious implications and effects created by joking and these require sociological investigation. With this in mind, the thesis examines the ways in which racist humour acts as racist rhetoric, has a communicative impact, is persuasive, and can affect impressions of truth and ambivalence. Therefore, the aim of the thesis is to explain what racist humour does vis-ä-vis serious racism, and to provide a sociological critique of racist humour on that basis.