OH MY GOD, THAT NIGGER SAID GUN!”: Use of Ethnic Humor in Modern Stand-Up Comedy
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”OH MY GOD, THAT NIGGER SAID GUN!”: Use of ethnic humor in modern stand-up comedy Master’s thesis Ville Jakoaho and Sami Marjamäki University of Jyväskylä Department of Languages English February 2012 JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO Tiedekunta – Faculty Laitos – Department Humanistinen tiedekunta Kielten laitos Tekijä – Author Ville Jakoaho ja Sami Marjamäki Työn nimi – Title “OH MY GOD, THAT NIGGER SAID GUN!”: Use of ethnic humor in modern stand-up comedy Oppiaine – Subject Työn laji – Level englanti Pro gradu -tutkielma Aika – Month and year Sivumäärä – Number of pages helmikuu 2012 117 sivua Tiivistelmä – Abstract Tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää, miten etninen huumori ilmenee modernissa stand-up komediassa. Tarkemmin sanottuna tutkielman kiinnostuksen kohde oli tutkia mihin tai keneen etninen huumori kohdistuu, ja mitä eri funktioita sillä saattaa olla. Tutkielmassa analysoitiin seitsemää eri stand-up esitystä viideltä eri amerikkalaiselta koomikolta, joista kaikki kuuluvat etnisiin vähemmistöryhmiin. Tutkielmassa käytetyt esitykset ovat live-esityksiä, jotka ovat julkaistu DVD formaattina. Tutkielma pohjautuu kriittiseen diskurssintutkimukseen ja keskeisenä metodina käytettiin Norman Fairclough:n kolmiulotteista diskurssimallia. Kriittisen diskurssintutkimuksen avulla pyrimme selvittämään sekä kielenkäytön tehtäviä että niiden vaikutuksia vitseissä, ja mitä mahdollisia implikaatioita koomikoiden vitseissä käyttämillä metodeilla on joko etnisten stereotypioiden vahvistamiseen tai heikentämiseen. Tutkielmassa havaittiin, että koomikoiden käyttämä etninen huumori kohdistui pääasiassa yhteiskunnan niin sanottuja dominoivia ryhmiä kohtaan etnisten vähemmistöjen sijaan. Näihin vähemmistöihin kohdistuvat vitsit olivat kuitenkin usein kyseisiä vähemmistöryhmiä puolustavia. Etnisiin vähemmistöihin kohdistui kritiikkiä tai pilkkaa yleensä vain silloin, kun vitsin kertoja itse kuului kyseiseen vähemmistöryhmään. Vaikka etninen huumori pohjautuu usein vähemmistöjä negatiivisesti kuvaaviin stereotypioihin, voidaan koomikoiden nähdä heikentävän kyseisiä stereotypioita eri metodien, esimerkiksi ironian, avulla. Asiasanat – Keywords ethnic humor, stereotypes, stand-up comedy, critical discourse analysis, three-dimensional model of discourse, joke relationship Säilytyspaikka – Kielten laitos TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 2 Stand-up comedy and theories of humor ................................................................... 4 2.1 Stand-up comedy ...................................................................................................................... 4 2.1.1 History and development of stand-up comedy .............................................................. 6 2.1.2 Venue and the role of the audience .................................................................................... 10 2.1.3 Joking in stand-up comedy ..................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Theories of humor .................................................................................................................. 14 2.2.1 Incongruity theories ................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Hostility theories ......................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.3 Release theories ............................................................................................................................ 17 2.2.4 The General Theory of Verbal Humor .............................................................................. 18 3 Stereotypes, ethnic humor and discourse analysis .............................................. 23 3.1 Stereotypes and ethnic humor ........................................................................................... 23 3.1.1 Stereotypes ...................................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.2 Ethnic humor ................................................................................................................................. 25 3.2 Discourse analysis .................................................................................................................. 31 3.2.1 The nature of discourse analysis .................................................................................... 32 3.2.2 Critical discourse analysis ....................................................................................................... 33 3.2.3 Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of discourse .................................................. 35 3.2.4 Discourse as Text ......................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.5 Discursive Practice ...................................................................................................................... 38 3.2.6 Discourse as Social Practice .................................................................................................... 39 3.2.7 The order of discourse .............................................................................................................. 42 3.2.8 Previous discourse studies on race, ethnicity and humor ....................................... 42 4 The present study ............................................................................................................ 45 4.1 Research questions ................................................................................................................. 45 4.2 Data .............................................................................................................................................. 46 4.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 49 3.3.1 Content analysis and identifying joke categories within ethnic humor ........... 49 4.3.2 Joke relationships within ethnic humor ........................................................................... 52 4.3.3 Fairclough’s method for analyzing discourse ............................................................... 53 5 Analysis and results ........................................................................................................ 58 5.1 Sword and Shield ................................................................................................................... 58 5.2 Social criticism and reshaping discourse ....................................................................... 77 6 Discussion and conclusions ....................................................................................... 103 7 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 110 1 1 Introduction In the past few decades, stand-up comedy has become a popular form of entertainment all around the world. The most famous performers draw large masses of viewers similar to large events, such as concerts. Some comedians have used their popularity to move on to larger ventures, such as the cinema and television series. Two of the most famous examples of this are arguably Jerry Seinfeld, who has become one of the most known characters in the history of television and Chris Rock, who has appeared in numerous movies. Stand-up comedy can therefore be seen as a highly relevant topic of discussion and study regarding culture. Ethnic humor can be seen as one of the most prominent topics in modern stand-up comedy. Furthermore, many of the prominent modern stand-up comedians represent ethnic minorities, which makes the study of ethnic humor in stand-up comedy a relevant research topic. Humor and jokes have traditionally been researched from the point of view of humor theories. There has been a long tradition of humor research, which can be traced as far back as classical Greek philosophers. Humor research can be considered to be an interdisciplinary field, and this is evident when viewing the classic theories of humor that have been influenced by various disciplines. These humor theories each have a distinct approach to explaining humor and laughter. While it is important to take theories of humor into account, it is also necessary to view them critically since humor has evolved over time, especially in stand-up comedy. In the past, ethnic humor has largely been associated with humor that ridicules minorities based on stereotypes. This has nearly always been achieved from a dominant group’s point of view. For instance, jokes may have featured a 2 Caucasian group ridiculing Polish people for their stereotypical characteristics. These jokes are often short, many times consisting of a single question and an answer that serves as the punch line. Modern stand-up comedy, however, is significantly different in structure. Jokes in stand-up comedy can be very long, often featuring a narrative that the comedian uses in order to tell a story to the audience. While the structure of the jokes is different compared to traditional jokes, modern stand-up comedy still draws on ethnic stereotypes. However, it can be argued that the use of stereotypes in stand-up comedy can serve different purposes, instead of focusing solely on negative aspects that can be associated