VYTAUTO DIDŢIOJO UNIVERSITETAS HUMANITARINIŲ MOKSLŲ FAKULTETAS ANGLŲ FILOLOGIJOS KATEDRA

Ieva Lisauskaitė

LYGINAMOJI ANEKDOTŲ APIE ETNINES GRUPES JAV IR LIETUVOJE ANALIZĖ

Magistro baigiamasis darbas

Anglų kultūros ir literatūros studijų programa, valstybinis kodas 62604H106 Filologijos studijų kryptis

Vadovė doc. dr. Dalia Masaitienė ______(parašas) (data)

Apginta doc. dr. J. Vaičenonis ______(Fakulteto dekanas) (parašas) (data)

Kaunas, 2010 Santrauka

Šis baigiamasis darbas tyrinėja 57 anekdotus, kuriuose pajuokiamos Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų ir Lietuvos etninės maţumos. Šie anekdotai yra tyrinėjami atsiţvelgiant į rasės, etniškumo, rasizmo, stereotipinių įvaizdţių bei pragmatikos sąvokas. Darbas yra suskirstytas į 4 pagrindinius skyrius: įvadą, teorinę dalį, praktinę dalį bei išvadas. Teorinės dalies skyrius turi 6 poskyrius, o šie, savo ruoţtu, yra padalinti į skirsnius. Pirmajame teorinės dalies poskyryje apţvelgiama humoro reikšmė, jo tipai bei anekdotų ţanras ir jo rūšys, remiantis internetiniais Gilbert, Fatt, Dugdale bei kitų autorių straipsniais, taip pat Chiaro knyga (The Language of Jokes. Analysing Verbal Play, 1992). Antrajame poskyryje pristatomos Jungtinių Amerikos Valstijų ir Lietuvos etninės maţumos, kurios yra aptariamos atsiţvelgiant į apie jas vyraujančius stereotipus. Šio poskyrio pagrindiniai šaltiniai yra internetiniai straipsniai ir Anglickienės Kitataučių Įvaizdis Lietuvių Folklore, 2006. Kiti trys poskyriai svarsto rasės, etniškumo ir rasizmo problemas, remiantis Haralambos ir Holborn Sociology.Themes and Perspectives, 2008. Paskutiniajame poskyryje apţvelgiama pragmatika, labiausiai atkreipiant dėmesį į potekstės ir pragmatinių principų reikšmę pagal Mey Pragmatics: An Introduction, 2001. Antrojo, analitinio, šio darbo skyriaus pradţioje paaiškinami anekdotų analizės būdai. Skyrių sudaro 4 poskyriai susidedantys iš skirsnių. Pirmiausiai, anekdotai apie JAV etnines maţumas analizuojami atsiţvelgiant į rases, etniškumą, rasizmą bei stereotipinius jų įvaizdţius. Anekdotai pie Lietuvos etnines maţumas nagrinėjami tuo pačiu metodu. Tie patys anekdotai yra analizuojami iš pragmatinės pusės ţiūrint į jų potekstę bei kooperatyvinį principą, o vėliau palyginami. Paskutiniajame skyriuje pateikiamos tyrimo išvados apie rasės, etniškumo, rasizmo ir stereotipų bei potekstės ir kooperatyvinio principo pritaikymą anekdotuose. Darbo pabaigoje yra pateikiamas literatūros sąrašas bei priedai su visais tyrinėjamais anekdotais.

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Summary

The topic of the MA paper is to analyze the jokes, which describe ethnic minority groups in the USA and Lithuania, in terms of ethnicity, race, racism and stereotyping as well as pragmatics. The paper consists of four main chapters: introduction, theoretical part, practical discussion and conclusions. The theoretical framework has six main sections which are further subdivided into subsections. The first section discusses the importance of humor, its types and the genre of jokes and its types based on the articles written by Gilbert, Fatt, Dugdale and other authors, as well as a book by Chiaro (The Language of Jokes. Analysing Verbal Play, 1992). The second section introduces the ethnic minority groups and popular stereotypes and misconceptions about them in the USA and Lithuania. The material for this section is taken from internet articles and a book by Anglickienė (Kitataučių Įvaizdis Lietuvių Folklore, 2006). The following three sections focus on the issues of race, ethnicity and racism which are discussed mainly according to Haralambos and Holborn‟s Sociology.Themes and Perspectives, 2008. The final section presents the discussion on pragmatics, particularly on implicature and pragmatic principles as suggested by Mey in Pragmatics: An Introduction, 2001. The second, practical part of the paper at first presents the method of analysis of jokes selected for the investigation. The section is divided into four subsections which are also further subdivided. At first the jokes about ethnic groups in the USA are analyzed applying the concepts of race, ethnicity, racism and stereotypes. The jokes about ethnic groups in Lithuania are analyzed in the same way. Further on, the comparison of the analyses carried out in the previous two sections is made on the same level. The same jokes are then studied from the pragmatic perspectives of implicature and cooperative principle. The jokes about ethnic groups in both countries are analyzed separately and later compared. The final part of the paper presents the conclusions on race, ethnicity and racism as well as pragmatics. The section also suggests future prospects for the analysis of jokes. The paper also has the list of references and appendices with all the jokes used in the analytical discussion.

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1 INTRODUCTION

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide” (cited in quotegarden.com). One of the popular beliefs about humor and laughter is their healing power. In the world of terrorism and global warming, humor can be seen as a temporal escape. The paper will focus on one of the types of humor, jokes. Jokes are mainly created as one of the ways to ridicule people, social norms and values and other cultural and social phenomena. The aim of the paper is to analyze the jokes about people from ethnic minority groups in the USA and Lithuania. The main objectives for the analysis are the following:  To discuss the types of humor and jokes;  To introduce the ethnic minority groups in the USA and Lithuania;  To present the discussion on the concepts of race, ethnicity and racism;  To define pragmatics, pragmatic principle and implicature;  To analyze the jokes applying the theory of race, ethnicity, racism and dominant stereotypical images of the members of ethnic groups in both countries as well as to compare the analyses on the same level;  To discuss the jokes in terms of pragmatic principles and implicature and to compare the findings of the analyses of ethnic groups in both countries;  To provide the main tendencies and conclusions of the analysis of jokes about ethnic minority groups in the USA and Lithuania. The paper consists of two main parts: the theoretical framework and a practical analysis of jokes. Theoretical part discusses the importance of humor, different types of humor, types of verbal humor and jokes; it also presents the concepts, theories and approaches of race, ethnicity and racism as well as the discussion on pragmatics, implicature and pragmatic principles. The information on ethnic groups in general and specific ethnic groups in both countries is also included in the theoretical part of the paper. The practical part of the paper analyzes jokes about four ethnic minority groups in the USA and four ethnic minority groups in Lithuania. At first, the jokes about ethnic groups in the USA and Lithuania are discussed separately applying the concepts of race, ethnicity, racism and stereotypes and then the analyses are compared. The second part of the practical analysis studies the jokes about ethnic groups in the USA and Lithuania separately in terms of pragmatic principle of cooperation and implicature. Finally, after the practical analysis is made, the conclusions are drawn; the paper is also provided with the list of references and the appendix which contains all the jokes analyzed.

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The main bibliographical sources for the theoretical discussions on humor and its types, jokes and their types, and shared knowledge in relation to jokes are based on the articles by Gilbert, Fatt, Dugdale and other authors, as well as books by Chiaro (The Language of Jokes. Analysing Verbal Play, 1992) and Anglickienė (Kitataučių Įvaizdis Lietuvių Folklore, 2006). The theoretical material on race, ethnicity and racism is basically taken from Haralambos and Holborn‟s Sociology.Themes and Perspectives, 2008. The pragmatic discussion is mainly based on Mey‟s book Pragmatics: An Introduction, 2001.

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2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 The Importance of Humor Lord Byron said “Always laugh when you can. It's cheap medicine” (Hopman). The moment a person starts laughing, s/he escapes from the daily routine and problems that often bother people. Hopman suggests that laughter and smile are the unique traits that people share (Hopman). Not only do these traits brighten up gloomy days, but they also influence physical health. Laughter is a concurrent part of humor; therefore, Glickman explains that there are several functions that humor serves. Firstly, the author mentions that there have been numerous medical studies and researches that have proved the healing power of humor. Secondly, he adds that “humor sells” meaning that people usually prefer commercials or advertisements that are funny and in this way makes the product of the commercial more memorable. The third function of humor is its ability “to break the ice” in communicative situations (Glickman 1999). Although the concept of humor is differently perceived from culture to culture, very often it serves as a tool to start the conversation or even a business deal. The fourth function of humor introduced by Glickman is that “humor diffuses tension”. The author states that in many tensed situations humor is the only way to make the situation more relaxed and even achieve results that one did not expect. In this respect, the last function that humor serves is its power to get results (Glickman 1999). He adds that “humor negates anger. Humor creates credibility. Humor gets votes. Humor gets ratings. Humor commands attention. Humor overcomes objections” (Glickman 1999). In other words, no matter what is the goal of the speaker, using humor in any situation will most likely bring only positive results. Some authors classify humor into certain categories or types; therefore, the following section will present the classification of humor by Fatt. 2.1.1 Types of Humor According to Fatt, humor can be classified into three types: physical, visual and verbal humor (Fatt 1998). This section will further expand on each of these types respectively. Physical humor, as Fatt suggests, includes physical actions such as chase scenes as in slapstick comedy. Encyclopedia Britannica points out that this genre became popular in England and America in the 20th century with the emergence of silent movies with such stars as Charlie Chaplin or Harold Lloyd (Encyclopedia Britannica). Fatt explains that this “derisive form” of humor makes people laugh at the misfortunes of other people. He adds that the audience of slapstick comedies usually feels superior to the heroes of these shows. In addition, in slapstick comedies people often perform violent or impossible acts and in this way shock the audience (Fatt 1998).

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Although slapstick comedy appeared in silent movies, it is still popular and still practiced today by such Hollywood stars as Jim Carrey. Visual humor is yet another type of humor presented by Fatt. He proposes that this type of humor is usually found in caricatures which portray people having unusual features. These examples of visual humor also give people an opportunity to feel superior to people illustrated in caricatures, although very often those who are portrayed happen to be someone people respect (Fatt 1998). Sometimes, according to Fatt, the humorous effect is made by visually juxtaposing two very different personages. He gives an example of two comedians, where one is very tall and another very short, who perform the shows together for this comic visual effect (Fatt 1998). Finally, the most popular and very common type of humor is verbal humor which uses words for the humorous effect. Fatt points out that verbal humor has the same superiority effect as visual and physical humor discussed above. Some jokes, examples of verbal humor, tend to ridicule people and in this way make the reader of such a joke feel somewhat superior (Fatt 1998). These kinds of jokes are often ethnic jokes which will be the main concern of the paper. Verbal humor can be further divided into types which will be discussed in the following section. 2.1.2 Types of Verbal Humor Dugdale states that there are many types of verbal humor starting with malapropism and ending with jokes and puns (Dugdale 2006). This section will present these types of verbal humor and provide examples as suggested by Dugdale. The author begins by describing puns which are based on words that have multiple meanings or which sound similar but mean different things, for example, Heard about the fight down town? It was called a shopping maul (Dugdale 2006). This pun has a humorous effect as it plays on the meaning of the word “maul” which has the same pronunciation as the word “mall”, however, both these words have very different meanings which in turn creates funny effect. Dugdale continues that innuendo is one more type of verbal humor which mainly concentrates on giving hints to the listener who has to discover the meaning of it himself/herself, as for example, Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me? (Dugdale 2006). This innuendo has a sexual connotation, although it does not express this explicitly but gives a hint. Furthermore, malapropism is an intentional or unintentional misuse of a word (Dugdale 2006). It will take time to restore chaos and order is one of the examples of humorous malapropism made by George W. Bush (http://www.fun-with-words.com/mala_famous.html). In this instance, the speaker misuses words and instead of „restoring order‟, Bush wants to „restore chaos‟. A very similar to malapropism type of verbal humor is spoonerism, as stated by Dugdale, which is intentional or unintentional transposition of sounds of several words, for instance, our queer old Dean should actually mean our dear old Queen (Dugdale 2006). Mixed metaphors are used in order to mix

7 common metaphoric sayings to achieve comic effects. The example it's our turn at bat, so let's make this touchdown for the company (Fogarty 2008) is an instance of a mixed metaphor because in this case, images from two games, baseball (at bat) and football (touchdown) merges into one metaphor. Dugdale also presents extended or running gag which is a comic line that is repeated throughout a story many times (Dugdale 2006). The humorous effect is created not by the content of the line but by the repetition of this line in a performance. Furthermore, shaggy-dog story is another type of verbal humor as it is quite a long story full of irrelevant details which in the end do not make sense or the humorous effect is very weak (Dugdale 2006). Parody usually imitates and exaggerates well known things or persons, as for example, the Ten Commandments for Cooks (Dugdale 2006). Satire is similar to parody as it also functions to mock or ridicule social norms and rules that exist within social context (Dugdale 2006). Dugdale suggests that examples of satire can be found in television comedies such as The Simpsons or South Park (Dugdale 2006). Irony is also similar to satire since it uses language to imply the opposite of their literal meaning, for instance, saying what pleasant weather while walking in a storm (Dugdale 2006). The type of verbal humor when a speaker deliberately minimizes whatever is being spoken about is called by Dugdale understatement. An example, I have to have this operation. It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain (Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger) presents understatement because the speaker deliberately minimizes his statement as the tumor is usually regarded as a serious problem. An opposite technique when a speaker deliberately maximizes what s/he is talking is called overstatement as in I am so hungry I could eat a horse (Dugdale 2006). In this case, the speaker uses overstatement to express his/her hunger in a much exaggerated manner. Finally, the last three types of verbal humor presented by Dugdale are statement of the obvious, exclusive humor and absurdity. The first one uses a technique by stating something that is so obvious that it does not have to be verbally expressed, for instance, Mozart knew a thing or two about music. Exclusive humor is a verbal technique of using humor which is specific to a particular group of people, for example, humor used in medical setting might not be understood by the outsiders. The last type of verbal humor is absurdity which is often the usage of language that is very foolish and nonsensical (Dugdale 2006). Samuel Beckett‟s statement I can't go on, I'll go on (I Can't Go On, I'll Go on: A Selection from Samuel Beckett's Work) can serve as an example of absurdity. According to Dugdale, joke is a humorous story with a punch line which is the most comic part of the story. The author gives an example: A mother mouse and a baby mouse were walking along, when all of a sudden, a cat attacked them. The mother mouse goes, "BARK!" and the cat runs away. "See?" says the mother mouse to her baby. "Now do you see why it's important to learn a foreign language?" (Dugdale 2006). The punch line of this joke which is the last sentence

8 creates the humorous effect of the story. Since the focus of the paper is the analysis of jokes, the following section will present a discussion on the types of jokes suggested by Gilbert. 2.1.3 Types of Jokes This section will discuss the common types of jokes suggested by Gilbert. He begins with the first type of joke which is called the power of three. Usually the images, persons, or things in a joke come in threes. Gilbert views the power of three as an order where the third element is unexpected and makes the audience laugh. He gives an example of such a joke: My wife says there were three things that made her fall in love with me. My smile, my eyes, and my assets (Gilbert 2006). The comic effect in this particular example is created by the third thing that made the wife fall in love with her husband. It is humorous as the audience does not expect to hear this and because it is out of context with the first two things (smile and eyes). Furthermore, puns are ascribed to the types of jokes by Gilbert, although Dugdale considers puns as a different type of verbal humor. This type, as Gilbert claims, is a classic play on words that have similar sounding but different meanings, for instance, what do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter? Pumpkin pi (Gilbert 2006). The punch line of this joke is its last word pi, a symbol of geometry, which sounds the same as pie, a confectionary product. What is interesting in this case is that the collocation pumpkin pie is very common, therefore the comic effect is even stronger. The play on words can be regarded as another form of puns but it uses one word that has two meanings, and the humorous effect is created not by the first meaning but by the second (Gilbert 2006). The difference from puns is that play on words includes words with multiple meanings, though the spelling of a word does not change (Gilbert 2006). An example of the play on words is the following: Being in politics is just like playing golf: you are trapped in one bad lie after another (http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Pun.htm). The humorous effect in this example is created by the multiple meanings of the word lie which should mean being in a position as in golf but the punch line of this joke presents another meaning: not telling the truth as in politics. Gilbert proposes one more type of joke which he calls the unexpected twist. He explains this type as follows: “this type of joke has the audience thinking you‟re going in one direction and for the punch line you take a detour and go off in an unexpected direction, for instance, misers are no fun to live with, but they make great ancestors (Tom Snyder cited in Gilbert 2006). The unexpected twist in this example is that even such people as misers can get some positive results for this way of living. Stating the obvious, which has been presented as a type of humor by Dugdale, is regarded as a type of joke by Gilbert. The author claims that things that are obvious are the funniest and gives Steven Wright‟s example: whenever I think about the past, it brings back such memories (Gilbert 2006). What is humorous in this example is something that everybody knows but nobody thinks of that as it is obvious. Gilbert suggests that jokes in which

9 words or phrases are understood directly are called literal jokes. For example, a man went into a bank and said to the cashier: “Will you check my balance?” So she pushed him (Gilbert 2006). These literal jokes take the direct meanings of phrases or sentences as play on words takes the first meanings of words. According to Gilbert, theme jokes concentrate on the same subject and they usually follow the same formula or are structured in the same manner. He gives examples of theme jokes which all start with the same linguistic structure and focus on the same subject of age: You‟re getting old when… Sowing your wild oats means eating your oat bran for breakfast. You‟re getting old when…You don‟t work anymore and neither does the gold watch they gave you when you retired. You‟re getting old when…You stop lying about your age because you can‟t remember what your age really is (Gilbert 2006). Finally, the last type of jokes by Gilbert is humorous simile which makes comic comparisons as in the examples by Milton Berle and Henny Youngman respectively: with her, truth is like a girdle – she stretches it or a mother-in-law is like a shirt button – always popping off (Gilbert 2006). As have been mentioned above, humor is very important in our everyday life, therefore the analysis of this paper focuses on jokes as a type of verbal humor and presents the most common types of jokes. Next section will focus on jokes as being a culture-specific phenomenon, that is, some jokes might be understood only by a particular group (s) of people. 2.1.4 The Concept of Shared Knowledge in Relation to Jokes Chiaro states that, unlike physical humor or a slapstick, which are more or less universal and widely understood, verbal humor and especially jokes have geographical boundaries and are amusing only within a particular country or culture (1992:6). She continues on the subject claiming that if a situation in a joke is very culture-specific this kind of joke will not be successful in another culture. Chiaro gives examples of Italian jokes that are translated into English but lose all or at least part of their comic effect, as the audience does not have the same shared sociocultural knowledge as Italians to whom the jokes seem to be funny (1992:10). For a joke to have humorous effect, it has to rely on the knowledge which is shared by the audience and by the sender of a joke (Chiaro 1992:11). Chiaro recognizes three factors which make up the sort of competence needed for the audience to understand a joke. Firstly, the linguistic competence is simply the code or language in which the joke is produced, therefore, people speaking different languages may not be able to get the joke. Secondly, sociocultural knowledge is another important factor in joke understanding. In order to understand jokes fully, one has to be aware of the world knowledge as in the following example: British Rail announced today that coffee was going up 20p a slice (Chiaro 1992 11-12). Chiaro explains this joke in terms of world knowledge, that is, for the audience to appreciate this

10 joke, people should have knowledge about the quality of catering in British Rail (1992:12). In this way the joke seems to be even funnier if the audience has had the same experience in these British trains. Chiaro adds that sociocultural restrictions can also be historical. Jokes are not static but dynamic and constantly changing phenomenon depending on social, economic and political influences. For this reason, jokes that were told 20 years ago are no longer funny for the younger generations (1992:12). The third factor to Chiaro is the poetic competence needed to understand the play on words (1992:13). For a non-native speaker of any language, it is rather difficult to get the jokes which are puns or mixed metaphors, as s/he does not have enough linguistic knowledge of a foreign language. In other words, for the audience to get the joke, people should have three kinds of competence: linguistics or understanding the language of a joke; sociocultural or having shared social knowledge; and poetic or being able to understand all the instances of the word play. Since the aim of the paper is to analyze jokes on ethnic groups in two settings, American and Lithuanian, other sections will briefly discuss ethnic minority groups and their social situation in both countries. 2.2 Ethnic Minority Groups Barth claims that the term ethnic group is used to describe a population which is fourfold: 1. is largely biologically self-perpetuating; 2. shares fundamental cultural values, realized in overt unity in cultural forms; 3. makes up a field of communication and interaction; 4. has a membership which identifies itself, and is identified by others, as constituting a category distinguishable from other categories of the same order (Barth 1969). What Barth suggests by these descriptions is that any ethnic group has to have a particular number of people who would be able to talk their original language and would follow the cultural traditions and norms and practice them as well as to feel members of their population and identify themselves with that group of people. Čepulkauskaitė points out that there are no modern societies or states that would be purely homogenous since people of different descents and origins come to live together for many different reasons. One of the features that distinguishes any ethnic group is its national character (Čepulkauskaitė 1998). Čepulkauskaitė explains that national character can be seen through the culture of an ethnic group and argues that national character is not meant to describe individual traits but the traits that are shared by the whole group (Čepulkauskaitė 1998). She adds that besides the national character there are other traits, such as temperament and abilities that are used to describe an ethnic group. These traits, however, according to Čepulkauskaitė, are problematic because nations cannot be associated with one specific type of temperament – it is usually a combination of several types of categories (Čepulkauskaitė 1998).

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Čepulkauskaitė then continues on ethnic consciousness which she views very similarly as Barth‟s point about membership. She states that ethnic consciousness forms itself through the identification of individuals as members of a particular ethnic group. Only active participation in the social life of a community will help one to become a real member of an ethnic group (Čepulkauskaitė 1998). Čepulkauskaitė adds that the development of the identification with a particular ethnic group is influenced by two factors: firstly, it is determined by how other ethnic groups perceive that ethnic group and secondly, the historical development of the ethnic group (Čepulkauskaitė 1998). In relation to this, she claims that ethnic groups are not isolated and that they often interact with other groups. This interaction with other groups is largely influenced by the stereotypes one ethnic group has about the other group. These stereotypes do not necesserilly have to be only negative but they are always very subjective and play an important role in ethnic liking or disliking (Čepulkauskaitė 1998). In addition, Čepulkauskaitė describes what a national minority is. She suggests that national minority is a community of people who have their language, culture and traditions but do not live in the state of their nation (Čepulkauskaitė 1998). According to the author, some analysts claim that minority groups are diferent from other groups in their physical and cultural peculiarities for which these people are often condemned and experience discrimination from the majority groups (Čepulkauskaitė 1998). The discussion on ethnic minority groups is very important as the practical analysis will focus on jokes that express in most of the cases derogatory attitudes towards ethnic groups. In a multinational country, people often face with problems that arise due to the clash of cultures or the clash between ethnic majority and minority groups. Anglickienė states that a member from any ethnic minority group in folklore is not the same as s/he is in reality, however, the works of folklore still reveal the dominant ethnic stereotypes that prevail in the majority groups (Anglickienė 2006:7). The following sections will overview the minority groups in the USA and Lithuania as well as popular beliefs, attitudes and often misconceptions about these groups. 2.2.1 Ethnic Minority Groups in the United States Pollard states that 20th century is the time of transformation of America from a predominantly white population to a society full of ethnic groups and minorities (Pollard 1999). At the beginning of the century immigrants from Europe or the majority group who were all white lived together with mainly one minority group, the African-Americans. However, at the end of the 20th century ethnic situation in America changed radically as the population of the Hispanic whites reached a similar number of the population of the African-Americans together with the growing populations of the the Asians and the Native Americans (Pollard 1999).

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The African Americans are descendants of African slaves who became victims of, as Daniels puts it, “a great international crime” (Daniels 1990:53). According to Daniels, the business of slave trade was related to western European imperialism or simply to making profit from black people (Daniels 1990:53). The Census Bureau of the USA states that the African-Americans are also descendants of more recent immigrants from Africa, the West Indies, and Central and South America (Census Bureau 2009). However, Daniels points out that the emergence of “native-born African-Americans” could be regarded as a “new kind of person”. Although this kind of “new person” was more American than African, the color of their skin was an influential factor for further segregation from American life (Daniels 1990:64). Bigelow claims that for many years the black population was regarded as genetically inferior purely because of their color of the skin. She adds that this segregation by the white population was influenced by many misconceptions and dominant derogatory stereotypical images about the African-Americans. In 1960s and 70s the African- Americans were portrayed in the media as servants, criminals and drug abusers (Bigelow 2009). However, according to Bigelow, Bill Cosby can be considered to be one of the initiators to break these stereotypical images about the African-Americans (Bigelow 2009). Moreover, Jimenez claims that now after the election of the first African-American president the changes should be more visible in relation to racism in America (Jimenez 2008). Another major ethnic group in the Unites States is called the Hispanics. It is a broad term encompassing immigrants from Spain or Spanish-speaking countries. The population of the Hispanics is growing very fast because of immigration and high birth rates (Census Bureau 2009). Daniels states that the first immigrants were Mexicans and Puerto Ricans and later immigrants from many other Spanish-speaking countries came to the USA. Nevertheless, he argues that the Census calls all these immigrants using one label of the Hispanics. The author adds that besides common language, religion and poverty, these immigrants share little else as they live in different regions of America, keep to different traditions and are regarded as being of different races: the Mexican Americans are considered to be white and most Puerto Ricans as black (Daniels 1990:326). Englekirk and Marin suggest that more or less every ethnic minority group in US, although preserving certain cultural aspects, shows higher or lower degree of assimilation. However, this cannot be applied to the Mexican Americans who have demonstrated a high degree of resistance to assimilation. The reason for this resistance can be their close proximity to the homeland. (Englekirk and Marin 2009). The authors maintain that during the years of World War II the Mexicans were believed to be innate criminals whose violent behavior was associated with their Indian blood. Moreover, another popular misconception about the Mexican Americans is their “simplemindedness” due to their genetic and cultural differences (Englekirk and Marin 2009).

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Census Bureau suggests that the term Asian Americans appeared only recently, in 1960s. The first immigrants to the USA were from China in 1800s (Census Bureau 2009). The population of the Asian Americans has influenced the American society greatly including Asian cuisine, Asian religions, a rich variety of Asian arts and achievements in sports (Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2009). Furthermore, Daniels explains that the Asian ethnic group is very often called “a model minority” as they keep to the middle class norms very much (Daniels 1990:352). According to Le, many scholars suggest that there are two major stereotypical images about the Asian Americans. The first image depicts the Asian Americans as being very similar in their physical appearance. The author states that people are “either unable or unwilling to distinguish between different Asian ethnicities”. The second stereotypical image is that the Asian Americans are always treated as foreigners (Le 2010). Thus, the group of the Asian Americans is perceived as strangers or foreigners despite the fact that they might be living in America for several or more generations. This illustrates that the majority of the American population, due to the physical differences of the Asian Americans, treats them as outsiders or the others that have come to live in the USA. Although the Native Americans or Alaska Natives were the first settlers in what is now America, they are called an ethnic minority group. Hayden maintains that the Native Americans are probably one of the most diverse ethnic groups in America with even 562 legally recognized tribes. He continues that the Native Americans are spread in all the states where some of them still keep to their traditions and some serve in US army or work in offices (Hayden 2009). Spindel maintains that the stereotypes about the Native Americans are “extraordinary powerful”. She continues that the Native American is depicted from two main points of view: either the Indian is good or he is bad. The positive portrayal of Indian includes such characteristics as “a handsome physique, unusual stamina, and calm, dignified bearing. He is brave in combat, and devoted to his family ... he lives in harmony with nature”. The other view depicts Indian man as “lazy and lecherous, a slippery-fingered thief ... he is constantly on the warpath to get revenge on his enemies” (Spindel 2000). The Native-American is illustrated as either a positive or as a negative character. Bordewich claims that such stereotypes appeared and were reinforced by the vast numbers of Hollywood films that included Indian people (Bordewich 1996). According to Pollard, no other country, except for America, has witnessed so many different nations living together. Nevertheless, Americans themselves express different views about the diversity of people living in their country. Some of them think that this rapid growth of ethnic minority groups will just follow the tradition of a „melting pot‟ or a creation of multi-ethnic society, whereas other Americans express their wish to come back to American-European heritage (Pollard 1999). Although multicultural and multi-ethnic America has an advantage over other countries in

14 global economy, the issues of discrimination are still present in the United States (Pollard 1999). Besides these four major minority groups presented in the section, the populations of the Jews and Arabs are also rapidly increasing (Pollard 1999). However, namely these four ethnic minority groups will be further investigated when analysing jokes about each of the groups. 2.2.2 Ethnic Minority Groups in Lithuania Potasenko claims that modern day Lithuania is a multinational Central European country where less than 20% of country„s population is ethnic minorities (Potasenko 2008:143). According to the Department of Statistics, the main national minorities in Lithuania in 2001 were Polish (6.7%), Russians (6.3%), Belorussians (1.2%), Ukrainians (0.7%), Jews (0.1%), and other (0.6%). Although figure below does not show the ethnic group of the Gypsies, this minority will still be important for the practical analysis of the paper.

Figure 2.2.2.1 Ethnic minority Groups in Lithuania in 2001 (Statistikos Departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybes Homepage)

The following part of this section will briefly discuss each ethnic minority in Lithuania paying special attention to how they are treated in Lithuanian folklore (jokes being part of folklore). The Polish people comprise the largest ethnic minority in Lithuania. Anglickienė suggests that the image of the Poles has undergone interesting changes in Lithuanian folklore due to the historical events and other influences (2006:212). Subačius adds that while at the end of 18th century Lithuanians and Poles were seen as competing brothers, at the beginning of the 20th century, the two brothers became harsh enemies (Subačius 1998:49-53). For this reason, the image of the Polish people became more negative in the 20th century. Anglickienė claims that in earlier jokes about the Polish people, the two nations did not understand each other‟s language and this brought comic result (2006:213). However, she explains that in the interwar period after the Poles‟

15 occupation of Vilnius, old, rather negative stereotypes came back (2006:216). Anglickienė provides examples in which the Polish people at that time are treated as cunning deceivers (2006:216). On the whole, according to Anglickienė, the Poles in the Lithuanian folklore are described as arrogant and boastful as well as being overly polite (2006:220). The Russians, 6.3 % of Lithuanian population, are the second largest ethnic minority group. Although the Russians, the Belorussians and the Ukrainians are different ethnic groups in Lithuania, Anglickienė discusses all these three groups under the label of the Russians, referring to the Russian-speaking people, therefore, the three minority groups will be presented according to Anglickienė‟s analysis. The author states that after World War II when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviets, there appeared a number of folklore literature, especially jokes, about the Russians (2006:201). Kviklys maintains that in such folk literature, the Russians are, to put it mildly, in disrepute by being portrayed as slovenly, disingenuous and often involved in criminal acts (1991:146). Anglickienė notes that humorous situations with Russians, like with the Poles, often happen when Lithuanians do not understand the Russian language (2006:203). Other Russian features that are usually mocked in folklore as suggested by Anglickienė are their physical appearance, the habit of cursing and stupidity (2006:209). The Jews, who comprise only 0.1% of the population, are also one of the ethnic minority groups in Lithuania. Although the Jewish ethnic group is very small, Anglickienė comments that the Jewish character is the most popular character in the Lithuanian folklore (2006:130). She adds that the images of Jews are similar across many countries or cultures. These images can be mainly found in jokes and only rarely in tales (2006:131). The Jews, as Anglickienė remarks, are either treated as victims of deceivers or they are deceivers themselves. In many jokes, the Jews are mocked for being witless and stupid and, in this way, losing their money. However, the Jews are more often deceivers themselves because they often worked as tradesmen or lenders in communities (Anglickienė 2006:133). Furthermore, Anglickienė reports that the Jews were portrayed as being confessants of “false religion”. She explains that usually other religions are thought of as bad and uncertain. In the same way, the Lithuanians viewed Jewish people as pagans or even talking animals (Anglickienė 2006:135). Anglickienė summarizes her discussion on the images of the Jews announcing that the most popular topic about them is their different religion which becomes the basis for mocking the Jewish religious traditions and lifestyles. She argues that even if the Jews are pictured negatively, the folklore does not reflect any anti-Semitic elements and, in the after war period, even a sympathy is shown to the Jews because of the genocide. The image of the Jews is ambivalent since besides the negative stereotypes, they are also illustrated as being different or simply neutral (Anglickienė 2006:166).

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Finally, the last ethnic group important for the paper is the Gypsies. The data from the Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians living abroad shows that there are only 0.7 % (in 2001) of Gypsies living in Lithuanian territory (Department of Statistics 2001). Anglickienė states that because of the peripatetic existence of the Gypsies, many Lithuanians have had some contact with them who, therefore, often become main characters in jokes and other folklore literature (2006:168). Most often, according to Anglickienė, the Gypsies are the deceivers or are the deceived. Their very low social position and very poor living conditions give a chance for rich people to deceive the Gypsies. Nevertheless, they also have a number of trickster‟s features which help them to deceive other people in order to satisfy their basic needs such as hunger (Anglickienė 2006:168-169). Anglickienė claims that similarly to the Jews, the Gypsies are ambivalent characters in folklore: they can be both, the deceiver and its victim. She suggests that the Gypsies are the most wicked ethnic characters in the Lithuanian folklore because although usually nobody can deceive a Lithuanian, a Gypsy is able to trick him/her. 2.3 Social Aspect of Race This section discusses three important terms: race, ethnicity and racism. These concepts are interrelated, however, as the theoretical discussion will show, they are rather different. The term, race, according to Haralambos and Holborn is usually distinguished either as a phenotype, or physical characteristics of people, or as a genotype, or the genetic differences between people (2008:144). Nevertheless, the paper will not discuss these biological definitions, and will mainly interpret the terms race and ethnicity in a more sociological perspective. Jones suggests that race cannot be considered in scientific terms: Humanity can be divided into groups in many ways: by culture, by language and by race – which usually means by skin colour. Each division depends to some extent on prejudice and, because they do not overlap, can lead to confusion (Jones 1191).

In other words, dividing people into different races is very much related to background opinions and beliefs of those who are dividing, therefore, the concept cannot have any scientific basis. Jones continues that dividing people into races can have enormous effect on them and their lives: “It‟s a tiny step from classifying people to judging them” (Jones 1991). He further gives example of Hitler‟s wish to destroy the Jews which illustrates the disastrous consequences of dividing people into races (Jones 1991). Jones states that although people differ in their physical appearance, this does not in any case relate to their culture, behavior and standards of morality (Jones 1991). Richardson and Lambert agree with Jones‟ treatment of race claiming that biologically races cannot be strictly divided. Nonetheless, they also notice that there still exists a widespread belief that „race‟ exists, which influences many people of different societies (Richardson and

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Lambert 1985). In addition to critical view towards race as a biological constraint, Richardson and Lambert discuss three basic problems related to the concept of racial superiority: 1 The authors claim that the biological differences of people are not in any way related to differences in their behavior and culture in general. 2 People of the same race can be very different from one another, therefore, biology is not the influencing factor in shaping human behavior in contrast to animal behavior. 3 Richardson and Lambert claim that there are no objective reasons to declare that one race is superior to other races (Richardson and Lambert 1985). These authors state that one race cannot be seen as superior to other races on the basis of their biological or physical differences. They argue that physical appearance does not influence people‟s behavior in the society, therefore it is not an objective claim. In addition to racial superiority, Richardson and Lambert note that “race is a social construction”. People‟s views about different races are affected by the general opinions and beliefs of the social community they live in (Richardson and Lambert 1985). The authors also maintain that “in some societies, at certain times, people are found to attach little weight to racial differences, while in other contexts we might find intense hostility and pronounced patterns of racial exclusion and inclusion” (Richardson and Lambert 1985). This means that racial differences are accepted differently in different societies. Richardson and Lambert believe that people from the same society may have different opinions about other races, therefore, through their actions and interactions with other members of the society they may influence, change or reinforce the existing racial beliefs (Richardson and Lambert 1985). Haralambos and Holborn suggest that, due to the process of migration, physically and culturally different people live close to one another which gives rise to understanding race relations (2008:148). For this reason the following sections will briefly discuss some theories on race relations. 2.3.1 The Immigrant-Host Approach One of the most influential approaches to studying race relations is called the immigrant-host approach. As Haralambos and Holborn state, this approach looks at the race relations between the immigrants or ethnic minority groups and the society they have started to live in (2008:152). The authors assert that the immigrant-host approach considers race relations from a rather optimistic perspective. The scholars who try to adopt this approach believe that eventually the immigrants will adapt the host countries way of life, and in this way be assimilated into the dominant group. They add that the conflict between immigrants and the host culture will gradually decline (Haralambos and Holborn 2008:153). Haralambos and Holborn remark that the immigrant-host approach is similar to functionalist view of society. The immigrant or minority group disrupts the order of the

18 host society until the society adapts to them and until they adapt to the society. However, the emphasis is usually more put on the immigrants‟ adaptation to the host society not the society‟s adaptation to the immigrants‟ cultural values and life style (Haralambos and Holborn 2008:153). Further on, Haralambos and Holborn present one of the pioneers of the immigrant- host approach, Park. He describes race relations in the following quote: The relations existing between peoples distinguished by marks of racial descent, particularly when these racial differences enter into the consciousness of the individuals and groups so distinguished, and by doing so determine in each case the individual‟s conception of himself as well as his status in the community (Park 1950).

In other words, Park views race relations as racial differences between two „races‟ which are recognized by both of them and which influence the social status of the representatives of these „races‟. Park claims that „races‟ are divided by the competition between them or by conflict for their social welfare. He adds that it is the processes of assimilation and accommodation that bring the two „races‟ together (Park 1950). Park continues on accomodation, stating that it “allows people to live and work on friendly terms” but it does not show complete friendliness between the two „races‟. Assimilation, on the other hand, can ensure permanent friendly relationships between the two groups by these processes: 1 A process by which the two groups spontaneously acquire one another‟s language and cultural habits. 2 A process by which immigrant group is taken over and becomes part of the dominant host culture (Park 1950). However, Richardson and Lambert remark that alongside its strengths, the immigrant-host approach also shows some weaknesses:  They notice that the concepts of accommodation and assimilation are not clearly distinguished as it is sometimes not clear at what stage of adjustment the two groups are.  Richardson and Lambert also criticize the approach because it emphasizes the fact that it is the immigrants who have to sacrifice their cultural values for the process of assimilation not the dominant group.  The immigrant-host approach pays little attention to the racism which causes ethnic conflict and discrimination.  It ignores the fact the some host societies may have very strong opposing views against immigrants which may also cause racism (Richardson and Lambert 1985). 2.3.2 A Marxist View of Migration Castles and Kosack present a very different theory of immigration which focuses on immigration in the context of international capitalist system (Castles and Kosack 1973). Castles and Kosack claims

19 that immigrants to various societies share many similarities. Immigrants in the host society usually face with such problems as low paid jobs, poor housing conditions, and low educational level, as well as discrimination and inequality issues. What is interesting in this theory is that various immigrants to various places in the world very often confront the same problems (Castles and Kosack 1973). Castles and Kosack continue that migration increases inequalities between richer and poorer nations as migrants usually come to other countries to look for better economic conditions (Castles and Kosack 1973). The authors claim that the prejudice against immigrants serves three main functions: 1 It “conceals and legitimates the exploitation of immigrant workers” which would not be tolerated by the workers of the dominant group. 2 Immigrant workers often become scapegoats for such problems as unemployment or a lack of housing which actually is the problem of the dominant society system. 3 Race prejudice helps to divide the working class which is forced to accept discrimination against immigrants (Castles and Kosack 1973). 2.3.3 The Age of Migration Castles and Miller argue that nowadays because of the vast numbers of immigrants, many cultures or countries have no other choices as only to accept that they are surrounded by various ethnic groups (Castles and Miller 1993). They add that “marginalization and isolation” of minority groups just strengthened their ethnic identity which became a “mechanism of resistance” (Castles and Kosack 1973). Castles and Miller state that the process of globalization opens up new possibilities to get to know various people from different ethnic groups, therefore, “difference need no longer be a marker for strangeness and separation, but myriad of possibilities” (Castles and Kosack 1973). In other words, racial differences nowadays are no longer seen as something strange or unacceptable but more as possibilities for different experiences. Robin Cohen has also explored the consequences of global migration which reduces possibilities of conflict between people of different ethnic backgrounds. He introduces the concept of cosmopolitan individuals, people who have traveled extensively and who are used to being with people who behave differently or talk in different languages (Cohen 2006). Cohen divides immigrants into three groups: 1 Citizens are migrants who have full nationality and are protected by the same laws as dominant group of a host country. 2 Denizens are migrants who do not have full nationality but they still have some rights in the host country.

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3 Helots are illegal immigrants who suffer from the lack of rights and legal protection of laws. Cohen claims that these immigrants are usually unwanted in the host country and often feel hostility towards them (Cohen 2006). The following section presents the discussion on another very important term of ethnicity, its definition, types, strengths and weaknesses. 2.4 Defining Ethnicity According to Haralambos and Holborn, the concept of ethnicity is always described in relation to culture by many sociological approaches which pay little attention to the biological aspect of race (Haralambos and Holborn 2008). Ethnicity is defined by Eriksen as “aspects of relationships between groups which consider themselves, and are regarded by others, as being culturally distinctive” (Eriksen 1993). Eriksen believes that ethnic groups do not exist in isolation and the idea of ethnicity itself suggests that it is the relationship between two culturally different ethnic groups. He adds that one ethnic group may be superior to another in the same society and, therefore, may enjoy higher status and more material rewards (Eriksen 1993). In addition, Eriksen states that it is not enough to have shared characteristics in order to develop ethnic identities. He claims that social classes are not ethnic groups because these people lack a strong sense of common bond, they do not share the idea of common ancestry or common blood, as well as they do not profess the same religion (Eriksen 1993). Fenton believes that ethnic identification can be of different degrees of intensity. This intensity ranges from identity that dominates people‟s lives to the identity which has limited relevance in everyday life (Fenton 1999). Fenton suggests that people may have more than one different identities and ethnic identity may not prevail the whole time. The salience of a particular identity over other identities depends very much on the context in which people find themselves (Fenton 1999). Fenton distinguishes two types of ethnicity according to its strength:  Hot ethnicity is emphasized by the strong loyalty to the ethnic group.  Cold ethnicity does not involve so much passion as the hot ethnicity. Cold ethnicity involves people who want to profit from the ties they have with their ethnic group (Fenton 1999). Fenton adds that ethnicity may also assume different degrees of importance:  Ethnicity as a command principle requires people behave in various different ways. In this case the society influences the social behavior of the ethnic group very strongly.  Ethnicity as a flexible principle means more freedom of choice because the divisions between ethnic groups are not very rigid.

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 Ethnicity as nil principle means that ethnic identity is not important in particular situations (Fenton 1999). 2.4.1Primordial and Mobilizationist Explanations of Ethnicity James McKay has identified two basic explanations of how ethnic groups are formed: 1 Primordial Approaches see people who belong to ethnic groups having a very strong emotional attachment to the territory they lived in, to their religion and to their kin. Primordial approaches emphasize the fact that people always see the world as consisting of those who belong to their groups and those who do not. In this way, the division between outsiders and insiders or „us‟ and „them‟ comes into play. McKay suggests that the advantage of the primordial approach is that it emphasizes the “emotional strength of ethnic bonds” but he also considers the approach as being too “deterministic and static” (McKay 1982). 2 Mobilizationist Approaches indicate that there is nothing natural or emotional about ethnicity. Ethnic identities are actively created, reinforced or developed by the individuals who believe they can gain some advantages from the ethnic group (McKay 1982). McKay remarks that both explanations of ethnic identity can be interrelated. These two explanations are not complete opposites but can be combined. Ethnicity may at one time or place be based on priomordial interests, and in another place and time it may as well be based on mobilizationist interests (McKay 1982). To put it simply, people reinforce or maintain their ethnic identities either for some affective, emotional ties with their ethnic group or in order to achieve some more material goals, such as gaining more rights. 2.4.2 The Causes of Ethnic Conflict According to Brown, conflicts between ethnic groups, on the one hand, may include only some political processes with no violence, on the other hand, ethnic conflict may turn to be very violent (Brown 1997). Brown distinguishes three explanations for ethnic conflict (Brown 1997): 1 Systemic explanation suggests that ethnic conflict results when the groups live close to one another and when national, regional or international authorities cannot prevent it by control. Without authority control, an ethnic group believes they have to turn to violence before another ethnic group does this. 2 Domestic explanation relate to conflicts which arise because ethnic groups feel unprotected by the state they live in. Brown adds that in some countries the processess of democratization might produce problems in multi-ethnic societies since ethnic groups usually begin asking retributions for past mistreatments. 3 Perceptual explanation indicates that conflict may occur because of the way one ethnic group perceives another group. Negative attitudes and hostility towards other ethnic groups

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may be created because of myths and false stories which demonize members of the group. Such negative myths tend to appear in places where an authoritarian regime has hidden the histories of ethnic minority groups (Brown 1997). The conflict between dominating ethnic group and a minority group can be regarded as an indication of another important for this paper concept, racism, which will be discussed in the following sections. 2.5 Racism: Main Definitions, Types, and Theories of Racism According to Haralambos and Holborn racism influences the way people from minority groups behave, however what is important while discussing racism is the hostility and discrimination shown by the majority ethnic group. In other words, the focus is not on the minority group itself but on the wider society attitudes about the minority group (Haralambos and Holborn 2008:168). The terms prejudice and discrimination are very much related to racism. Cashmore defines prejudice as “learned beliefs and values that lead an individual or group of individuals to be biased for or against members of particular groups” (Cashmore 1996). Cashmore‟s definition suggests that prejudice is one of the lightest forms of racism as it does not involve taking some serious actions against minority groups (Cashmore 1996). On the other hand, the concept of discriminations is defined by Cashmore as “the unfavorable treatment of all persons socially assigned to a particular category” (Cashmore 1996). The definition of discriminations indicates that this kind of racism is more serious than having some prejudice because one takes some actions in order to discriminate other people. Both concepts of prejudice and discrimination, according to Haralambos and Holborn, are based on stereotypes about other people. They explain that stereotypes are “oversimplified or untrue generalizations about social groups” (2008:168). The authors add that when these stereotypes convey negative or positive evaluations of people, they can be called prejudice, whereas when they become any forms of actions, they can be called discrimination (2008:168). Solomos gives a definition of racism: “those ideologies and social processes which discriminate against others on the basis of their putatively different racial membership” (Solomos 1993). Solomos adds that racism is not static. This means that people may hold stereotypical views about those from different racial groups and may discriminate them not necessarily believing that they are inferior (Solomos 1993). Halstead proposes six different types of racism: 1 Pre-reflective Gut Racism refers to racism that is based on emotional rather than rational reasons. This emotional hatred felt against other people can be explained from three psychological perspectives. Firstly, people usually feel fear, insecurity or anxiety towards people that they regard as strangers or „the others‟. Secondly, this kind of racism can be

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influenced by the feelings of rejection, aggression, or wish to be superior. Finally, people are open to false myths and stereotypes which lead towards racism. 2 Post-Reflective Gut Racism is concerned with continuing justification for racial supremacy and dominance. Post-reflective gut racism emanates from racial prejudice such as social avoidance or scapegoating. This type of racism seeks to explain racist attitudes in religious or scientific terms. 3 Cultural Racism refers to racism against social customs, manners, language, or aesthetic values of the minority group. Minorities in this type of racism are encouraged to abandon their culture and adapt the culture of the dominant group. 4 Institutional Racism usually refers to the way institutional arrangements serve to reinforce the advantages of the white majority. Miles agrees with Halstead suggesting that institutional racism is a hidden or covert type of racism (Miles 1989). 5 Paternalistic Racism exceptionally implies that white people have the right to interfere in the lives of blacks for their own good. In other words, this racism imposes well defined regulations on the blacks. 6 Color-Blind Racism is commonly called „unintentional racism‟. This means that there can be injustice in treating people the same when in relevant respects they are different just as there can be injustice treating people differently although in relevant respects they are the same (Halstead 1988:139-155). Cox developed a theory of racism which is based on Marxist ideas. Cox rejects approaches which see racism as the phenomenon that has always existed (Cox 1970). He argues that racism is a contemporary phenomenon which began to develop in the end of 15th century. To Cox, racism is a set of beliefs used to justify the exploitation of people from one ethnic group by people from another group (Cox 1970). Although many writers have agreed with Cox that racism is related to colonialism and capitalism, many of them argue that colonialism and capitalism are not the only causes of racism. Scholars also argue with Cox, declaring that people can be racists from any ethnic group, whereas Cox remarks that it is only whites that discriminate (Haralambos and Holborn 2008:177). Cox‟s Marxist ideas on racism were followed by a neo-Marxist theory of racism developed at the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. The scholars working with this theory also agreed with Cox that racism was largely influenced by colonialism, but they argued that it “pre-dated colonialism and was shaped by many other factors” (Haralambos and Holborn 2008:178). In addition, this theory of racism saw the emergence of new racism which focused already on cultural differences between ethnic groups instead of emphasizing biological superiority over the other „race‟ (Haralambos and Holborn 2008:178).

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The section suggests that racism can have different forms which vary from prejudice as the lighter form and discrimination which is already the heavier form of racism. The source for both forms, prejudice and discrimination, is the process of stereotyping which will be discussed in greater detail in the following section. Furthermore, racism can be divided into six types which present different ways and reasons for racist treatment of people from other ethnic groups. In addition, the two theories of racism agree that it appeared due to and in the process of colonialism. However, Cox‟s Marxist theory considers that only the white majority discriminate other ethnic groups, whereas neo-Marxist theory explains that there exists a new type of racism which focuses more on cultural differences not on genetic ones. Since the subsection broadly suggests that prejudice is the lightest form of racism, the following section will focus on the issue of stereotyping and its dangers. 2.5.1 Stereotypes As the practical analysis of jokes will show, jokes about ethnic minority groups almost in all cases involve stereotypical images about members of these groups. Therefore, the section will briefly present the concepts of stereotyping or ideological statement and negative stereotypes. Scollon and Scollon suggest that stereotyping is the process in which two cultures or social groups are markedly contrasted with one another on the basis of some single characteristic (2001:168). They point out that stereotyping focus on simplistic differences between social groups. In addition, the authors maintain that usually such ideological statements are made focusing on individual members of a group and then applying these statements or stereotypes to the whole social group of that individual (ibid. 2001:168). For instance, one of the stereotypical images of women is that they are bad drivers. Such image about women, if applying the ideas suggested by Scollon and Scollon, has been created probably judging about a particular bad woman driver and then it has become a stereotype about all women drivers. Scollon and Scollon claim that although stereotyping is very similar to overgeneralization, the former one has some ideological implications. They explain that stereotyping is an exaggerated overgeneralization of some negative or positive characteristics which are “then taken as arguments to support social or political relationships in regard to members of those groups” (2001:168). In other words, stereotyping can become an ideological “weapon” in the hands of certain people or groups of people. Taking the same example of bad women drivers, it could be suggested that an extreme consequence of such an exaggerated overgeneralization could be that, for instance, driving schools would not accept women. Furthermore, Scollon and Scollon claim that stereotyping is a way of thinking which does not recognize individual differences of people in a group. Besides, stereotypes make people see only several distinctive characteristics of a group, in this way preventing them to see many other

25 important aspects (2001:168). The same example of stereotypical image of women as bad drivers might suggest that people who hold this kind of belief may overlook other important features, for instance, that the statistics shows that “male drivers have a 77 percent higher risk of dying in a car accident than women” (Borenstein 2007). Scollon and Scollon state that stereotyping is on the whole rather negative process, however, negative stereotyping seems to be even worse. The authors add that this kind of stereotyping has several steps (2001:171). Firstly, the two groups are contrasted on a single aspect. Secondly, this single differentiating aspect is thought of as creating communication problems between the two groups. Next step is to ascribe negative and positive values to both groups where one gets to be negative and the other one positive. Finally, the last step is to assign this process to the whole social group. Often, according to Scollon and Scollon, these different aspects are even considered to be genetic and racial (2001:171). In sum, stereotyping prevents people from seeing other social group and its members from a different perspective. Only several or one aspect is singled out which is assumed to create miscommunication between the two groups. Negative stereotyping focus also on the single different dimension, therefore, an opposite social group is considered to be negative and the other group positive. As Scollon and Scollon suggest, one should be constantly aware of how to avoid any kind of stereotyping (2001:174). 2.6 Defining Pragmatics  When a diplomat says yes, he means „perhaps‟;  When he says perhaps, he means „no‟;  When he says no, he is not a diplomat.  When a lady says no, she means „perhaps‟;  When she says perhaps, she means „yes‟;  When she says yes, she is not a lady. Voltaire (Quoted, in Spanish, in Escandell 1993)

According to Korta and Perry, these lines demonstrate that often people do not mean what they literally say. Therefore, the implied meaning of utterances may depend on the intention of the speaker, the context in which the utterances are pronounced and many other things that are studied in the area of pragmatics (Korta and Perry 2008). Yule (1996) suggests that pragmatics is concerned with four main areas of analysis. Firstly, “pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning” which analyzes what the speaker really wants to say in a particular situation apart from what the words or sentences literally mean. Secondly, “pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning” which emphasizes the importance of contextual circumstances that influence the message of the speaker. Thirdly, “pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said”. This implies that the “invisible meaning” is also the concurrent part of the message. Finally, “pragmatics is the study of the expression of relative meaning”. The last point of analysis takes into consideration the 26 physical and social distance between the speakers that influence what is said and what is left unsaid. In other words, the closer the speaker and the listener are, the more is left unsaid because of the shared knowledge that they have (Yule 1996:3). According to Verschueren, on the most basic level pragmatics can be presented as “the study of language use”. However, Verschueren continues that this definition does not show a clear boundary between pragmatics and other branches of linguistics such as sociolinguistics or discourse analysis (1999:1). The author suggests that, on the one hand, the focus of pragmatic analysis cannot be associated with a specific linguistic unit as for example sounds, words, or sentences. On the other hand, pragmatic analysis can still involve a discussion on these areas but from a different perspective (Verschueren 1999:2). In other words, pragmatics is the area of language study that cannot be possibly ascribed to any of the traditional disciplines as phonology, morphology, syntax or semantics. According to Mey, one might consider what the pragmatics can offer that could not be found in traditional linguistics. He immediately answers that pragmatics comes into play as soon as one needs a better, fuller and deeper knowledge of human linguistic behavior (2001:12). In other words, traditional linguistic theories do not attempt to explain why people communicate in one way or another or try to explain this linguistic behavior in relation to the social context as it is attempted to explain using pragmatic principles. In addition, Mey explains that for pragmatics there are no ambiguous sentences as in real life ambiguity does not exist because everything depends on the context, the speaker, the hearer and possibly the prehistory of the communication (Mey 2001:12). Furthermore, Mey points out that the focus of pragmatic analysis is the speaker and the process of sending of the message not the grammatical format of the message itself. Since the language user is the center in pragmatics, Mey comes to the conclusion that pragmatics in this case has a „societal character‟ (Mey 2001:6). Having established the relationship between pragmatics and social context, Mey suggests that this social context is of great importance because the communication is determined by the social context in which it appears. Due to this relationship, Mey introduces the definition of pragmatics: “Pragmatics studies the use of language in human communication as determined by the conditions of society” (Mey 2001:6). Similarly to Mey, Saeed states that the literal meaning of a message together with the contextual information or context help the participants of the conversation to uncover the information that is being provided (1997:8, 9). The author claims that the listener in a conversation plays a very important role since it is his/her job using background knowledge to understand the speaker‟s message (1997:8, 9). Saeed proposes that pragmatics studies the processes and their role in the context by which the listener interprets the message that is sent to

27 him/her (1997:8, 9). Thus, both authors seem to agree on the importance of context and the role of the listener in the process of „unfolding‟ the meaning of an utterance. Pragmatic focus is of great importance for the analysis that will be carried out in the practical part of the paper because joke is a genre where the speaker-hearer context and the context are very significant. Since for the analysis of jokes not all branches of pragmatics are applicable, other subsections will focus on micropragmatics, or more specifically on implicature and implications, and pragmatic principles such as the communicative principle and the cooperative principle. 2.6.1 Micropragmatics Many scholars, including Mey, tend to divide pragmatics into two broad categories of micro and macro pragmatics. The difference between these two categories can already be understood by their terms, since micro has to deal with a smaller scope of interest in pragmatics whereas macro deals with a broader perspective of analysis. Under the title of micropragmatics, Mey introduces the discussion of context, implicature and reference, pragmatic principles, speech acts and conversational analysis (Mey 2001). In the section on macropragmatics, the author takes a much wider perspective including such fields of interest as metapragmatics or pragmatics across cultures. Since the analysis of jokes is the focus of this paper, pragmatic discussion will be mainly based on micropragmatic area of study, more specifically, on implicature and pragmatic principles, excluding speech acts and conversational analysis because the format of jokes on the whole limits this kind of linguistic investigation. Therefore, the following subsections will present a brief overview of implicature and pragmatic principles. 2.6.1.1 Implicature Mey first of all explains what the term implicature means. He claims that the term has derived from the word „to imply‟ which means “to fold something into something else” (Mey 2001:45). Mey continues that if something is „folded‟ or implied in conversation, then, in order to understand, one has to „unfold‟ what the other has said (Mey 2001:45). The examples provided in the opening of the section show that very often when speaking people tend to imply certain things which have to be „unfolded‟ by the hearers or participants of the conversation in order to understand the real message of the speaker. Basically, the whole principle of jokes is based on this idea of unfolding the real message of the person telling the joke, therefore, pragmatic implicature is of the utmost importance for the analysis of jokes in the practical part of the paper. Further in the section on implicature, Mey introduces the difference between the terms „implication‟ and „implicature‟. He explains that implication shows logical relationship between two sentences (Mey 2001:45). Mey provides example of two sentences: the father says “you cut my hedge” and “I‟ll take you out to dinner”. In other words, the father is saying that logically if his son

28 cuts his hedge, the father will take him out to dinner (Mey 2001:46). However, this logical implication, as Mey suggests, does not always correspond to what is happening in the real everyday life. For example, the son can refuse to cut the hedge but the father could still take him out to dinner. Although, according to the logical implication, if the son does not cut his father‟s hedge, he will not be taken out to dinner (ibid. 2001:46). In a similar manner the ending of such a situation could be that the son cuts the hedge but the father does not take him out to dinner, which is also not the right ending according to the principal of logical implication. For this reason, Mey claims that as long as logics and real life usually do not correspond, we need another term that could explain these inadequacies (Mey 2001:46). Conversational implicature is another term that Mey presents. He states that conversational implicature has to do with the way we understand an utterance in conversation is determined by what we expect to hear (Mey 2001:46). For instance, if a person standing in the bus stop is asked what the time is, it would be reasonable to answer that the bus just went by. Mey continues that although looking literally at these two sentences they do not make sense and in this way do not meet logical implication, in everyday situations such exchanges are acceptable and understandable (Mey 2001:47). The participants of such exchanges share the same context and the same knowledge of the world, therefore, they are able to understand each other perfectly. Mey summarizes the chapter on conversational implicature, claiming that sometimes what is not seen as logical, might still be reasonable in certain situations because as Mey puts it “the context is the universe of everyday language use” (Mey 2001:49). Nevertheless, Mey suggests that implicatures are not only logical or conversational, there can also be conventional ones (Mey 2001:49). Mey starts the discussion on conventional implicatures proposing that such implicatures do not depend on “a particular context of language use”. He explains that certain expressions in everyday life mean or imply something by them no matter in what linguistic context they are used (Mey 2001:50). One of Mey‟s examples of conventional implicature is speaking a non-standard variety of language. The author comments that if a person speaks with some accent which is non-standard in the area, s/he immediately demonstrates a number of implications. For example, according to Mey, non-standard variety may show social inferiority such as the lack of education, or that the person belongs to lower social class (Mey 2001:50). In other words, this example shows that no matter what is the linguistic message of the person, be it a very sophisticated one, the fact that s/he speaks with some accent that is non-standard might still imply certain negative characteristics. To sum up this subsection, Mey introduces three types of implicatures: logical implications, conversational and conventional implicatures. Logical implications, although being very reasonable, usually do not correspond to the situations in the real life. The problematic side of

29 logical implications is that people do not act according to strict logical rules, and as a consequence, logical implicatures lose their meaning. Conversational implicatures are mainly based on the conversational environment or context. Despite of the fact that some utterances if taken literally are not logical, as in the examples provided above, they still make sense for the participants of the conversation because of the shared knowledge that they have about the situation. Finally, conventional implicatures differ from the other two in the way that they do not depend on the conversational situation that is taking place. Once a person is speaking with an accent, it already has various implications about that person because these implications are historically developed, therefore difficult or even impossible to change. As it was mentioned earlier, another topic of micropragmatics will also be discussed in the following sections of the theoretical part. 2.6.1.2 Pragmatic Principles Before going into a detailed discussion about particular pragmatic principles, Mey tries to explain why one talks about pragmatic principles not pragmatic rules. He states that rules is the concern of grammatical issues such as syntax. The author continues that the nature of rules is to predict, whereas this ability cannot be applied to such fields of linguistics as semantics or pragmatics (Mey 2001:68). In other words, the ability to predict in pragmatics is very scarce. For example, one can predict to some degree what the other person implies by saying certain things, however, a lot of depends on various elements, where the most important elements are the context and the intentions of the participants of the conversation. Having explained that in pragmatics one cannot talk about rules, Mey claims that linguists talk about pragmatic principles. The following paragraphs will introduce a brief discussion about two of the pragmatic principles. According to Mey, the core of the communicative principle is very simple: the principle is based on the fact that people talk in order to communicate something to other people. He adds that it is the principle of all human linguistic behavior; therefore, it is the main “condition for all human pragmatic activity” (Mey 2001:69). Nonetheless, Mey suggests that although people observe all grammar rules, this does not mean that they always communicate things they want to or by using certain expressions may mean either more or less than they have intended (Mey 2001:69). Mey gives an example of such a linguistic behavior: “Many of the delegates opposed the motion” (Mey 2001:69). The sentence means that not all the delegates voted against the motion. However, if the person adds “In fact, all of them did”, then, the hearer may ask why not to say „all‟ instead of „many‟ in the first place if there was no one to vote for the motion (Mey 2001:69). A possible explanation for this kind of behavior could be that the speaker might have wanted to stress the idea that many delegates opposed and in a way to suppress the fact that all of them opposed. On the other hand, s/he may have intended in such a way to emphasize the last sentence that all of the

30 delegates opposed. In instances like these, Mey proposes that the speaker misleads the hearer and the message does not have a proper effect (Mey 2001:69). Mey also considers other examples in the same „strength scale of expressions‟. He maintains that if a person instead of saying “Many of the delegates opposed the motion” would have said “Not all of the delegates opposed the motion” the message would be the exactly the same (Mey 2001:70). Nevertheless, the author admits that the effect of both of these utterances is very different. The former expression emphasizes the fact that the speaker wants to boast about his/her contribution to the voting, whereas, the second sentence may imply that the speaker has not done enough so that all of the delegates would vote against (Mey 2001:71). The real message of utterances basically depends on the context in which it is conveyed or it may also depend on the speaker or the hearer of the communicative situation. Mey suggests that it is not enough only to communicate something to someone, successful communication also means cooperation between the speaker and the hearer. The author adds that “conversation come alive only in a mutually accepted, pragmatically determined context” (Mey 2001: 71). In other words, reciprocal understanding of context is the decisive factor in order to make the conversation meaningful and valuable for its participants. The issue of cooperation was analyzed by philosopher H. Paul Grice. According to Korta and Perry, Grice claims that the “mutually accepted” (Mey 2001:71) conversation is based on the shared knowledge between the speaker and the hearer, linguistic and non-linguistic context, as well as the observation of the cooperative principle which consists of four maxims (Korta and Perry 2008). So, the authors quoted above agree on the idea that at the heart of the cooperative principle is the role of the context. Further on, Mey presents the four maxims discussed by Grice: The maxim of quantity:  Make your contribution as informative as required;  Do not make your contribution more informative than required (Mey 2001:72). What Grice is saying is that when speaking one should try to say as much as it is needed so that the hearer would understand. Too much of information or too little of information is not considered to be cooperative. The second maxim is called the maxim of quality:  Do not say what you believe to be false;  Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence (Mey 2001:72). The maxim of quality is based on the idea that conversation should not include information that one knows is not true or that one thinks might not be true. Mey continues introducing the third Grice‟s maxim of relation:  Make your contribution relevant (Mey 2001:72)

31

Another thing that Grice considers important for a meaningful communication is the issue of relevance. If one is speaking, for example, about banking, applying Grice, it would not be relevant to start talking about weather or family matters. Finally, Mey presents the last maxim proposed by Grice, the maxim of manner:  Avoid obscurity;  Avoid ambiguity;  Be brief;  Be orderly (Mey 2001:72). The last maxim emphasizes the importance of the manner of communicating which has to be understandable by omitting the information that could be seen ambiguous for the hearer. What is more, the message that one wants to convey also has to be organized in such a way that it would be cooperative for the participants of the communication. Although Grice‟s cooperative principle seems to be orderly organized and meaningful, it‟s actual realization in everyday life also might seem rather complicated. However, Mey suggests that the maxims are still necessary so that the communication would not “break down altogether” (Mey 2001:72). The following section will discuss the issue of cooperation and flouting which is the criticism of the four maxims introduced by Grice. Mey claims that some scholars, as for example, Levinson who considers cooperation to be “general considerations of rationality” do not pay attention to certain problems related to the issue. The author maintains that cooperative communication may be different in different cultures (Mey 2001:76). Mey bases this idea on the example about the Malagasy people whose communicative behavior in some cases violates the maxim of quantity since talking about some sensitive issues they tend to withhold the information (Mey 2001:77). Thus, this example demonstrates that Grice‟s cooperative principle which consists of the four maxims may not be applied to all cultures of the world without considering various culture-specific issues. In addition, further in the book, Mey introduces the concept of flouting which happens “when people blatantly fail to observe one or several maxims […] either semantically or pragmatically” (ibid. 2001:77). According to Mey, people violate the maxim(s) semantically when they incorrectly choose words having completely different meanings than is usually expected. Pragmatic flouting of maxims is often, as it is suggested by Mey, meant to make some kind of effect on the listener (ibid. 2001:77). This could mean that pragmatic flouting is not accidental, that is, people violate the maxims intentionally for more emphasis. The author states that in some cases the effect of pragmatic flouting might not be immediately visible, for instance, in humor and jokes especially (ibid. 2001:77). In order to achieve the pragmatic effect or to make people laugh, one is expected to break the maxim of quantity and to withhold the information till the end of a joke. 32

To conclude, the pragmatic principles presented in this section show that communication is based on the idea that people speak in order to provide their listeners with information which is the core of the communicative principle. However, in many cases people communicate either intentionally or unintentionally not exactly in the way they want to, therefore, the real message might be covert or implied. The cooperative principle introduces the idea that communication is also the cooperation between the speaker and the hearer. Otherwise, without the collaboration the conversation will not be successful and the message will not be understood. In the light of this, Grice presents the four maxims which are meant to make the conversation meaningful. Nevertheless, the observation of these maxims is not possible in certain situations or rather in certain cultures. What is more, people may as well intentionally violate the maxims in order to make the desirable effect on the other participants of the conversation.

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3 PRACTICAL ANALYSIS

Jokes about ethnic groups in the USA and Lithuania are the focus of the practical analysis of this paper. The jokes about ethnic groups in the USA and Lithuania are taken from different internet sources. The jokes were selected mainly according to their thematic aspect, namely, the cases when jokes seemed to be too inappropriate or containing taboo words were not included. In the practical analysis, the jokes are enumerated as J1, J2… following the principle presented in Chiaro‟s The Language of Jokes. Analysing Verbal Play, 1992. The practical analysis of jokes about ethnic groups is carried out in the following way: the jokes about each ethnic group in the USA is discussed looking for the dominant stereotypes about each of the groups as well as applying the concepts of race, ethnicity, and racism. After the analysis about each ethnic group, the findings are compared in the same way. The analysis of jokes about ethnic groups in Lithuania is performed in the same manner paying attention to the same concepts which are later compared. The second part of the practical analysis includes the pragmatic investigation of jokes about ethnic groups in both countries separately and, again, the results of the pragmatic analysis are compared afterwards. 3.1 The analysis of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in the USA The following sections will present the discussion of jokes about four largest ethnic groups in the USA: the African-Americans, the Hispanics, the Asian Americans and the Native Americans. The discussions will mainly focus on the jokes from the point of view of ethnicity, race, racism, dominant beliefs, stereotypes, and misconceptions about these minority groups. 3.1.1 Jokes about the African-Americans This section will analyze the jokes about the largest ethnic group in the United States, African- Americans. The ten jokes that will be important for this discussion show that the jokes present the black community from several different points of view. One of the issues that appear in most of the jokes is the color of the skin of the African-Americans: J1 What did God say when he saw the first black person? Damnit...I burnt one! (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2)

The simplicity of the joke does not require the listeners to have some specific background knowledge. In order to understand the joke, one only needs to have some basic knowledge about the God. The thematic perspective of the joke suggests that the black person here is shown as someone who is totally unacceptable even to God. Thus, these people are treated as outsiders in the white community since for the God the black person is seen as an unexpected result. Furthermore, a similar joke to the previous one also deals with the color of the skin: 34

J2 Crash n’ Burn One day a Black guy that was trying to steal a bank, dies in a shootput with the cops. So when he goes up to heaven, he's waiting in line to tell St.Peter his name, so finally he gets up there, and St. Peter asks him "Your name, kind sir," and the black guy says "Leonardo DiCaprio." St.Peter confused says, "ok hold on a sec." And he goes to his office, picks up the phone and calls God. When god picks up the phone, St.Peter says "God,did the Titanic sink or burn?" (http://www.lol- jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2)

In this joke, the God appears together with St.Peter. However, the God in this case does not act as someone who has “miscreated“ the black person but as someone who provides information about the case of Titanic. Similarly to the first joke, the black color of the skin is associated with burning or rather with something that has been burnt already, therefore, a person is black. Moreover, the black person in the joke presents himself as a Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio who is white. Contrary to the first joke which does not require to have some shared knowledge so as to understand it, J2 already includes certain specific items of American culture, such as the movie Titanic and its main character played by Leonardo DiCaprio. What the joke might suggest is that the black person himself does not wish to be black and so he introduces himself as a white movie star which already violates the maxim of quality as the person is giving the information which he knows is not true. The two jokes, J1 and J2, become even more racist because of the religious characters of God and St.Peter who are supposed to treat all people as equals. This could serve as an example of post-reflective gut racism presented in the section 2.5 on the issue of racism and its types, since these racistic attitudes towards African-Americans are expressed in relation to religious concepts. One of the jokes about black people presents a character of a little black boy who expresses his wish to be white: J3 Little Black Boy The little black boy went into the kitchen, his mother was making fried chicken. He put his hand in the flour and patted it on his face. He said, "Look mom I'm a white boy." She slapped him in the face and told him to go tell his father what he did. He said, "Look dad I'm a white boy." His father slapped him told him to go tell his grandmother what he has done. Now his grandmother slapped him and told him to go see his mother. He went back into the kitchen and his mother asked if he had learned anything from this. He said yes I've only been white for 5 min and I already hate nig---- (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2)

Although the joke deals with the same skin color problem, the example has some more implications. The boy does not want to be black and even points out the reason for this in the punch line of the joke (I've only been white for 5 min and I already hate nig---). The last sentence partly justifes the hatred of blacks. On the one hand, the hatred seems to come not from the white people but from the blacks as the family members slap the boy for his wish to be white. On the other hand, 35 the act of beating the boy is simply included for greater emphasis. The act of slapping the boy shows that the family feels very strong ties with their ethnic group, which is called hot ethnicity by Fenton because of this strong loyalty to their ethnic group, the behaviour of the family members shows that they make a strong distinction between outsiders or the white people and insiders or the black people. The interesting point in this joke is its beginning in which the mother is preparing fried chicken which may be indirectly related to the act of burning presented in the first two jokes. The flour which the boy used for becoming white is out of place in the joke since the fried chicken is usually prepared without this ingredient. Although the involvement of the flour seems to be irrelevant for the cooking process, it is very important for the whole idea of the joke. However, some questions still arise for the role of the flour and the fried chicken. For instance, why does the mother prepare fried chicken and not, for example, pancakes which involves the flour. One possible explanations for this coud be the specific function of fried chicken relating it to the process of burning as in the previous two jokes. Another explanation could suggest that African-Americans are usually associated with eating fried chicken. This could mean that specific ethnic groups are associated with specific kind of food that they eat. In some cases, the jokes are rather indirect about the color of the black people. The following two jokes do not even contain words reffering to the black color of the skin mentioned in the text itself: J4 Confusing day in Harlem What's the most confusing day in Harlem? Father's Day (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2)

J5 Zebra‘s Color One day a zebra went to a lion, the king of the jungles, and asked,"Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes." The lion replied, "I don't know. Go ask God." So the zebra went to ask God. God said, "You are what you are."The zebra went back and told the lion what god said. The lion said, "You must be white with black stripes." "Why", asked the zebra. The lion replied, "Because if you were black with whitestripes God would have said 'you is what you is'" (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-blacks?page=2).

J4 is more implicit than J5 because the only aspect related to the black community in the joke is Harlem which is one of the neighborhoods of New York. This example is one of the cases of culture-specific jokes as people who are not familiar with the American culture and history might not be able to recognize Harlem as the center of the black community. The punch line of the joke offers at least two explanations of the joke. The first is that black people, especially men since its is Father„s Day, are so similar in their physical appearance that children cannot even recognize their own parents. The second possible explanation has to do with the idea that black children or rather 36 their mothers do not even know who the fathers of their children are. Because of the anonimity of the authors of the jokes it is impossible to find out what the authors really meant by these jokes. Nonetheless, this works as kind of strategy which gives the readers of these jokes the freedom to choose the meaning which they prefer mostly. The Zebra„s Color joke is also very indirectly related to the African-Americans. However, the opposition between the colors of white and black is repeated for several times in the text, therefore, this gives a clue that the zebra„s colors refer to the white and black races. Similarly to the jokes J1 and J2, J5 mentions the figure of the god as well. Nevertheless, the god in this case assumes the role that is more “appropriate” for a god and what s/he tells to the zebra mainly means that its color is not important ("You are what you are."). The character of the zebra is a kind of metaphor to the black person who is concerned about his/her color of the skin. Finally, the last joke in the category of color issue is the joke which in its form and grammatical structure resembles a poem or a song:

J6 Colored People When I was born I was Black When I grow up I am black When I sick I am black When I go in the sun I am black When I am cold I am black When I die I am black But You When you are born you are pink When you grow up you are white When you are sick you turn green When you go in the sun you get red When you are cold you turn blue When you die you turn purple And you have the f____g nerve to call me COLORED! (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s- /blacks/colored-people)

37

This is one of the most diverse jokes that are used for the practical analysis of the paper due to its form and the speaker of the joke. The voice that speaks in this example is a black person who compares his/her color of the skin with that of the whites. The previous jokes were mostly meant to discriminate African-Americans for their color or the way of speaking, whereas this joke seems to make fun of the white color of the skin and the changes that happens to it in different situations. The punch line of the joke sounds as a reproach to the white community for all the discrimination it gives to the black people (And you have the f____g nerve to call me COLORED!). The reproach becomes even stronger by the usage of the swear word, the capitalized word COLORED and the exclamation mark. All these six jokes that depict the African-Americans as being of different color of the skin show that the most basic difference between the whites and the blacks is their physical appearance. This suggests that the African-Americans are portrayed as different from the white population only on one single dimension – their color of the skin, which is the main point in the discussion on stereotypes by Scollon and Scollon. Furthermore, as it is proposed by Jones, dividing people into groups according to their skin color greatly influence their place in the society and their lives on the whole. Although the biggest part of the jokes refers to the color of the skin, one of the examples shows that the blacks are also associated with criminal activities: J7 Niger in your Yard How do you keep a niger out of your back yard? Hang one in the front yard (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks)

In this example, a black person is called a nigger which is one of the ways to offend black people. Furthermore, a black person is treated in this joke as an animal such as a skunk that comes at night to eat from the garbage can. In order to avoid this inconvenience one can “hang it in the front yard” to prevent other skunks coming into the yard. The reason why such jokes are created is related to the common stereotypical image of the blacks who are seen as a threat to the white community as they are very often associated, especially in the media, with violence and crimes. The aspect of violence that is evident in this joke may suggest one of the causes of ethnic conflict introduced by Brown. Systematic explanation treats ethnic conflict as arising when two ethnic groups live close to one another and there is a lack of authority control, therefore, one of the ethnic groups takes some violent actions before the other group does. In the same way, J7 illustrates that in order to prevent African-Americans from coming to their homes, the whites has to turn to violent behavior. The domestic explanation of the ethnic conflict can also be mentioned in this respect since the whites seem to be unprotected by the state they live in which is the reason for them to become aggressive towards the black community. 38

Furthermore, two jokes out of the ten selected deal with the way white people call the blacks and which is seen as very offensive to the black community. Middleton and Pilgrim claims that “the word, nigger, carries with it much of the hatred and disgust directed toward Black Africans and African Americans“(Middleton and Pilgrim 2001). One of the interesting examples of jokes containing the word nigger is the following: J8 Racial Dog Name A guy is sitting outside a pub balling his eyes out when a cop comes up and asks what's wrong. "My dog is trapped in side, he's sitting under a table surrounded by black men." So, the cop says, "just call him". The guy now crying even more answers, "I can't you call him." The cop says, "alright what's the dog's name?" Now wrecked, the guy stutters, "n-n-nig---" (http://www.lol- jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks).

This joke exemplifies that white people are aware of the derogatory nature of the nickname nigger and what the word means to the black community, therefore the guy in this joke is afraid of what is going to happen to him if he calls the dog. Another similar example is the following joke: J9 Blacks vs. Chainsaw Why do black people hate chainsaws? Because everytime you start one up, it goes run'nigga'nigga'nigga"!!! (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2)

This onomatopoeic joke reveals that no matter who (the whites) or what (the chainsaw) calls black people niggers it will always be accepted as an offence. The message of both of these jokes could be that the reaction of the black people to this word might sometimes seem too strong. The last joke important for this analysis is related to the origin of the blacks: J10 Traveling Parrot A black man walks into a bar with a parrot on his shoulder. The bartender asks, "Hey, where did you get that from?" The parrot replies, "There's thousands of 'em in Africa." (http://www.lol- jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2).

According to Gilbert„s types of jokes, this could serve as an example of the unexpected twist because the audience expects the black man to answer not the parrot. Not only does the joke suggest that black people come from Africa but also that the black man of the joke is inferior even to the parrot. The joke might also refer to the issue of slavery, implying that the parrot has this black man as a slave and if the bartender wants also to have one, the parrot can tell where he can find more. The ten jokes that have been selected for the analysis have shown that most of them mainly describe or depict the blacks in relation to their color of the skin. In jokes about the black people, the blacks are portrayed as outsiders in the white community who pose threat, sometimes do not want to be black, take the word nigger as the most offensive word and, as the last example suggests, are still regarded as inferior or even slaves.

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3.1.2 Jokes about the Hispanics The analysis of jokes about the Hispanics will include jokes about Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. This section will discuss the jokes by categorizing them into categories which will show the most common issues related to the Hispanics in jokes. The jokes selected for this analysis are what Gilbert calls theme jokes which focus on the same subject and use the same linguistic formula or structure: J11 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... You've ever used your lips to point something out (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s- /latinos/you-know-youre-puerto-rican-if)

The example also shows that what is made fun of is the physical appearance or more specifically facial features of Puerto Ricans. There are more examples that deal with the same issue of appearance: J12 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... One of your aunts weighs over 300 pounds (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/latinos/you- know-youre-puerto-rican-if).

In this instance, the weight of the Puerto Rican women is emphasized. Although the color of the skin cannot be taken as a division between this minority group and the majority group of the whites, the jokes still emphasize the physical differences of these people. The examples J11 and J12 might as well be analysed from the point of view of ethnic conflict. The possible explanation for this ethnic conflict could be what Brown calls perceptual explanation which explains these negative attitudes towards the minority group by the popularity of the false myths and stories that exist in the particular community. Thus, it seems that J11 and J12 really incorporates these false stories or stereotypes about the physical appearance of Puerto Ricans not taking into account the individual differences of people. Furthermore, some jokes describe Puerto Ricans as being very loud: J13 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... Your mother yells at the top of her lungs to call you to dinner when you live in a one bedroom apartment (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/latinos/you- know-youre-puerto-rican-if)

In addition to highlighting the obvious loudness of the Puerto Ricans, the joke might also suggest other implication. The idea that the Puerto Ricans usually live in small apartments is emphasized as

40 well. In this respect, the economical situation of the Puerto Ricans becomes another differentiating point between the whites and this ethnic group. The other two aspects that are signaled by the jokes are the religious character of the Puerto Ricans and their love of dance and music as in the following two examples: J14 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... You can dance to merengue, cumbia, or salsa without music (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s- /latinos/you-know-youre-puerto-rican-if)

J15 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... You have a picture of "Cristo" in your house (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/latinos/you- know-youre-puerto-rican-if). J14 does not seem to be a derogatory joke about Puerto Ricans; however, this is a rare case regarding the jokes about ethnic minorities. The interesting point in this joke is that it is most probably written by a non Hispanic person; nevertheless, the person is still familiar with the Puerto Rican culture. This might suggest that no matter what kind of attitude is held towards people from other ethnic groups, it is inescapable to be familiar with the culture of people living around you. This familiarity with the culture and traditions of the other ethnic group is one of the ideas discussed in the immigrant-host approach which maintains that gradually the two ethnic groups living close to one another begin to have rather friendly relationships with the help of the processes of assimilation. One of these processes is the spontaneous acquisition of the language (“Cristo” in J15), and cultural habits of another ethnic group, which is illustrated in the examples J14 and J15. Mexican immigrants are described in jokes from a more negative perspective than the Puerto Ricans. In most of the jokes, illegal Mexicans want to cross the American border and are caught by the US Border Agent as in the following example: J16 A US Border Patrol Agent catched an illegal alien in the bushes right by the border fence. He pulls him out and says, "Sorry, man, you know the law, you're going back across the border right away." The Mexican man begs him, "No, no! Senior, I must stay in el America! Porfavor!" The agent thinks to himself, I'm going to make it hard for him, and says "OK, I'll let you stay if you can use 3 English words in a sentence." The agent tells him, "The three words are: green, pink and yellow.Now use them in one sentence. “The Mexican man of course agrees right away. The Mexican man thinks really hard for about two minutes, and then says, "Hmmm, OK. The phone, it went green, green, green... I pink it up, and said yellow?" (http://yesjokes.com/jokes/mexican/hilarious_mexican_jokes.php) In this joke, the Mexican man is depicted as a not very clever illegal immigrant with very little knowledge of English. On the contrary, the American agent is presented as an intelligent person who wants to make fun of the Mexican immigrant. Looking to Cohen„s division of immigrants, the Mexican man in J16 could be defined as a helot (see page 19) who is an unwanted immigrant and who often experiences hostility from the majority group. Taking into account a Marxist view of

41 migration, it can be assumed that the hostility expressed by the US border agent might be explained by the idea that the Americans, the dominant group, blame helots instead of blaming the political system for such problems as unemployment or lack of housing. There are even more jokes about immigrants to US from the Hispanic countries, as for instance: J17 An old couple in Santo Domingo was puzzled when the coffin of their dead relative arrived from the USA. The corpse was so tightly squeezed inside the coffin that her face was practically touching the glass cover. When they opened the coffin, they found a letter pinned to her chest, which read: Dearest Papi & Mami: I am sending you Tia Juana's remains for the funeral in the Santo Domingo Cemetery. Sorry I couldn't come along as the expenses were too high. You will find inside the coffin, under Tia's body, 12 cans of Bumble Bee Tuna, 12 bottles of Paul Mitchell Shampoo and 12 bottles Paul Mitchell Conditioner, 12 Vaseline Intensive Care Skin Lotion, 12 Colgate Toothpaste and 12 cans of Spam. Just divide it among the family. [...] Your loving daughter, Josefinita P.S. Please find Tia a dress for her funeral (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s- /latinos/dominican-funeral).

Firstly, this joke is different from the ones mentioned above since it is written in the form of a letter. The letter is written by an immigrant woman who came to US to earn some money and help her family in this way. The message encoded in this joke is the difficulties people from Hispanic countries encounter in the US. The punch line of the joke emphasizes the exaggerated poorness of the people in these Spanish-speaking countries and the immigrants from these countries to USA. The same issue of poor economic situation is highlighted here again. In addition to this, the idea of a strong loyalty to woman„s family and homeland is also expressed in this joke. Therefore, the degree of intensity of ethnic identification here is strong, or it is the hot ethnicity that is emphasized. Moreover, if applying degrees of importance of ethnicity, it can be stated that it is the example of ethnicity as a command principle. In other words, the wish to keep the bond with her homeland and family and to help them financially is the most important task for this young Mexican woman. Other jokes about Mexicans depict them as thieves or in any other way involved in criminal activities: J18 A bunch of Mexicans are running down a hill, what is going on? A Prison Break (http://www.free- funny-jokes.com/mexican-jokes.html) J19 What do you do when a Mexican is riding a bike? Chase after him, it‟s probably yours! (http://www.free-funny-jokes.com/mexican-jokes.html)

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These question-answer type of jokes depict Mexicans as criminals and thieves. Such an image of Mexicans in jokes might have been influenced by the prevalent stereotypes as for example that Hispanics belong to gangs or that they are lazy and messy as in the following examples: J20 How do you starve a Mexican? Put their food stamps in their work boots (http://www.free-funny- jokes.com/mexican-jokes.html) J21 What is it when a Mexican is taking a shower? A miracle (http://www.free-funny- jokes.com/mexican-jokes.html)

These different illustrations of the Mexicans might suggest the perceptual explanation for the ethnic conflict. This means that although the real conflict between the majority and minority groups is not appearant (except for J19), these generalized negative characteristics come from the false myths and stories such as jokes which might become the source for the ethnic conflict. In other words, the negative characteristics about the Hispanics prevail in the jokes analyzed. The Hispanics are described as inclined to criminal activities or very poor, therefore trying in every possible way to get to the dream land of America. In some instances, they are pictured as being lazy and messy but very religious and having a good sense for music and dances. Contrary to the jokes about the African-Americans, those about the Hispanic Americans are not always very negative or derogatory, especially the jokes that illustrate the Hispanics as loving music and dance or being religious. 3.1.3 Jokes about the Asian Americans Although the Asian Americans are one of the largest ethnic groups in America, the jokes about them focus mainly on these issues: probems in speaking English properly or making fun of their language, being very attached to their culture, specific eating habits and the treatment of money. Many of the jokes about the Asians are theme jokes which start you know if you„re Asian when..., for example: J22 You know if you„re Asian when... Your parents will get you into places 50% off by saying you are 12 when you are really 15 (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html). J23 You know if you„re Asian when... You've learned to keep bargaining even if the prices are rock bottom (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html).

The examples illustrate one of the most common characteristics about the Asian people which is related to the fact that they are very careful with their money and know how to bargain. None of the jokes about the Asians selected for the analysis depict the members of this ethnic group as living in poor economic conditions. Most probably, as the jokes show, the reason for this could be that these

43 people know how to save money, therefore, their financial situation seems to be better than that of other ethnic minorities. Another dominant topic in the jokes about Asians is their attachment to the products and other things made in Asia, for instance: J24 You know if you„re Asian when... Your family owns Asian Cars (Toyota) (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html) J25 You know if you„re Asian when... You shop at a Local Asian Market (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html). J26 You know if you„re Asian when... You only have Asian doctors/Dentist (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html)

The three jokes suggest that Asian Americans are very much attached to everything that is Asian. This illustrates that their sense of belonging to their ethnicity is very strong. In other words, using Fenton term, the jokes depict the Asians as having hot ethnicity. However, this hot ethnicity or the attachment to their culture is slightly different from the attachment that African-Americans have. The African-Americans are very much emotionally attached to their kin or even race, whereas the Asians are more attached economically to the Asian culture. Their attachment seems to be more calculated and planned. On the other hand, the reason why the Asians buy only Asian cars or go shopping only to the Asian stores is that they simply are used to particular products that they cannot get in American stores. In addition, this attachment to the Asian culture shows that the Asian ethnicity dominates in everyday world, therefore the ethnic identity seems to be of great importance. Furthermore, the difference from the jokes about the Hispanics or the African- Americans is that the Asian Americans are never depicted in jokes as being criminals or thieves. However, the Asians are mocked in the jokes for what they eat and how they dress: J27 You know if you„re Asian when... You've eaten parts of animals they don't even put in hot dogs (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html). J28 You know if you„re Asian when... Your dad still wears the tube of socks with the stripes (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html).

The eating habits of different ethnic groups or cultures are often emphasized and exaggerated in the jokes where Chinese people eat only rice or Mexicans eat only tacos. Such jokes as J27 and J28 could be the instances of cultural racism since the Asians are mocked for their eating habits and on the whole for their different social customs and traditions. The fact that they are mocked for these

44 things may suggest that the majority group that tells such jokes express their wish for the Asians to adapt the American culture and in this way become more assimilated. One of the most common topics of jokes about the Asian Americans is that they often face some language problems, as for example: J29 A man was walking down the street and noticed a sign reading "Hans Schmidt's Chinese Laundry." Being of a curious nature, he entered and was greeted by an obviously Chinese man who introduced himself as Hans Schmidt. "How come you have a name like that?" inquired the stranger. The Chinese gentleman explained in very broken English that when he landed in America he was standing in the immigration line behind a German. When asked his name, the German replied, Hans Schmidt." When the immigration officer asked the Chinese man his name, he replied, "Sam Ting." (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/asians/hans-schmidt).

What this joke reveals is not that Asian people are unable to speak English appropriately but that Americans are not able to understand what they say. Then, it follows that the joke makes fun of both sides: the American immigration officer who has problems in understanding the Chinese person as well as the Chinese person who does not argue with what the American says. The Asian Americans are often regarded as the model minority according to Daniels (see page 8), therefore in jokes they are not treated in the same way as the African-Americans or the Hispanics. In the jokes analyzed they are ridiculed for their English, eating habits or attachment to the products and services provided and made only by Asians. Nevertheless, they are not depicted as criminals, thieves or messy and lazy people. 3.1.4 Jokes about the Native Americans This section of the practical part will introduce the analysis of jokes about Native Americans or Indians as they are mostly called in these jokes. Despite the dominant characteristics that appear in Western movies about Native Americans who are portrayed as brutal and violent thugs, the jokes about them are rather different. In most of the examples, Indians are described as rather primitive uncivilized people always living in reservations and having very close relationship with nature, for instance: J30 Two cowboys come upon an Indian lying on his stomach with his ear to the ground. One of the cowboys stops and says to the other, "You see that Indian?" "Yeah," says the other cowboy. "Look," says the first one, "he's listening to the ground. He can hear things for miles in any direction." Just then the Indian looks up. "Covered wagon," he says, "about two miles away. Have two horses, one brown, one white. Man, woman, child, household effects in wagon." "Incredible!" says the cowboy to his friend. "This Indian knows how far away they are, how many horses, what color they are, who is in the wagon, and what is in the wagon. Amazing!" The Indian looks up and says, "Ran over me about a half an hour ago."(http://www.yuksrus.com/ethnic_native_american.html).

This joke serves as an example of breaking the stereotypical image of Native Americans as having some kind of special supernatural powers. The punch line of the joke in which the two cowboys 45 find out the reason why the Indian knows the details of the wagon reveals that it is not his powers that helped him to know these things but the accident that happened to him. However, the characters in this joke are widely known tandem of an Indian and a cowboy who are often placed in opposition with one another. A very similar example about Indians employing their magical powers is the following: J31 Cold Winter The Blackfeet asked their Chief in autumn, if the winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing the answer, the chief replies that the winter was going to be cold and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared. Being a good leader, he then went to the nearest phone booth and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter to be cold?" The man on the phone responded, "This winter was going to be quite cold indeed." So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes," the man replied, "its going to be a very cold winter." So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every scrap of wood they can find. Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again and asks "Are you absolutely sure, that the winter is going to be very cold?" "Absolutely" the man replies, "the Blackfeet are collecting wood like crazy!" (http://www.spottedeagle.com/jokes.htm)

The Chief of the Blackfeet in this joke is expected to predict the weather and in this way show his great knowledge of nature for the other members. What is evident in this example is the hierarchical relationship of power in the tribe where the main leader controls many aspects of daily life, for instance, collecting the wood, and holds the power in his hands. Furthermore, other members of the tribe show their Chief a lot of respect and do not doubt in his abilities as a meteorologist. The punch line of the joke suggests that the representative of the white people, the man from the National Weather Service, also trust the Indians and their powers. This example demonstrates an unexpected twist in the relationship between the minority and majority group members. The conflict between the two groups is not evident in the joke. On the contrary, it seems that the Indians are treated with respect by the white majority. The uncivilized and primitive nature of the Native Americans is emphasized in the jokes as well:

J32 A Native American Indian came to New York for the first time and checked into a hotel. Tired from a long bus ride, he went right to his room. On the bed was a blanket. The Indian picked it up and walked down to the lobby. Putting the blanket on the check-in-counter, he told the clerk, "Last man in room leave overcoat!" (http://www.yuksrus.com/ethnic_native_american.html).

Although the Indian man in this joke is depicted as being savage and totally unadvanced, at the same time he is portrayed as concientious and honest as he brings the blanket to the clerk instead of keeping it to himself. The joke illustrates positive traits of the Native Americans which was not the

46 case with the African-Americans or the Hispanics who were mainly depicted from the negative perspective. Nonetheless, the Indians are still indirectly mocked for the way they dress since the Indian thinks that the blanket is a coat. In addition, the incorrect English, the example of conventional implicature, of the Native American is also emphasized in the joke ("Last man in room leave overcoat!"). Thus, the lack of the knowledge of English demonstrates Indian„s inferiority to the clerk, who is the representatie of the majority group. In the following joke, the Native American representatives are shown as still having some hard feelings about the white people and the land that they stole from the Indians: J33 When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, they did some training on a Navajo Indian reservation. One day, a Navajo elder and his son were herding sheep and came across the space crew. The old man, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question which his son translated. "What are these guys in the big suits doing?" A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon. The old man got all excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts. Recognizing a promotional opportunity for the spin-doctors, the NASA folks found a tape recorder. After the old man recorded his message, they asked the son to translate it. He refused. So the NASA reps brought the tape to the reservation where the rest of the tribe listened and laughed but refused to translate the elder's message to the moon. Finally, the NASA crew called in an official government translator. He reported that the moon message said, "Watch out for these guys; they have come to steal your land." (http://www.yuksrus.com/ethnic_native_american.html)

So, the Indian„s message to the moon indicates that the man still remembers what happened to them many years ago and naively expects to warn the population of the moon. In addition, the behavior of the other Indians who refuse to translate the elder„s message implies that in this way they respect him as he is older and wiser. The information that the Indians refuse to translate is repeated for several times, which makes the listener wait for the punch line of the joke more eagerly. The jokes about Native Americans mainly focus on the stereotypical images of Indians as being very close to nature, therefore being able to predict or even control it. However, the jokes analyzed in this section also show that this stereotype is not reinforced but actually broken as at the end of the joke it appears that the Indian does not have any supernatural powers. Moreover, Native Americans are portrayed in some jokes as being very primitive and uncivilized. Some historical aspects about the past relationships between whites and Indians are represented in the jokes as well. 3.1.5 Overview of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in the USA In sum, the investigation of the jokes about the African-Americans, the largest ethnic group in the USA, showed that they are mostly depicted in relation to their color of the skin. The fact that the biggest part of the jokes about the African-Americans depict them in relation to their color of the skin might suggest that even in the 21st century, they are still viewed as genetically inferior to the white population simply because of their color. In some cases, the African-Americans themselves express the wish to be white. In other jokes even God does not approve of the black color of their

47 skin. Thus, the African-Americans are mostly seen as outsiders, criminals or inferior to the white community. The jokes about the Hispanics, immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries, are similar to the jokes about the African-Americans in that the Hispanics are portrayed in most of the jokes as involved in criminal activities. However, they are also treated as being lazy to work, therefore, very poor as well as messy and extremely religious. Some of the examples of jokes show that the Hispanics love music and dancing, which does not seem to be a derogatory characteristic of an ethnic group. Furthermore, the jokes about the Puerto Ricans illustrate that they are mainly mocked for their physical appearance, nevertheless, unlike the Mexicans, they are not depicted as criminals. In this respect, the image of the Puerto Ricans in jokes is more similar to the African- Americans who are also mostly ridiculed for their physical appearance. The dominant stereotypical image of the Mexican-Americans, their simplemindedness as suggessted by Englekirk and Marin, appears in several jokes as well. In addition, their unwillingness to assimilate into the American culture is illustrated in the jokes analyzed by their bad English and their attachment to the relatives in Mexico. The ethnic minority group of the Asian Americans is depicted in jokes as having problems in speaking good English, or are ridiculed for their eating habits and attachment to everything made in Asian countries. This kind of attachment to everything that is Asian might also suggest their unwillingness to accept the American culture. In fact, it can be assumed from the analysis that has been carried out that the Asian Americans show the highest degree of rejection of the American traditions. None of the jokes analyzed previously illustrate the Asian Americans as a model minority. On the other hand, they are never depicted as thiefs or criminals and they do not seem to have very poor living conditions since they are able to buy cars or go to the dentists, which was not evident in any of the jokes about other ethnic groups in the USA. Finally, the Native Americans in jokes are often very close to nature and even have some supernatural abilities. In addition, they are also uncivilized and primitive but good-natured and honest. According to Spindel, the Native Americans are portrayed as either good or bad. The jokes which describe them show that there are more good Indians than bad. They live in harmony with nature, treat members of their tribe and especially elder people with respect and as one of the jokes suggests are very honest. However, there is one case in which the Indians express their bitterness towards the ungrateful events in their history with the Americans. The jokes about the Native Americans, similarly to the jokes about the Asian Americans, do not depict the Indians as thiefs or criminals, however, they are still viewed as being rather poor and uncivilized.

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3.2 The analysis of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in Lithuania The following sections will analyze jokes about four largest ethnic groups in Lithuania: the Poles, the Russians, the Jews, and the Gypsies. However, some jokes that will be used for this analysis mostly illustrate not the members from ethnic minority groups in Lithuania but depict different nations in general. Such jokes might still suggest the attitudes, beliefs, or stereotypes that Lithuanians hold about particular foreigners. The analysis will be made similarly to the analysis of jokes about ethnic groups in the USA paying attention to the concepts of stereotyping, ethnicity, race and racism. 3.2.1 Jokes about the Poles The section will focus on the analysis of five jokes that describe the Poles. The main images of the Poles are that they are criminals and thiefs or heavy drinkers. Two jokes out of five illustrate the Poles as thiefs: J34 - Kaip vadinamas lenkas su dviračiu? - Vagim.(http://www.cha.lt/2007/03/30/vokieciai_apie_lenkus.html)

The example demonstrates that it is enough for a Pole to have a bicycle and he is immeadiately treated as a thief. This Lithuanian joke is almost a copy of the English joke about the Mexicans (J19). Although the joke may be simply translated into Lithuanian, it still means that the Polish ethnic minority is depicted similarly to the Mexicans. Another example is also on the same issue: J35 - Kodėl nereikia padidinti greičio, kai pamatai ant kelio lenką su dviračiu? - Nes dviratis gali būt tavo (http://www.cha.lt/2007/03/30/vokieciai_apie_lenkus.html)

The interesting point in this joke is not its punch line which is almost the same as in J34 but the fact that if one sees a Pole it is absolutely normal to speed up so as to probably run him over. These two jokes illustrate the Poles living in Lithuania quite negatively. Therefore, this stereotypical image seems to survive as Anglickienė suggests from the interwar period when the Poles were perceived as deceivers. In addition, the image of deceivers has historical roots which show that even after eighty years the same false beliefs appear in contemporary jokes. Looking from the point of view of ethnic conflict, Brown‟s perceptual explanation could be mentioned. In other words, J34 and J35 indicate in a way an example of ethnic conflict which might have appeared because of the rooted negative perceptions that the Lithuanians have about the Poles. The jokes might also indicate what Halstead calls pre-reflective gut racism because the antagonistic attitude towards the Poles in these examples has come from the false myths and stereotypes that are the beginnings of racism.

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The following joke depicts the Poles as having problems with alcohol. This stereotype seems to be a contemporary one since Anglickienė does not mention it: J36 - Kada lenkai geria maţiausiai? - Vasarį. Nes tada maţiausiai dienų (http://www.cha.lt/2007/03/30/vokieciai_apie_lenkus.html). This joke is the example of how stereotypes really work, that is, such an exaggerated overgeneralization has probably appeared judging about individual members of the Polish ethnic group and then it has been transferred to the whole social group. One more joke about the Poles is very indirect in its implied meaning: J37 Lenkas - ne tautybė, bet specialybė! (http://sveikinimai.balsas.lt/anekdotai/getText/13841) Although the example does not suggest any direct understanding of the joke, the folded message could be that the Poles are treated as deceivers. However, other understandings of the joke are also possible. The joke requires having some shared knowledge about the Poles in order to understand it. The shared knowledge in this case would be the shared false beliefs and attitudes about them held by the Lithuanians. The effect of the punch line is even more strengthened by the similar soundings of the opposing two words, “tautybė” and “specialybė”. The following joke about the Poles describes them from a different perspective. The Poles are treated as a united social group: J38 1 lenkas - tai demokratija... 2 lenkai - tai "Solidarnostj"... 3 lenkai - tai Šalčininkų autonomija Lietuvoje... (http://www.dykai.lt/anekdotai/200803313609/anekdotai/skaitiniai-gyvenimas-tai-anekdotas/menu- id-49.html) The joke is also an example of the power of three which is one of the types of jokes (Gilbert) in which the third element has the biggest effect. The example also requires listeners to have the shared knowledge about Vilnius and one of its neighborhoods. In addition, one also has to be aware of the fact that the largest number of the Poles live in Vilnius and its surroundings. Furthermore, in terms of ethnicity it could be stated that the Poles are described as showing strong loyalty to their ethnic group (demokratija and Solidarnostj), therefore, their ethnicity is hot. The section introduces the analysis of only five jokes about the Poles, however, it could suggest that the jokes about the Poles are not very popular in Lithuania. Although the Poles are the largest ethnic minority group in Lithuania, this does not necessarily influence the popularity of jokes about them. However, the number of jokes about the African-Americans, also the largest ethnic group in the USA, is much greater. The reasons why certain ethnic groups are mocked in jokes more often than others might depend on the social status of a particular group in the country. The historical reasons might also influence this fact.

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3.2.2 Jokes about the Russians Jokes that will be used for the analysis about the Russians differ from the jokes about other ethnic groups greatly as these jokes depict the Russians not as an ethnic minority group in Lithuania but as a nation in general. All of the examples that will be discussed describe only the new Russians. The most common stereotypical image of the new Russians is that they are enormously rich: J39 Ateina vyras su ţmona į Ermitaţą. Prieina prie Rafaelio paveikslo, apţiūri ir pasišaukia administratorių: - Imu šitą paveikslą. - Jūs ką, išprotėjot? Taigi čia Rafaelis, jis nei uţ jokią kainą neparduodamas! - Duosiu 1 limoną (suprask, $1,000,000). - Nu ką jūs... - 5 limonus! - Nu, neţinau, neţinau... - Gerai, 7 limonai ir baigiam, aš neturiu laiko. - Na gerai, 10 ir imkite.- nusileidţia jam muziejaus valdţia. - Suvyniokite į popierių. Pats pasisuka į ţmoną: - Na va, gimtadieniui atvirutę nupirkome, dabar vaţiuojam ieškoti dovanų... (http://www.lizdas.lt/humoras/anekdotai/nauji_rusai/nauji_rusai004.htm) The joke shows that the new Russians can buy everything they want, even if it is not on sale. The punch line of the joke reveals that the new Russian is not very educated since he does not appreciate art. However, the authorities of the museum are also indirectly mocked because they accept to sell the painting to the new Russian. The following joke presents the new Russian from the same perspective: J40 Ateina naujasis rusas pas juvelyrą ir sako: – Klausyk, man reikia grandinėlės ant kaklo, nu taip kad koks kilogramas, kilogramas du šimtai aukso kad, nu taip kad būtų. Paieškojo juvelyras, rado jam tokį lenciūgą. Paţiūrėjo naujasis rusas, paţiūrėjo ir sako: – Nu taip, nu gerai šitas, tinka. Ir dar man nu, pasikabinti, kad ką nors, nu taip irgi kad kilogramas, kilogramas du šimtai, kad nu taip, kryţių kokį. Paieškojo juvelyras, neranda tokio. Davė savo padėjėjui pinigų: – Eik, – sako, – pas popą, nupirk iš jo kryţių ir atitempk. Tas nupirko, atnešė. Rodo jam tą kryţių, o tas: – Nu, taip nu gerai čia toks, nu tinka, tik tą gimnastą nuimkit, nu. (http://www.lizdas.lt/humoras/anekdotai/nauji_rusai/nauji_rusai001.htm) In addition to being rich, the new Russian in this example is depicted as not a very religious person, since he does not know or rather does not value the religious symbols. In addition, the joke illustrates the manner of speaking of the new Russians which can also be regarded as a stereotypical characteristic of this group. The insertion of the word “nu” appears in the joke more than ten times. Besides, “nu” appears only in the speech of the new Russian as if emphasizing his inability to express his thoughts clearly and orderly. Not only are the new Russians immensely rich but they are also extremely powerful as in the following example: 51

J41 Sėdi naujasis rusas Paryţiuje, ant Senos kranto. Šalia – naujausias mersedesas, rankoje – auksinis spiningas, valo gale – platininė blizgė. Staiga ţvejui uţkimba ir į krantą jis išvelka auksinę ţuvelę. Rusas klausia ţuvelės: - Ar tu esi tikrai auksinė? - Taip, tikrai. - Ar tu esi tikrai stebuklinga? - Taip. - Tai sakyk, ţuvele, kokius tris tavo norus išpildyti! (http://www.lizdas.lt/humoras/anekdotai/nauji_rusai/nauji_rusai001.htm) The joke incorporates the elements of Grimms‟ fairy tale about the gold fish. The punch line suggests that the new Russian obtains the magical powers of the gold fish. Nonetheless, these magical powers are associated with the wealth of the new Russian (naujausias mersedesas, auksinis spiningas, platininė blizgė). Similarly to J39, in J42 the new Russian is depicted as not very clever: J42 Nutarė mokesčių inspekcija patikrinti naujojo ruso pajamas, ar jis teisingai mokesčius moka. Ateina pas jį ir klausia: - Klausyk, Kolia, ar tu įstengtum "Volgą" nusipirkti? Naujasis rusas ir sako: - Nu jeigu Saška truputėlį pridėtų, dar Ţenia biškį...gal ir nusipirkčiau... Mato inspektoriai, kad nelabai yra ką tikrinti ir išeina. Jiems išeinant naujasis rusas ir galvoja: - Ir kokio velnio man ta Volga su visom jos prieplaukom ir laivais reikalinga? (http://www.lizdas.lt/humoras/anekdotai/nauji_rusai/nauji_rusai003.htm) The joke suggests that the new Russians are wealthy by running businesses that may not be very legal. However, the inspectors of taxes use rather strange ways to check the Russian by offering to buy him a car. Using Gilbert‟s types of jokes it can be claimed that this is an example of a play on words since the inspectors mean the car “Volga” and the Russian thinks about the river Volga. To understand the joke, one has to know not only the river in Russia but also the name of the car popular in Russia and the whole Soviet Union. The joke is probably understood by most of the Lithuanians because of the close proximity to Russia and the mutual historical past. Another joke will introduce the new Russian in the Lithuanian setting: J43 Atvaţiuoja naujas rusas į Palangą, ateina į kavinę, galvoja, nu ką reikia čia tiems lietuviams parodyt, kaip reikia pinigus leist. Pasikviečia barmeną, numeta pluoštą pinigų,ir, toks pasikėlęs, sako atneškit man ką nors uţkąst. Barmenas paima pinigus, paskaičiuoja ir sako: Atsiprašau, mes po pusę porcijos neparduodam (http://www.cha.lt/2008/08/18/krizenimas.html). This example also requires the audience of the joke to have the shared knowledge. For a foreigner the resort of Palanga might not be familiar, therefore, one has to know that it is one of the resorts by the Baltic sea in which many Russians like to spend their summer vacations. Furthermore, the new Russian is again portrayed as very rich but the punch line is quite unexpected since even the new Russian cannot afford eating in restaurants in Palanga. The new Russian is not the main target of the

52 joke. The real target seems to be the high prices of Palanga which becomes as a social reproach for the government. In other words, the function of the new Russian in this case is very different because he becomes just a tool for social critique. However, the new Russian character fits in the joke well because of the stereotype of being very wealthy. Finally, the last joke serves as an example of another dominant stereotype about the Russians:

J44 Vakar gėriau su Rusais tai vos nenudvėsiau. Šiandien darėm pachmielą tai jau geriau būčiau nudvėsęs vakar (http://www.anekdotai.biz/tautiniai-anekdotai/1). The joke seems to refer to the Russians in general not to the new Russians as in the previous examples. The joke introduces the first person speaker who does not appear in other jokes about ethnic groups. In this case the joke does not resemble the usual structure of a joke not only because of the speaker but it also does not provide any story line as in other jokes. Nevertheless, the relationship between the Lithuanian who is supposed to be “I” in the joke and the Russian man is rather friendly and close. Therefore, it could be assumed that the Lithuanians and Russians are described on rather friendly terms. In addition, the joke exemplifies one more popular stereotype which depicts Russians as heavy drinkers. Interestingly enough, although the stereotype appears it does not seem to be a popular one in the jokes in comparison to the films in which the Russian is drinking vodka from the glass. The section introduced the analysis of the jokes about the Russians in which they are mainly perceived as being enormously rich, rather simpleminded, and, as the last joke suggests, heavy drinkers. The images of the Russians as being involved in criminal activities, being slovenly or disingenuous as suggested by Anglickienė (see page 11) do not appear in the contemporary jokes. The Russians are mainly seen as the wealthy new Russians lacking education. The next section will analyze the jokes about the ethnic group of the Jews. 3.2.3 Jokes about the Jews Although the ethnic minority of the Jews is relatively small, there are quite a number of jokes about them. However, throughout the jokes, only three main images of the Jews appear. The first and the most popular stereotype is related to the Jews and their attitude to money: J45 Ţydas su ţmona atėjo į turgų pirkti ţąsies. - Kėėėk kainooja? - 10 litų. - Aštoooni? Tai ji gi šešių neverta! Sara, turi keturis litus? Duok du, o tu grąţą ruošk! (http://www.cha.lt/2008/01/03/zydai_ciukcios_rusai_estai_lietuviai_ir_kiti.html).

The Jews are depicted in the joke as being very careful with their money and even greedy. The image of the deceiver as pointed out by Anglickienė appears in this example as well since in the 53 punch line it becomes obvious that the Jew is not going to pay for the goose at all. Moreover, the Jew seems to be very skilled at bargaining because he even does not hear the real price of the goose (Aštoooni?). The tone of speaking of the Jew is rather commanding when he tells to give him change. Another stereotypic characteristic of the Jews as in this example is their way of speaking or their accent which is rendered through the repetition of vowels (Kėėėk kainooja). In the following example, the Jew is having a conversation with God: J46 Pagyvenęs ţydas visą gyvenimą meldėsi Dievui, norėdamas išmelsti stambų laimėjimą loterijoje. Kiekvieną dieną jis nenuilsdamas kalbėjo tokią maldą, kol pagaliau Dievui visai įkyrėjo. Eilinį kartą besimeldţiant, Dievas jam apsireiškė ir sako: -Chaimai! Na duok gi tu man bent kokį šansą! Nusipirk kada nors bent vieną loterijos bilietą! (http://www.cha.lt/2007/12/18/apie_zydus.html) For the first time in the analysis of jokes about Lithuanian ethnic groups, God appears as one of the characters, whereas in the jokes about the African-Americans, God was mentioned several times in the joke. In addition, there is no clue in the joke about the religion of the Jew; the only thing that is implied in the joke is that the Jew is religious. The punch line of the joke again suggests one of the stereotypes about the Jews that they are greedy. Although the religious aspect is included in the joke, the Jews are not mocked for their religious traditions and beliefs as Anglickienė points out in her discussion about the images of the Jews. Furthermore, in J47 and J48 the Jews are mocked for their greediness as well:

J47 Rado ţydas pinigų. Perskaičiuoja. Ţiūri - trūksta! (http://www.cha.lt/2008/01/03/zydai_ciukcios_rusai_estai_lietuviai_ir_kiti.html) J48 Mendelis klausia svečio: -Kėk šaukštėliu cukro dėdatė I ahrbata? -Namė vėna, svėčiosė – du. -Ui, mėlas mano, jauskėtės kaip namė.(http://www.cha.lt/2007/12/18/apie_zydus.html)

J48 does not mention the word “Jew” as in the previous examples, however, the audience is expected to know this from the supposed Jewish accent as in J45 and from the name of one of the Jews in the joke (Mendelis). This might imply that the audience should have this shared-knowledge so that they would recognize the Jews as a target. Moreo of the joke. However, the punch line demonstrates that the common Lithuanian saying “Jauskitės kaip namie” although is used in its usual context, assumes quite an opposite meaning since the host expects the guest to put less sugar in to his tea. Thus, similarly to J45 and J46, in J47 and J48 the Jews are depicted as greedy. The second image of the Jews in jokes is the avoidance of physical work as in J49:

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J49 Sėdi Abraomas ir Moišė ant klozetų ir kalbasi. Abraomas klausia draugo: - Kaip tu galvoji, kokį darbą mes dabar atliekame? Protinį ar fizinį? - Turbūt protinį. Jei tai būtų fizinis darbas mes būtume ką nors kitą pasamdę. (http://www.lizdas.lt/humoras/anekdotai/zydai/zydai002.htm) Again the “Jew” is not mentioned in the example, therefore, the names of the characters (Abraomas and Moišė) suggest that the joke describes the Jews. Nevertheless, the accent of the Jews is not depicted as in the previous jokes. The interesting point in this joke is the self-critique of the Jews because they mock themselves not someone who does not belong to their ethnic group. The punch line illustrates the stereotype that the Jews are thought to avoid any physical work. This stereotype could be derived from the fact that usually, as Anglickienė notes, they have had jobs that did not require physical work. A similar example is J50: J50 Ėjo vieną kartą, kai lietus lijo, ţmogus pro ţydo gryčią. Mato, kad ţydas vaikšto susitraukęs po gryčia. Ir jį klausia: - Kodėl tu stogo neuţdengi? O ţydas sako: - A, pone, kaip gi dengsi, kai lyja, o kai nelyja, tai kam dengti (http://www.cha.lt/anekdotai/44286- anekdotai_090901.html) The example shows that in order to avoid making physical endeavor, the Jew better suffers for some time the inconveniences. Moreover, the other character, supposedly the Lithuanian, also appears in the joke. The suggestion that he makes for the Jew might indicate that he is concerned about the Jew. Therefore, this could mean that the Lithuanian, who belongs to the majority ethnic group, and the Jew, who belongs to the minority ethnic group, live on friendly terms with one another. The ethnic conflict which could be noticed in jokes about other ethnic groups does not exist in this example. Finally, the last joke depicts the unity of the ethnic group of Jews: J51 Ant vienos pieno produktų parduotuvės durų staiga atsirado skelbimas: "Šiandien ţydams grietinė nebus parduodama. Direktorius". Susirinkę prie parduotuvės pasipiktinę ţydai išrinko delegaciją, kuri, įsibrovusi į direktoriaus kabinetą ėmė šaukti:"Diskriminacija, konstitucijos paţeidimas." Direktorius neskubėdamas padėjo ant stalo laikraštį ir ţydiškai paklausė: - Ko jūs čia triukšmaujate? Ar jūs tą grietinę ragavote? (http://www.lizdas.lt/diskusijos/viewtopic.php?t=1086). The punch line of the joke is rather unexpected because at the beginning it seems that the Jews will be discriminated, however, at the end it appears not only that the head of the store is Jewish but also that he prevents the other Jews from buying probably bad sour cream. In fact, it is the Lithuanians that are discriminated because the head of the store tells about the sour cream only to the Jews. This joke is also an example of hot ethnicity since the Jewish director of the store shows strong loyalty to his ethnic group.

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In sum, the jokes about the Jews show two stereotypical images: they are very careful with money and in some cases rather greedy and they tend to avoid physical labor. The last joke shows that the Jewish ethnic group members are loyal to their group which is the hot ethnicity as suggested by Fenton. The last category of jokes will be the jokes about the ethnic minority group of Gypsies. 3.2.4 Jokes about the Gypsies Jokes about the Gypsies also illustrate several stereotypical images. In most of the jokes the Gypsies are described as thieves, in some of them they are portrayed as slovenly. Several jokes mock their way of living. The most popular stereotype about the Gypsies is their inclination to stealing: J52 Čigonas savo sūnui: - Ką čia prašinėji, kad nupirkčiau tau batus. Esi jau nemaţas ir gali pats pasivogti (Sasnauskas 2005:66). The joke not only mocks the Gypsies for their crimes but also emphasize their family values since the gypsy father teaches his son to steal. This kind of stereotypical image is an exaggerated overgeneralization which might be applied to the whole social group of the Gypsies judging from the behavior of its individual members. Such stereotyping may as well have rather negative consequences due to which the Gypsies are regarded as posing threat to the rest of the community that they live in. One more example of this stereotype is J53: J53 Tėvas čigonas prašo savo sūnaus: - Nubėk cigarečių. - Duok pinigus. - Uţ pinigus kiekvienas durnius gali! Sūnus tylėdamas išeina, o grįţęs numeta tėvui pakelį cigarečių. Šis atidaro - tuščia. - Bet juk pakelis tuščias. - O pilną surūkyti kiekvienas durnius gali! (http://www.izmaelis.com/2010/02/2010-02-09- juokai.html). The joke could be regarded as a continuation of the same family situation in J52 in which the child is still being taught how to steal. In this case, the son already knows how to steal and he is even cleverer than his father. In other words, the joke suggests that the family values (stealing) are transmitted from one generation to other. Furthermore, the following joke presents the Gypsies from the same perspective but already in a different context:

J54 Šachmatų olimpiadoje buvo diskvalifikuota čigonų komanda - arklius vogė... (http://gim18.jggimnazija.lt/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24:anekdotai- 3&catid=9:anekdotai&Itemid=11). The joke shows that again the Gypsies are thieves, however, the setting is much more different than in the previous jokes. Now the Gypsies take part in a chess contest. The joke can be ascribed to the

56 types of jokes which Gilbert calls play on words because of the meanings of a horse: as a chess figure and an animal. The effect of the joke is achieved mainly through this play on word since the Gypsies are stereotypically viewed as rustlers. Therefore, the joke implies that the Gypsies are not able to resist stealing the horses although this is only a figure in the chess game.

In addition, the Gypsies are portrayed as slovenly in the following two jokes: J55 Čigonas sėdi ant suoliuko, mato savo vaikus ţaidţiant. O jie tokie jau baisūs, tokie purvini, gal metus neprausti. Ir mąsto čigonas: -Neţinau, ar šituos nuprausti, ar naujų padaryti (http://www.tdd.lt/~aks/anekdotai/top9611.htm). J56 Čigonas nuėjęs pas daktarą sako: "Daktare mane visą kaţkodėl nieţti". Tas apţiūrėjo ir klausia: "O praustis kada nors mėginote?" Čigonas: "Bandţiau, bet po mėnesio vėl tas pat" (http://forum.lrytas.lt/topic_show.pl?did=;pid=247173). These jokes are the only ones in the analysis of jokes about ethnic groups in Lithuania which describe the physical appearance of the ethnic group members. This is also a much exaggerated overgeneralization of the image of the Gypsies because in both jokes the Gypsy person does not even understand how dirty he or his children are. Although the jokes depict the Gypsies‟ physical appearance, it is not their genetic appearance that is mocked but rather their way of living. J57 also describe the Gypsies by emphasizing their “communal” conditions of living: J57 Rytas čigonų tabore. Kas pirmas atsikelia, tas graţiausiai apsirengia... (http://www.tostai.lt/anekdotai/getText/13740) In this example, the Gypsies are mocked for living in their internal communities which, as the joke implies, share everything they have. The emphasis is placed on the idea that individual members do not have the property that would belong only to them. On the other hand, this could be as well perceived as a very strong bond between the community members who have an emotional and possibly the economic attachment to this community. It is rather surprising that the jokes about the Gypsies do not include the fact that the Gypsies are often associated in the media with the drugs. This could show that the old stereotypes which appear in the previous jokes are very strong. The jokes about the Gypsies describe them as being slovenly, inclined to stealing, and preferring the communal way of living. The following section will present an overview of the analysis of jokes about ethnic groups in Lithuania. 3.2.5 Overview of the Analysis of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in Lithuania The previous sections present the analysis of jokes about ethnic groups in Lithuania. The jokes are discussed from the point of view of race, ethnicity, racism and popular misconceptions and stereotypes suggested by Anglickienė. The Poles in the jokes are depicted as thieves or alcoholics. Some jokes which describe the Poles as thieves also demonstrate the ethnic conflict as a consequence of false stories and beliefs about this group. The jokes that describe the Poles as

57 thieves are similar in this way to the jokes about the Mexicans in the USA. Another negative stereotype about the Poles is that they are depicted as having problems with alcohol. However, one of the jokes about them illustrates their unity and strong loyalty to their ethnic group. The jokes about the Russians are different from the jokes about other ethnic groups in that they describe the Russians as a neighboring nation not as an ethnic minority group of Lithuania. Nevertheless, these jokes still give an understanding of what are the stereotypical images of the Russians. The jokes analyzed in section 3.2.2 ridicule a particular category of the new Russians who are portrayed as being enormously rich, therefore even having supernatural powers. Although they are so wealthy, the new Russians are illustrated as not very educated because in some examples they do not value art or religious artifacts. Only one joke (J44) in this analysis presents the relationships between the Russians and the Lithuanians which, as the joke suggests, are quite friendly. However, the same example also depicts the Russians as heavy drinkers. This stereotype is extremely popular in films about the Russians, nonetheless, it seems that it is not so common in the jokes about them. Furthermore, a great number of jokes about the Jews on the internet shows that they are popular characters to laugh at. Despite this fact, only two common stereotypes about them appear in the jokes selected for the analysis. Firstly, the most common image of the Jews always relates them to the issue of money. They are perceived as being very careful with money and even greedy. The second stereotypical characteristic of the Jews is that they are portrayed as avoiding physical labor. The reason why such image appears might be due to the idea that the Jews have worked mainly as lenders or tradesmen in the communities which do not require physical strength. One of the examples in the analysis indicates the solidarity of the Jews. The joke might as well suggest their strong loyalty to their ethnic group or hot ethnicity using Fenton‟s term. The last ethnic group analyzed is the Gypsies. The jokes about them introduce three images: most often the Gypsies in the jokes become thieves or they are treated as being slovenly and living in their internal communities. The image of a thief is also the image of the deceiver as suggested by Anglickienė. This indicates that this old stereotype has survived although the contexts might be different. The jokes about the Gypsies which depict them as slovenly or living in their communities can also be regarded as mocking their traditions and the way of living. The following section will briefly compare the analyses carried out about the jokes describing ethnic groups in the USA and Lithuania.

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3.3 The Comparison of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in the USA and Lithuania Although the ethnic minority groups differ in both countries, the degree of stereotyping and the problems of ethnicity, race and racism in some cases seem to be similar. The largest ethnic groups in the USA, the African-Americans, and Lithuania, the Poles, are treated very differently in the jokes. For example, it might be assumed that the larger ethnic group is, the more jokes can be found about them. This is the case about the African-Americans as the number of jokes is vast on the internet. However, the Poles are not very popular characters in the Lithuanian jokes. Therefore, the size of an ethnic group does not necessarily influence the number of jokes about them. What relates the two ethnic groups in jokes is that the images of both, the African-Americans and the Poles, are rather negative. Nevertheless, the African-Americans are mostly mocked for their physical appearance which is not the main target in the jokes about the Poles. The jokes about the African- Americans suggest in some of the examples the source for ethnic conflict between the minority and majority groups of the American population. In addition, both, the Poles and the African- Americans, are described as thieves in some jokes about them. Nonetheless, the ethnic conflict between the minority and majority groups seems to be greater in the case of the African-Americans since the jokes about them even suggest ways how to avoid contact with the black community (J7). On the whole, in the jokes about ethnic groups in America, the concept of ethnic conflict and racism is more evident than in the jokes about the ethnic groups in Lithuania. In addition, in terms of ethnicity, it could be assumed that in almost all of the jokes about each ethnic minority group in both countries the emphasis is placed on the solidarity and strong bonds between the members of their social group. All four ethnic groups of the USA in the jokes are depicted as being loyal members of their social group in one way or another. Similarly, the Lithuanian jokes about ethnic minority groups also show the loyalty between the group members. The only exception is the jokes about the new Russians because the jokes about them do not depict them as an ethnic group living in Lithuania but as a neighboring nation. The concept of the shared knowledge is of great importance in this analysis of jokes as many of them require the audience to have a specific knowledge of the context of a joke. In most of the cases the knowledge of the traditions and culture of an ethnic group is required in order to understand the joke. Despite the fact that the main function of a joke is to ridicule or mock certain things or people as in this analysis, the jokes that require the shared knowledge about the culture of an ethnic group suggest that it is unavoidable to get to know the other culture that lives in the same country or even in the same neighborhood. From the point of view of stereotyping, the jokes analyzed in the previous sections introduce each ethnic group very differently. The stereotypes about some of the groups are not so strong or so negative than images about other groups. The Asian Americans and Native Americans

59 are portrayed from a more positive perspective than the African Americans or the Hispanics. In the same way, the new Russians and the Jews are also described using more positive images in the jokes about them than the images in the jokes about the Poles or the Gypsies. Here, the more positive images mean that members of the ethnic groups are not treated as thieves or other kinds of criminals. However, other aspects for ridicule are included in the jokes about such groups. The most popular stereotypes in the jokes are basically the same as suggested in the theoretical sections on each ethnic group. Nevertheless, some exceptions were still found in the analysis of jokes. For instance, the Asian Americans are not depicted in the jokes from the point of view of their physical similarity as introduced by Le. The new Russians are not described as slovenly or being involved in criminal activities as Anglickienė points out. In sum, although some popular stereotypes are broken or do not appear in the jokes, in most of the examples, the most common images of the members of ethnic groups still prevail. The following sections will analyze the same jokes focusing on a pragmatic perspective. 3.4 Pragmatic Analysis of Jokes about Ethnic Groups The analysis of jokes in the following sections will focus mainly on two aspects of pragmatics: implicature and the four maxims suggested by Grice. At first, the jokes about ethnic groups in both countries will be investigated separetly and the comparison of the two analyses will follow. 3.4.1 Pragmatic Analysis of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in the USA This section will discuss the jokes about ethnic minority groups in the USA and Lithuania in terms of pragmatic principles and implicature. The cooperative principle, especially the four maxims suggested by Grice, will be the main point in this analysis. According to the discussion on cooperative principle, it can be stated that many of the jokes do not break the maxim of quantity as they are usually rather short. On the other hand, the maxim of quality which deals with false information can pose some problems since it is very difficult or almost impossible to test whether the information is true or false. For example, the following joke about the African-Americans cannot be tested on the grounds of the maxim of quality because the speaker in this joke is the God: J1 What did God say when he saw the first black person? Damnit...I burnt one! (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2) Other Grice‟s maxims seem to be followed in this joke as the answer to the question is relevant (the maxim of relation), the joke is very short (the maxim of quantity), and it is well organized because the question is followed by an answer. Although the section on Cooperation and „Flouting‟ suggests that the maxims are intentionally violated in jokes in order to create the humorous effect, this example shows that it is possible to create the same effect while following the maxims, except for the maxim of quality which cannot be tested. 60

The following joke illustrates the example of breaking the quality maxim: J2 Crash n’ Burn One day a Black guy that was trying to steal a bank, dies in a shootput with the cops. So when he goes up to heaven, he's waiting in line to tell St.Peter his name, so finally he gets up there, and St. Peter asks him "Your name, kind sir," and the black guy says "Leonardo DiCaprio." St.Peter confused says, "ok hold on a sec." And he goes to his office, picks up the phone and calls God. When god picks up the phone, St.Peter says "God, did the Titanic sink or burn?" (http://www.lol- jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2) What the joke might suggest is that the black person himself does not wish to be black and so he introduces himself as a white movie star which already violates the maxim of quality as the person is telling the information which he knows is not true. Similarly to J1, J4 also follows Grice„s maxims of quantity, as it is very short, manner because it is brief and well organized and the maxim of relation since the answer is relevant to the question: J4 Confusing day in Harlem What's the most confusing day in Harlem? Father's Day (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-blacks?page=2). The maxim of quality here is also quite problematic because it is difficult to test the truthfulness of the information, that is, it is impossible to decide whether the Father„s day is really the most confusing day in Harlem. One of the jokes about the African-Americans depicts their usage of English: J5 Zebra‘s Color One day a zebra went to a lion, the king of the jungles, and asked,"Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes." The lion replied, "I don't know. Go ask God." So the zebra went to ask God. God said, "You are what you are."The zebra went back and told the lion what god said. The lion said, "You must be white with black stripes." "Why", asked the zebra. The lion replied, "Because if you were black with white stripes God would have said 'you is what you is'" (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-blacks?page=2). This joke serves as an example of conventional implicature because speaking a non-standard variety or as in this case speaking Black English immediately suggests the lack of education, therefore, lower social status in the community. In other words, even the way of speaking is regarded as a differentiating point between the white population and the black community. Furthermore, the structure of some of the jokes resembles the structure of logical implication: J11 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... You've ever used your lips to point something out (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s- /latinos/you-know-youre-puerto-rican-if) The example illustrates the logical sequence: if p then q, that is, If You‟ve ever used your lips to point something out, you are Puerto Rican. It follows that if not p, then not q or, as in this case, If You've never used your lips to point something out, you are not Puerto Rican. The use of this rather

61 strict logical implication which seems to be applicable here demonstrates that even jokes can have logically organized pragmatic structure. Jokes J16 and J17 are instances of lenghty jokes which suggests that some of Grice„s maxims might be violated. The maxim of quantity in both jokes is broken since some details as, for example, the products that the woman sent to her family in the coffin are not of the utmost importance for the message of the joke. On the other hand, these specific details are of the utmost importance for the effect of the joke. For this reason, the intentional flouting of maxims, especially of the maxim of quantity, helps to keep listeners interested till the end or the punch line of the joke. Similarly to the jokes about the Puerto Ricans, the Asian jokes also demonstrate the same structure of the logical implications, if p, then q: J24 You know if you„re Asian when... Your family owns Asian Cars (Toyota) (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html) J25 You know if you„re Asian when... You shop at a Local Asian Market (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3765/page1.html). In the same manner, if not p, ten not q, or as in these examples, if one does not own Asian cars, one is not Asian and if one does not shop at a local Asian Market, one is not Asian. It could be assumed that the p should be the most important condition for the q to be true. Therefore, the „ps‟ in the jokes are also the most important conditions for a person to be called Asian.

The following joke is also the example of conventional implicature related to the non- standard usage of English: J29 A man was walking down the street and noticed a sign reading "Hans Schmidt's Chinese Laundry." Being of a curious nature, he entered and was greeted by an obviously Chinese man who introduced himself as Hans Schmidt. "How come you have a name like that?" inquired the stranger. The Chinese gentleman explained in very broken English that when he landed in America he was standing in the immigration line behind a German. When asked his name, the German replied, Hans Schmidt." When the immigration officer asked the Chinese man his name, he replied, "Sam Ting." (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/asians/hans-schmidt). What this joke reveals is not that Asian people are unable to speak English appropriately but that Americans are not able to understand what they say. Then, it follows that the joke makes fun of both sides: the American immigration officer who has problems in understanding the Chinese person as well as the Chinese person who does not argue with what the American says. From a pragmatic point of view, these linguistic problems could be the instance of conventional implicature. Moreover, no matter in what contexts such linguistic situations occur, the person that is speaking “inappropriately” would immediately be identified as being inferior because of the lack of education.

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The following two jokes are the examples of the flouting of maxims mainly because the maxim of quantity is broken: J30 Two cowboys come upon an Indian lying on his stomach with his ear to the ground. One of the cowboys stops and says to the other, "You see that Indian?" "Yeah," says the other cowboy. "Look," says the first one, "he's listening to the ground. He can hear things for miles in any direction." Just then the Indian looks up. "Covered wagon," he says, "about two miles away. Have two horses, one brown, one white. Man, woman, child, household effects in wagon." "Incredible!" says the cowboy to his friend. "This Indian knows how far away they are, how many horses, what color they are, who is in the wagon, and what is in the wagon. Amazing!" The Indian looks up and says, "Ran over me about a half an hour ago."(http://www.yuksrus.com/ethnic_native_american.html).

The maxim of quantity is most probably violated because of the abundance of information. For example, the repetition of what the Indian says is not obligatory information for the message of the joke (This Indian knows how far away they are, how many horses, what color they are, who is in the wagon, and what is in the wagon. Amazing!"). Nevertheless, as it is the case with jokes, the specific details that might look as unimportant are just included for greater effect that the listener gets in the punch line, as in J33: J33 When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, they did some training on a Navajo Indian reservation. One day, a Navajo elder and his son were herding sheep and came across the space crew. The old man, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question which his son translated. "What are these guys in the big suits doing?" A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon. The old man got all excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts. Recognizing a promotional opportunity for the spin-doctors, the NASA folks found a tape recorder. After the old man recorded his message, they asked the son to translate it. He refused. So the NASA reps brought the tape to the reservation where the rest of the tribe listened and laughed but refused to translate the elder's message to the moon. Finally, the NASA crew called in an official government translator. He reported that the moon message said, "Watch out for these guys; they have come to steal your land." (http://www.yuksrus.com/ethnic_native_american.html) The joke illustrates that the maxim of quantity is violated because the punch line of the joke comes after a lot of unnecessary information (After the old man recorded his message, they asked the son to translate it. He refused. So the NASA reps brought the tape to the reservation where the rest of the tribe listened and laughed but refused to translate the elder's message to the moon). Although this looks like the unnecessary information, the fact that the son of the Indian or the rest of the tribe refuse to translate his message shows respect that they have for the old man. Therefore, this information for the main message of the joke is not really relevant but the effect of the joke and the implications it carries are strengthened. The following section will analyze the jokes about ethnic groups in Lithuania also applying the principles of pragmatics and implicature.

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3.4.2 Pragmatic Analysis of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in Lithuania

The section will discuss the jokes which describe ethnic minority groups living in Lithuania from the pragmatic perspective. To begin with, the jokes about the Poles are relatively short, therefore, it suggests that the maxim of quantity is not violated: J34 - Kaip vadinamas lenkas su dviračiu? - Vagim(http://www.cha.lt/2007/03/30/vokieciai_apie_lenkus.html). The question-answer form of the joke seems to be cooperative enough since the question is followed by an answer. Again, the issue of quality of the joke cannot be considered in this case because the information that is given, that every Pole who has a bicycle is a thief, surely lacks evidence and perhaps even the speaker might not believe it to be true. Three jokes out of five selected for the analysis are question-answer type, which shows that all the maxims, except for the maxim of quality, are observed. However, J37 seems to be the example of flouting of maxims:

J37 Lenkas - ne tautybė, bet specialybė! (http://sveikinimai.balsas.lt/anekdotai/getText/13841) Here, the flouting of maxims appears in the play with words “tautybe” and “specialybe” which have a similar sounding but the meanings of the two words cannot be compared as being a Pole means being of Polish nationality not having a Polish specialty. Since the genre of jokes as Mey suggests tend to violate the maxims, the joke serves as an example of flouting as the violation is not accidental, it is intended to make the effect of the joke stronger.

The jokes about the new Russians are longer than ones about the Poles. Almost in all cases jokes have plots for the story to develop the funny effect. Although the jokes are longish, they still seem to be rather cooperative: J39 Ateina vyras su ţmona į Ermitaţą. Prieina prie Rafaelio paveikslo, apţiūri ir pasišaukia administratorių: - Imu šitą paveikslą. - Jūs ką, išprotėjot? Taigi čia Rafaelis, jis nei uţ jokią kainą neparduodamas! - Duosiu 1 limoną (suprask, $1,000,000). - Nu ką jūs... - 5 limonus! - Nu, neţinau, neţinau... - Gerai, 7 limonai ir baigiam, aš neturiu laiko. - Na gerai, 10 ir imkite.- nusileidţia jam muziejaus valdţia. - Suvyniokite į popierių. Pats pasisuka į ţmoną: - Na va, gimtadieniui atvirutę nupirkome, dabar vaţiuojam ieškoti dovanų... (http://www.lizdas.lt/humoras/anekdotai/nauji_rusai/nauji_rusai004.htm) The cooperation might be noticed in the information in the brackets (suprask, $1,000,000) which explains what the new Russian is talking about. Despite the fact that the joke is rather long, the 64 maxim of quantity is observed because the new Russian and the head of the museum negotiate the price of the painting. The head of the museum refuses two times to sell the painting, although he could accept right away, so as to emphasize that the painting is worth a lot of money. Nevertheless, J40 might be seen as a violation of the maxim of quantity:

J40 Ateina naujasis rusas pas juvelyrą ir sako: – Klausyk, man reikia grandinėlės ant kaklo, nu taip kad koks kilogramas, kilogramas du šimtai aukso kad, nu taip kad būtų. Paieškojo juvelyras, rado jam tokį lenciūgą. Paţiūrėjo naujasis rusas, paţiūrėjo ir sako: – Nu taip, nu gerai šitas, tinka. Ir dar man nu, pasikabinti, kad ką nors, nu taip irgi kad kilogramas, kilogramas du šimtai, kad nu taip, kryţių kokį. Paieškojo juvelyras, neranda tokio. Davė savo padėjėjui pinigų: – Eik, – sako, – pas popą, nupirk iš jo kryţių ir atitempk. Tas nupirko, atnešė. Rodo jam tą kryţių, o tas: – Nu, taip nu gerai čia toks, nu tinka, tik tą gimnastą nuimkit, nu. (http://www.lizdas.lt/humoras/anekdotai/nauji_rusai/nauji_rusai001.htm) The insertion of “nu” appears eleven times which already is many for the genre of joke. Nonetheless, these insertions are again not accidental because they emphasize the new Russian‟s way of speaking. This kind of speech of the new Russian introduces his inability to express himself in an orderly way, which, in fact, is one of the goals of this joke. Moreover, the conventional implicature is also relevant in this case as the speech of the new Russian makes him different from the other two characters in the joke. The implied meaning of this kind of speech is mainly related to the fact that the new Russian is depicted as someone who lacks education. Mey suggests that not only does the person lack education, but this also makes him/her inferior. However, the inferiority aspect is not really evident in the joke because the new Russian is extremely wealthy which makes him even superior to the other characters.

Furthermore, two jokes out of seven which depict the Jews illustrate the accent with which the Jews talk in the following jokes: J45 Ţydas su ţmona atėjo į turgų pirkti ţąsies. - Kėėėk kainooja? - 10 litų. - Aštoooni? Tai ji gi šešių neverta! Sara, turi keturis litus? Duok du, o tu grąţą ruošk! (http://www.cha.lt/2008/01/03/zydai_ciukcios_rusai_estai_lietuviai_ir_kiti.html). J48 Mendelis klausia svečio: -Kėk šaukštėliu cukro dėdatė I ahrbata? -Namė vėna, svėčiosė – du. -Ui, mėlas mano, jauskėtės kaip namė.(http://www.cha.lt/2007/12/18/apie_zydus.html) The jokes ridicule the Jewish way of speaking Lithuanian by the repetition of vowels (Kėėėk kainooja) and the addition of consonant (ahrbata). In terms of conventional implicature this could indicate that the Jews do not belong to the same ethnic group as the majority of the Lithuanian 65 population. Contrary to the implications that could be made from the speech of the new Russian in J40, the implication in J45 and J46 does not suggest that the Jews lack education. In sum, the pragmatic analysis of jokes about the ethnic groups in Lithuania shows the instances of flouting of maxims in order to achieve a greater effect in the punch line of the joke. Nonetheless, many of the jokes seem to observe the maxims, except for the maxim of quality in some examples, and still have a humorous effect at the end. The conventional implicature also appears in several jokes suggesting different interpretations about the attitude towards the members of particular ethnic groups. The following section will present a brief pragmatic comparison between the jokes about ethnic groups in both countries. 3.4.3 Pragmatic Comparison of Jokes about Ethnic Groups in both Countries In terms of the cooperative principle or the four maxims, it can be stated that only in some cases the maxims are violated for the sake of the funny effect in the punch line. Most often the maxim of quantity is broken in longer jokes which include the information that is not obligatory for the understanding of the message that the joke carries. However, without the details that seem to be unimportant the joke would lose its effect on the audience because the longer is the joke, the more impatient becomes the audience waiting for the punch line. The jokes about the American ethnic groups more often violate the maxim of quantity than the ones about the Lithuanian ethnic groups. In addition, the ethnic jokes of the USA show that in some examples the jokes have a rather strict structure in which only some of its parts change (You are a…. if you ….). The structure of the ethnic jokes of Lithuania is much looser which could suggest that the American practice of joke telling, in comparison to Lithuanian, is more advanced. Furthermore, in the jokes about ethnic groups in both countries the examples of conventional implicature can be found. The African-Americans, the Asian Americans, the Jews and in one case the new Russians are mocked in the jokes for their non standard accent or way of speaking. Nevertheless, the linguistic differences carry different connotations about the members of these ethnic groups. The African-Americans and the Asians for their non standard English become socially inferior to the majority population of the USA, whereas the Jewish accent of Lithuanian seems to suggest that they belong to the same social class but to a different ethnic group. The new Russian‟s way of speaking might simply imply his inability to express himself coherently or it may also suggest his lack of education. In other words, the implications about the African-Americans and Asians are more negative than the implications about the Jews and the new Russians.

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4 CONCLUSIONS Humor, especially verbal humor which includes jokes, plays an important role in our everyday lives. Besides making our lives funnier and in this way releasing the stress, the jokes might also suggest the attitude, beliefs and dominant stereotypical images of things and people that become targets in the jokes. The aim of this MA paper is to analyze the jokes which mock members of ethnic minority groups in the USA and Lithuania. The theoretical part introduces the discussion on humor and jokes, ethnic minority grups in the USA and Lithuania as well as focuses on the concepts of race, ethnicity, racism and stereotyping and pragmatics, implicature and pragmatic principles. The analysis in the analytical part of the paper is carried out from two perspectives: the first looks how the concepts of race, ethnicity, racism and stereotyping could be applied in relation to these jokes whereas the second perspective discusses the jokes according to implicature and cooperative principle in pragmatics. Since the analysis is already carried out, there can be displayed the main tendencies related to race, ethnicity, racism and stereotyping as well as implicature and cooperative principle in pragmatics in the jokes about ethnic groups in the USA and Lithuania: • The most popular stereotypical image of the African-Americans in the jokes analyzed is related to their color of the skin. In addition, in some of the jokes, they are described as inclined to criminal activities, offenced when called “niggers” and that they are still regarded as slaves as one of the examples suggests. From the point of view of ethnicity, the African-Americans seem to have hot ethnicity, that is, they seem to feel strong ties with their ethnic group. One of the jokes (J7) rather directly suggests the source for ethnic conflict between the white and the black populations. • The jokes about the Hispanics or the Mexicans and Puerto Ricans illustrate them as being very poor, which becomes the reason for them to come to the USA. They are also depicted as lazy and messy but rather religious and loving dances and music. The last two images do not seem to be the negative portrayal of the Hispanics. The jokes about the Hispanics are affected by the false stories and myths that are popular in the American society. Therefore, such stereotyping based on these prevailing false images does not take into account the individual differences of the Puerto Ricans. Similarly to the African-Americans, they are also mocked for their physical appearance. The jokes that present the Hispanics as having a good sense for music suggest the processes of assimilation discussed in the immigrant-host approach. The fact that the whites, supposedly the authors of these jokes, know traditional dances of the Hispanics (J14) might show that gradually the two groups living close to one another begin to know each others culture and traditions. Although the Mexicans are

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described as not very clever, the loyalty to their family and homeland is also depicted which becomes the example of the hot ethnicity. • The stereotypical images that appear in the jokes about the Asian Americans deal with their problems in speaking English, strong emotional and economic attachment to their culture and the treatment of money. The jokes, similarly to the ones about the African-Americans and the Hispanics, also indicate the hot ethnicity that the Asian Americans have. However, contrary to the African-Americans and the Hispanics, this hot ethnicity is different because the Asians seem to be attached to their culture more in an economic sense than the emotional one. Another difference from other ethnic minority groups in jokes is that the Asian Americans are not described as inclined to criminal activities or as lazy and messy, therefore, the images that appear in the jokes about them are more positive in comparison to the images of the African-Americans and the Hispanics. • The last group of jokes presents the ethnic group of the Native Americans. They are depicted as having close relationship with nature as well as being rather uncivilized and primitive. Nonetheless, the stereotypical image of the Native Americans as being very close to nature is not reinforced in the jokes. In fact, the image is even broken in some of the punch lines in the jokes. The ethnic conflict that could have been noticed in the jokes about the African-Americans and the Hispanics does not appear to be the case in the jokes about the Native Americans. On the contrary, the jokes indicate that the majority of the population treats them with respect. Nevertheless, the Indians are still mocked in the jokes for their uncivilized behavior. Again, the Native Americans in the jokes seem to have strong ties with their ethnic group as in J33. • The Poles, the largest ethnic minority group in Lithuania, are portrayed in the jokes as thieves and heavy drinkers. Although being the largest group in the number of its members, the Poles do not seem to be very popular characters in jokes. Most of the jokes analyzed show that the audience should have the shared knowledge in order to understand them. The image of the Poles as deceivers or thieves as the jokes suggest has come from the interwar period according to Anglickienė, therefore, certain stereotypical images can even overcome decades and still be popular in the contemporary media. • The Russians, although not as an ethnic minority group in Lithuania, are perceived as enourmously wealthy in the jokes. The wealth of the Russians is described in a much exaggerated way in the jokes since they are able to buy everything they want. The manner of speaking of the new Russians suggests their lack of education and the ability to express themselves clearly. Besides, the image of a new Russian also serves as a tool for social critique as in J43. 68

• The Jews seem to be one of the most popular characters in the jokes. The Jews in the jokes are ridiculed for their attitude to money, their accent and the avoidance of physical work. The jokes about them do not suggest the ethnic conflict between the Lithuanians and the Jews. In fact, one of the jokes (J50) even suggests that the Lithuanian man is concerned about the Jew‟s welfare. The indication of the hot ethnicity is evident in J51 as well. • The Gypsies are also quite popular characters in the jokes. Only two stereotypical images can be found in the jokes about them. They are either portrayed as thieves or as being slovenly. However, differently to the jokes about other ethnic minority groups in Lithuania, the Gypsies are mocked for their traditions and communal way of living. This suggests that the ethnic group of the Gypsies is very united emotionally and perhaps economically. • If comparing the analysis of jokes about ethnic groups in both countries, it can be stated that in terms of ethnicity, almost all of the jokes about ethnic groups demonstrate the hot ethnicity. The ethnic conflict is more appearant in the jokes about ethnic groups in the USA. This could probably suggest that the Lithuanian society is more homogenous and united than the American society. The degree of shared-knowledge required to understand the jokes is similar in the examples about ethnic groups in both countries. In addition, it can be claimed that the size of an ethnic minority group does not necessarily influence the number of jokes about them. The African-Americans, the largest group in the USA, is also one of the most popular groups to laugh at. However, the Poles, who are the largest ethnic minority group in Lithuania, are definetly not the most popular characters in jokes. • The jokes about ethnic minority groups in the USA and Lithuania have been analyzed from the pragmatic perspective as well. The analysis according to the cooperative principle has shown that most often the jokes do not break the maxim of quantity as they are rather short. In cases where the maxim of quantity seems to be violated, the unimportant details that should be left out still serve an important function. The more details are included, the more impatient becomes the audience waiting for the punch line. The maxim of quality is almost always violated in jokes, since the person telling the joke is usually aware of the fact that the information is false or the truthfulness of the information cannot be tested. In terms of conventional implicature, the examples analyzed suggest that the non-standard usage of the dominant language, English or Lithuanian, marks the person as different from the others. In some cases the non-standard usage of the language makes the person inferior to others (the African-Americans or the Asian Americans) and sometimes it might simply mean that the person is not purely American or Lithuanian (the Jews). The analysis has shown that, although the jokes are usually meant for fun, they can still offer a lot of valuable information as on the topics discussed in this paper. Further research of the genre of 69 jokes is worthwile because it gives information on the culture in which the jokes are told and its values. REFERENCES

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APPENDIX A Jokes about the African-Americans

1 What did God say when he saw the first black person? Damnit...I burnt one! 2 Crash n’ Burn One day a Black guy that was trying to steal a bank, dies in a shootput with the cops. So when he goes up to heaven, he's waiting in line to tell St.Peter his name, so finally he gets up there, and St. Peter asks him "Your name, kind sir," and the black guy says "Leonardo DiCaprio." St.Peter confused says, "ok hold on a sec." And he goes to his office, picks up the phone and calls God. When god picks up the phone, St.Peter says "God,did the Titanic sink or burn?" 3 Little Black Boy The little black boy went into the kitchen, his mother was making fried chicken. He put his hand in the flour and patted it on his face. He said, "Look mom I'm a white boy." She slapped him in the face and told him to go tell his father what he did. He said, "Look dad I'm a white boy." His father slapped him told him to go tell his grandmother what he has done. Now his grandmother slapped him and told him to go see his mother. He went back into the kitchen and his mother asked if he had learned anything from this. He said yes I've only been white for 5 min and I already hate nig---- 4 Confusing day in Harlem What's the most confusing day in Harlem? Father's Day 5 Zebra‘s Color One day a zebra went to a lion, the king of the jungles, and asked,"Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes." The lion replied, "I don't know. Go ask God." So the zebra went to ask God. God said, "You are what you are."The zebra went back and told the lion what god said. The lion said, "You must be white with black stripes." "Why", asked the zebra. The lion replied, "Because if you were black with whitestripes God would have said 'you is what you is'" 6 Colored People When I was born I was Black When I grow up I am black When I sick I am black When I go in the sun I am black When I am cold I am black When I die I am black But You When you are born you are pink When you grow up you are white When you are sick you turn green When you go in the sun you get red

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When you are cold you turn blue When you die you turn purple And you have the f____g nerve to call me COLORED! 7 Niger in your Yard How do you keep a niger out of your back yard? Hang one in the front yard 8 Racial Dog Name A guy is sitting outside a pub balling his eyes out when a cop comes up and asks what's wrong. "My dog is trapped in side, he's sitting under a table surrounded by black men." So, the cop says, "just call him". The guy now crying even more answers, "I can't you call him." The cop says, "alright what's the dog's name?" Now wrecked, the guy stutters, "n-n-nig--- 9 Blacks vs. Chainsaw Why do black people hate chainsaws? Because everytime you start one up, it goes run'nigga'nigga'nigga"!!! (http://www.lol-jokes.com/ethnic-u-s-/blacks?page=2) 10 Traveling Parrot A black man walks into a bar with a parrot on his shoulder. The bartender asks, "Hey, where did you get that from?" The parrot replies, "There's thousands of 'em in Africa."

Jokes about the Hispanics

11 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... You've ever used your lips to point something out 12 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... One of your aunts weighs over 300 pounds 13 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... Your mother yells at the top of her lungs to call you to dinner when you live in a one bedroom apartment 14 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... You can dance to merengue, cumbia, or salsa without music 15 You Know You're Puerto Rican If ... You have a picture of "Cristo" in your house 16 A US Border Patrol Agent catched an illegal alien in the bushes right by the border fence. He pulls him out and says, "Sorry, man, you know the law, you're going back across the border right away." The Mexican man begs him, "No, no! Senior, I must stay in el America! Porfavor!" The agent thinks to himself, I'm going to make it hard for him, and says "OK, I'll let you stay if you can use 3 English words in a sentence." The agent tells him, "The three words are: green, pink and yellow. Now use them in one sentence." The Mexican man of course agrees right away. The Mexican man thinks really hard for about two minutes, and then says, "Hmmm, OK. The phone, it went green, green, green... I pink it up, and said yellow?" 17 An old couple in Santo Domingo was puzzled when the coffin of their dead relative arrived from the USA. The corpse was so tightly squeezed inside the coffin that her face was practically touching the glass cover. When they opened the coffin, they found a letter pinned to her chest, which read: Dearest Papi & Mami: I am sending you Tia Juana's remains for the funeral in the Santo Domingo Cemetery. Sorry I couldn't come along as the expenses were too high. You will find inside the coffin, under Tia's body, 12 cans of Bumble Bee Tuna, 12 bottles of Paul Mitchell Shampoo and 12 bottles Paul Mitchell Conditioner, 12 Vaseline Intensive Care Skin Lotion, 12 Colgate Toothpaste and 12 cans of Spam. Just divide it among the family. [...] Your loving daughter, Josefinita

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P.S. Please find Tia a dress for her funeral 18 A bunch of Mexicans are running down a hill, what is going on? A Prison Break 19 What do you do when a Mexican is riding a bike? Chase after him, it‟s probably yours! 20 How do you starve a Mexican? Put their food stamps in their work boots 21 What is it when a Mexican is taking a shower? A miracle (http://www.free-funny-

Jokes about the Asian Americans

22 You know if you„re Asian when... Your parents will get you into places 50% off by saying you are 12 when you are really 15 23 You know if you„re Asian when... You've learned to keep bargaining even if the prices are rock bottom 24 You know if you„re Asian when... Your family owns Asian Cars (Toyota) 25 You know if you„re Asian when... You shop at a Local Asian Market 26 You know if you„re Asian when... You only have Asian doctors/Dentist 27 You know if you„re Asian when... You've eaten parts of animals they don't even put in hot dogs 28 You know if you„re Asian when... Your dad still wears the tube of socks with the stripes 29 A man was walking down the street and noticed a sign reading "Hans Schmidt's Chinese Laundry." Being of a curious nature, he entered and was greeted by an obviously Chinese man who introduced himself as Hans Schmidt. "How come you have a name like that?" inquired the stranger. The Chinese gentleman explained in very broken English that when he landed in America he was standing in the immigration line behind a German. When asked his name, the German replied, Hans Schmidt." When the immigration officer asked the Chinese man his name, he replied, "Sam Ting."

Jokes about the Native Americans

30 Two cowboys come upon an Indian lying on his stomach with his ear to the ground. One of the cowboys stops and says to the other, "You see that Indian?" "Yeah," says the other cowboy. "Look," says the first one, "he's listening to the ground. He can hear things for miles in any direction." Just then the Indian looks up. "Covered wagon," he says, "about two miles away. Have two horses, one brown, one white. Man, woman, child, household effects in wagon." "Incredible!" says the cowboy to his friend. "This Indian knows how far away they are, how many horses, what color they are, who is in the wagon, and what is in the wagon. Amazing!" The Indian looks up and says, "Ran over me about a half an hour ago." 31 Cold Winter The Blackfeet asked their Chief in autumn, if the winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing the answer, the chief replies that the winter was going to be cold and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared. Being a good leader, he then went to the nearest phone booth and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter to be cold?" The man on the phone responded, "This winter was going to be quite cold indeed." So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes," the man replied, "its going to be a very cold winter." So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every scrap of wood they can find. Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again and asks "Are you absolutely sure, that the winter is going to be very cold?" "Absolutely" the man replies, "the Blackfeet are collecting wood like crazy!"

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32 A Native American Indian came to New York for the first time and checked into a hotel. Tired from a long bus ride, he went right to his room. On the bed was a blanket. The Indian picked it up and walked down to the lobby. Putting the blanket on the check-in-counter, he told the clerk, "Last man in room leave overcoat!" 33 When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, they did some training on a Navajo Indian reservation. One day, a Navajo elder and his son were herding sheep and came across the space crew. The old man, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question which his son translated. "What are these guys in the big suits doing?" A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon. The old man got all excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts. Recognizing a promotional opportunity for the spin-doctors, the NASA folks found a tape recorder. After the old man recorded his message, they asked the son to translate it. He refused. So the NASA reps brought the tape to the reservation where the rest of the tribe listened and laughed but refused to translate the elder's message to the moon. Finally, the NASA crew called in an official government translator. He reported that the moon message said, "Watch out for these guys; they have come to steal your land."

APPENDIX B

Jokes about the Poles

34 - Kaip vadinamas lenkas su dviračiu? - Vagim. 35 - Kodėl nereikia padidinti greičio, kai pamatai ant kelio lenką su dviračiu? - Nes dviratis gali būt tavo 36 - Kada lenkai geria maţiausiai? - Vasarį. Nes tada maţiausiai dienų 37 Lenkas - ne tautybė, bet specialybė! 38 1 lenkas - tai demokratija... 2 lenkai - tai "Solidarnostj"... 3 lenkai - tai Šalčininkų autonomija Lietuvoje...

Jokes about the Russians 39 Ateina vyras su ţmona į Ermitaţą. Prieina prie Rafaelio paveikslo, apţiūri ir pasišaukia administratorių: - Imu šitą paveikslą. - Jūs ką, išprotėjot? Taigi čia Rafaelis, jis nei uţ jokią kainą neparduodamas! - Duosiu 1 limoną (suprask, $1,000,000). - Nu ką jūs... - 5 limonus! - Nu, neţinau, neţinau... - Gerai, 7 limonai ir baigiam, aš neturiu laiko. - Na gerai, 10 ir imkite.- nusileidţia jam muziejaus valdţia. - Suvyniokite į popierių. Pats pasisuka į ţmoną: - Na va, gimtadieniui atvirutę nupirkome, dabar vaţiuojam ieškoti dovanų... 40 Ateina naujasis rusas pas juvelyrą ir sako: – Klausyk, man reikia grandinėlės ant kaklo, nu taip kad koks kilogramas, kilogramas du šimtai aukso kad, nu taip kad būtų. Paieškojo juvelyras, rado jam tokį lenciūgą. Paţiūrėjo naujasis rusas, paţiūrėjo ir sako: – Nu taip, nu gerai šitas, tinka. Ir dar man nu, pasikabinti, kad ką nors, nu taip irgi kad kilogramas, kilogramas du šimtai, kad nu taip, kryţių kokį. 78

Paieškojo juvelyras, neranda tokio. Davė savo padėjėjui pinigų: – Eik, – sako, – pas popą, nupirk iš jo kryţių ir atitempk. Tas nupirko, atnešė. Rodo jam tą kryţių, o tas: – Nu, taip nu gerai čia toks, nu tinka, tik tą gimnastą nuimkit, nu. 41 Sėdi naujasis rusas Paryţiuje, ant Senos kranto. Šalia – naujausias mersedesas, rankoje – auksinis spiningas, valo gale – platininė blizgė. Staiga ţvejui uţkimba ir į krantą jis išvelka auksinę ţuvelę. Rusas klausia ţuvelės: - Ar tu esi tikrai auksinė? - Taip, tikrai. - Ar tu esi tikrai stebuklinga? - Taip. - Tai sakyk, ţuvele, kokius tris tavo norus išpildyti! 42 Nutarė mokesčių inspekcija patikrinti naujojo ruso pajamas, ar jis teisingai mokesčius moka. Ateina pas jį ir klausia: - Klausyk, Kolia, ar tu įstengtum "Volgą" nusipirkti? Naujasis rusas ir sako: - Nu jeigu Saška truputėlį pridėtų, dar Ţenia biškį...gal ir nusipirkčiau... Mato inspektoriai, kad nelabai yra ką tikrinti ir išeina. Jiems išeinant naujasis rusas ir galvoja: - Ir kokio velnio man ta Volga su visom jos prieplaukom ir laivais reikalinga? 43 Atvaţiuoja naujas rusas į Palangą, ateina į kavinę, galvoja, nu ką reikia čia tiems lietuviams parodyt, kaip reikia pinigus leist. Pasikviečia barmeną, numeta pluoštą pinigų,ir, toks pasikėlęs, sako atneškit man ką nors uţkąst. Barmenas paima pinigus, paskaičiuoja ir sako: Atsiprašau, mes po pusę porcijos neparduodam. 44 Vakar gėriau su Rusais tai vos nenudvėsiau. Šiandien darėm pachmielą tai jau geriau būčiau nudvėsęs vakar.

Jokes about the Jews 45 Ţydas su ţmona atėjo į turgų pirkti ţąsies. - Kėėėk kainooja? - 10 litų. - Aštoooni? Tai ji gi šešių neverta! Sara, turi keturis litus? Duok du, o tu grąţą ruošk! 46 Pagyvenęs ţydas visą gyvenimą meldėsi Dievui, norėdamas išmelsti stambų laimėjimą loterijoje. Kiekvieną dieną jis nenuilsdamas kalbėjo tokią maldą, kol pagaliau Dievui visai įkyrėjo. Eilinį kartą besimeldţiant, Dievas jam apsireiškė ir sako: -Chaimai! Na duok gi tu man bent kokį šansą! Nusipirk kada nors bent vieną loterijos bilietą! 47 Rado ţydas pinigų. Perskaičiuoja. Ţiūri - trūksta! 48 Mendelis klausia svečio: -Kėk šaukštėliu cukro dėdatė I ahrbata? -Namė vėna, svėčiosė – du. -Ui, mėlas mano, jauskėtės kaip namė 49 Sėdi Abraomas ir Moišė ant klozetų ir kalbasi. Abraomas klausia draugo: - Kaip tu galvoji, kokį darbą mes dabar atliekame? Protinį ar fizinį? - Turbūt protinį. Jei tai būtų fizinis darbas, mes būtume ką nors kitą pasamdę. 50 Ėjo vieną kartą, kai lietus lijo, ţmogus pro ţydo gryčią. Mato, kad ţydas vaikšto susitraukęs po gryčia. Ir jį klausia: - Kodėl tu stogo neuţdengi? O ţydas sako: - A, pone, kaip gi dengsi, kai lyja, o kai nelyja, tai kam dengti. 51 Ant vienos pieno produktų parduotuvės durų staiga atsirado skelbimas: "Šiandien ţydams grietinė nebus parduodama. Direktorius". Susirinkę prie parduotuvės pasipiktinę ţydai išrinko delegaciją, kuri, įsibrovusi į direktoriaus

79 kabinetą ėmė šaukti:"Diskriminacija, konstitucijos paţeidimas." Direktorius neskubėdamas padėjo ant stalo laikraštį ir ţydiškai paklausė: - Ko jūs čia triukšmaujate? Ar jūs tą grietinę ragavote?

Jokes about the Gypsies 52 Čigonas savo sūnui: Ką čia prašinėji, kad nupirkčiau tau batus. Esi jau nemaţas ir gali pats pasivogti . 53 Tėvas čigonas prašo savo sūnaus: - Nubėk cigarečių. - Duok pinigus. - Uţ pinigus kiekvienas durnius gali! Sūnus tylėdamas išeina, o grįţęs numeta tėvui pakelį cigarečių. Šis atidaro - tuščia. - Bet juk pakelis tuščias. - O pilną surūkyti kiekvienas durnius gali! 54 Šachmatų olimpiadoje buvo diskvalifikuota čigonų komanda - arklius vogė... 55 Čigonas sėdi ant suoliuko, mato savo vaikus ţaidţiant. O jie tokie jau baisūs, tokie purvini, gal metus neprausti. Ir mąsto čigonas: -Neţinau, ar šituos nuprausti, ar naujų padaryti 56 Čigonas nuėjęs pas daktarą sako: "Daktare mane visą kaţkodėl nieţti". Tas apţiūrėjo ir klausia: "O praustis kada nors mėginote?" Čigonas: "Bandţiau, bet po mėnesio vėl tas pats". 57 Rytas čigonų tabore. Kas pirmas atsikelia, tas graţiausiai apsiren

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