Folklore Electronic Journal of Folklore http://www.folklore.ee/folklore Printed version Vol. 50 2012 Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum Estonian Institute of Folklore Folklore Electronic Journal of Folklore Vol. 50 Edited by Mare Kõiva & Andres Kuperjanov Guest editor: Anneli Baran Tartu 2012 Editor in chief Mare Kõiva Co-editor Andres Kuperjanov Guest editor Anneli Baran Copy editor Tiina Mällo Language editor Gordon Allan Leman Design Andres Kuperjanov Layout Diana Kahre Editorial board 2008–2014: Dan Ben-Amos (University of Pennsylvania, USA), Larisa Fialkova (University of Haifa, Israel), Diane Goldstein (Me- morial University of Newfoundland, Canada), Terry Gunnell (University of Iceland), Jawaharlal Handoo (University of Mysore, India), Frank Korom (Boston University, USA), Monika Kropej (Institute of Slovenian Ethnol- ogy), Kristin Kuutma (University of Tartu, Estonia), Aado Lintrop (Estonian Literary Museum), Wolfgang Mieder (University of Vermont, USA), Irina Sedakova (Russian Academy of Sciences). Electronic version is supported by Estonian Science Foundation (grant no. 8137). Printed version is supported by state programme projects EKKM09-168 and EKKM09-170. Indexed in EBSCO Publishing Humanities International Complete, Thomson Reuters Arts & Humanities Citation Index, MLA International Bibliography, Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, Internationale Volkskundliche Bibliogra- phie / International Folklore Bibliography / Bibliographie Internationale d’Ethnologie), DOAJ, C.E.E.O.L., ERIH (B) Editorial address: Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore Vanemuise 42–235 51003 Tartu Estonia phone: +372 737 7740 fax: +372 737 7706 e-mail: [email protected] home page: http://www.folklore.ee/folklore All rights reserved © Folk Belief and Media Group of the Estonian Literary Museum EKM Teaduskirjastus/ELM Scholarly Press Estonian Institute of Folklore Authors Design Andres Kuperjanov ISSN 1406-0957 www.folklore.ee/folklore CONTENTS Foreword 7 Anneli Baran Identity and Stereotypes: Humor Manifestations 9 Rita Repšienė, Laima Anglickienė “You’ve Lived in X Too Long, When...”: A View of the World 29 through Comic Lists (Expatriates’ Humour on Ru.net) Maria Yelenevskaya The Popular Nobel Prize Award Banquet: Distanced 49 Participation of an Interacting TV-Audience Marlene Hugoson Humour Theories and the Archetype of the Trickster in Folklore: 63 An Analytical Psychology Point of View Ana Stefanova Ethnic Humour: What do Portuguese People Laugh at? 87 Pedro Martins The Joke Cycle Island of Cannibals: Structure, Functions, 99 Messages Grigor Haralampiev Grigorov DISCUSSION Visual Jokes about Christmas and Santa Claus on the Internet - 113 Why and Why not? Guntis Pakalns Folklore Introduces: Ingrid Slavec Gradišnik 135 Folklore 50 5 NEWS IN BRIEF All-Estonian Competition for Nursery School Lore Collection. Piret Voolaid 147 International Conference Tradition and Cultural Heritage: Challenges for 150 Creativity and Performance. Ingrid Slavec Gradišnik MEDICA VIII. Interdisciplinary Conference Medical Pluralism in the Era of 154 Digimodernism. Ave Tupits International Conference on Charms, Charmers and Charming. 156 Ekaterina Kuznetsova, Andrei Toporkov Rituals and Customs as Cultural Heritage through the Eyes of Researchers 162 and Performers. Irina Sedakova, Svetlana Sidneva Estonian Folklorists’ 7th Winter Conference. Mare Kalda 167 Thesis Defence: Andreas Kalkun. Seto Singing Culture in the Studies of 171 Estonian Folklore: A Supplement to the History of Representation. Thomas A. DuBois BOOK REVIEW Profound Insight into the American World of Spirits and Ghosts. Reet Hiiemäe 176 www.folklore.ee/folklore FOREWORD In the autumn of 2009 an international conference under the heading “From Language to Mind 3” took place at the Estonian Literary Museum to celebrate the 70th jubilee of Academician Arvo Krikmann, senior researcher of the Depart- ment of Folkloristics. The articles in this special issue of Folklore are based on the papers delivered at this conference. In all, 45 presenters from 14 countries participated. The core research fields of the interdisciplinary conference were the ones that A. Krikmann has been delving into during decades of research: the short forms of folklore – proverbs, riddles, phraseological expressions, folk songs, and folk humour (anecdotes and jokes). Some of the articles written on the basis of these presentations – 8 altogether – were included in Folklore 46. The current issue comprises a selection of presentations on humour. As a common feature, several of these articles focus on humour and eth- nic stereotypes. Also, the empirical material in the majority of these papers originates in the most significant source of modern folklore – the Internet. The articles in the collection will definitely contribute to the heated discussions about contemporary humour research. Laima Anglickienė (Department of Ethnology and Folklore, Faculty of Hu- manities, Vytautas Magnus University) and Rita Repšienė (Department of Modern Lithuanian Culture, Lithuanian Culture Research Institute) explore the coexistence of stereotypes and humour on the Internet and disclose this phe- nomenon through ethnonyms and anecdotes directed at the nearest neighbours. Maria Yelenevskaya (Department of Humanities and Arts, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology) speaks about the stereotypical ideas of the so-called others on the Internet, focussing her attention, above all, upon the creation spread among the Russian diaspora. Pedro Martins (University of Siena) dwells upon ethnic humour and tries to elicit the peculiarities of Portuguese humour. Ana Stefanova (Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethno- graphic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) dwells upon the trickster- image popular in the folklore of different peoples. Proceeding from the psy- chological point of view, the author is trying to unfold the relations between humour and the universality of the archetype of the trickster. Marlene Hugoson (Institute for Language and Folklore in Uppsala, Sweden) takes a look at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies, yet, from a very different Folklore 50 7 angle; namely, she discusses the different forms of humour in people’s under- standings of this extremely traditional event. Grigor Haralampiev Grigorov (Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) scrutinises self- reflexive forms of humour on the basis of a concrete joke cycle. Guntis Pakalns (Archives of Latvian Folklore, Institute of Literature, Folk- lore and Art, University of Latvia) discusses the visual depiction of Santa Clause on Internet sites. He is also trying to find an answer to the question why people do it through humour. The conference “From Language to Mind 3” was organised as a joint effort of the Estonian Literary Museum, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Estonia, and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Anneli Baran www.folklore.ee/folklore IDENTITY AND STEREOTYPES: HUMOR MANIFESTATIONS Rita Repšienė, Laima Anglickienė Abstract: The traditional understanding of humor as being tolerant, full of non- aggressive life curiosities, funny situations, mocking national or human vices, and related to an optimistic and contemplative attitude towards reality, has changed its main supportive points: the optimistic view of reality has been altered into a pessimistic and destructive one, forbearing ridicule has turned into severe offence, strangeness into stupidity, funny situations into futile misunderstanding. Eve- rything is regarded as a dramatic possibility to survive or an endless situational tragedy where the most strict evaluation criteria, censorship, and dogmatism are empowered, meaning that, in the current times of widely propagated tolerance and overwhelming comprehension, it is extremely dangerous to offend somebody with an innocent joke or light mockery, to evoke an urge to contradict or negate when ideological aspirations are beyond “decency” limits. One of the most advocated rules in the Lithuanian press is: “Joke carefully with foreign nationals” from an interview with Barry Tomelin, London “International house” consultant and teaching director, the author of the book “World’s Business Cultures: And How to Unlock Them” (with Michael Nicks)1. Identity is to be saved and nourished as the highest sanctity but its formation, meaningfulness and spread are not always attuned to the official approach. Our life is full of stereotypes and our neighboring countries are not to be ex- cluded – we have a preconceived notion of them. Using the national stereotype term we characterize relatively stable generalized opinions, in an open or hidden form, containing one or another assessment of a nation. Our attitude towards neighbors is revealed in nicknames given to them – non-official ethnonyms usually bearing a negative connotation. Some monikers have already lasted for centuries while others have been coined during the last decades. Anecdotes with the most popular foreign-born Russians and Estonians are discussed. Key words: folklore, humor, identity, nicknames, stereotype http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol50/identity.pdf Rita Repšienė, Laima Anglickienė It should perhaps be mentioned at the outset that the concept of national character is itself somewhat suspect. Is there in fact such a thing as national character? Or is it simply a figment of individual imaginations? Alan Dundes EUROPEAN EVERYDAY LIFE OR RECONCILIATION (CONFORMATION) POLICY The installation, by the Czech artist