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Source: http://www.doksinet Humor and Politics Man is a "political animal" Aristotle tells us, (and woman as well, we should add, though Aristotle doesnt seem to have thought so). Politics is generally held to involve the exercise of power, the operations of government and the state, though, of course, elites outside of the government often have a great deal of influence, if they dont actually hold political power. And politics (along with sex, and often together with sex) is one of the subjects most often joked about, most often made the subject of humor. We find political humor in all media and genres: cartoons, comic strips, jokes, graffiti, plays, stories, novels, and films. Why Political Humor is Popular Alan Dundes has suggested that in America, where there is political freedom, you find a tendency to joke about sex (in America we do this for a Source: http://www.doksinet variety of reasons, such as the influence of the Puritans on our culture and the sense of

guilt they generated about sex) but where you have authoritarian political regimes, such as the ones that used to exist in Eastern Europe, it is politics that becomes the dominant subject for humor. The theory is, you create humor to deal with matters that are troubling you; we in the United States are troubled by sex, while the people in Eastern Europe (until the fall of Communism, that is) were troubled by harsh and oppressive political regimes. People fight repression--sexual and political--with humor, though humor can also be used to control people, I should add. M.M Bakhtin has argued, in The Dialogic Imagination (University of Texas Press, 1981) that humor is a counterforce to power. He writes: (1981, 23) It is precisely laughter that destroys the epic, and in general destroys any hierarchical (distancing and valorized) distance. As a distanced image a subject cannot be comical; to be made comical, it must be brought close. Everything that makes us laugh is close at hand, all

comical creativity works in a zone of maximal proximity. It is humor that enables us to see politicians for what they are--human beings, with the same problems we all face, the same strange fixations, the same desires. Humor strips away illusion and awe, brings politicians close and prevents magnification by spectacle. It familiarizes political figures and, in doing so, enables people to judge them more realistically. dictators, when they take power, kill the comedians. That is why Source: http://www.doksinet In the United States, our egalitarian value system probably is at the heart of our political comedy; we dislike and generally do not accept authority as valid. But our humorists have been helped a great deal by some of the people who occupy or have occupied positions of political prominence. Consider former president Gerald Ford, who always seemed to be bumping his head on airplanes and about whom it was said, "he cant chew gum and walk at the same time." Ford is

famous for saying "If Lincoln were alive today, hed be turning over in his grave." His place, as a fool or klutz figure, has been taken by Vice-President Dan Quayle, who has a genius for making errors (as in his famous fiasco at a spelling bee, where he spelled potato incorrectly) and stupid statements and has been turned by our comedians into a kind of national object of ridicule. There is, in fact, a book of Quayle jokes and even a journal devoted to his exploits (and to ridiculing him) the Quayle Quarterly. Some typical Quayle jokes are: Quayle thinks Roe versus Wade are two ways of crossing the Potomac River in Washington. Question: What were the two worst years Dan Quayle had? Answer: The two years he spent in the fourth grade. There are also a lot of generic insult jokes about his alleged stupidity: Quayle doesnt have enough buckwheat in his pancakes. Quayles elevator doesnt go to the top floor. Source: http://www.doksinet Quayles a few logs shy of a cord. Quayle

doesnt have enough mercury in his thermometer. All of these jokes deal with deficiencies and allude to Quayles supposed lack of intelligence. Most of these are not technically jokes--that is stories with punch lines--but they are considered humorous remarks, funny insults and classified as "non-serious" and thus, in the popular mind, at least, as jokes. I will be using the term "joke" in the broadest sense of the term here--as something humorous. Jokes About Eastern European and Russian Governments In Cracking Jokes, Alan Dundes points out that folklore is a very useful means of getting at what people really believe about a political regime. He writes: There is one source of information about popular attitudes toward politics in Iron Curtain countries, which may be considered more or less unimpeachable: folklore. Folklore, which is passed on primarily by word of mouth, from person to person offers little opportunity for official censorship to be exercised.

(1987, 159-160) He then lists and explains a number of jokes he collected in Rumania in 1969. One important theme in these jokes is you should know who youre speaking to before you say anything that could get you in trouble. Many of the Source: http://www.doksinet Rumanian jokes poke fun at the slow pace of life and work ("Our country pretends to pay us and we pretend to work"), at the inefficiencies of socialism, and at the Russians. One of the classic joke cycles in Eastern Europe is about Radio Erevan, a station in Soviet Armenia. People ask questions of Radio Erevan and it offers answers. Here are some classic Erevan jokes Question to Radio Erevan: Can socialism be established in the Sahara? Answer from Radio Erevan: Yes, socialism can be introduced into the Sahara. But after the first five-year plan, the Sahara will have to import sand. Question to Radio Erevan: Does the Mafia exist only in Italy? Answer from Radio Erevan: No, we have the Mafia in Russia, except

here it is called the government. The Sahara joke pokes fun at the way Socialist five year plans always turn out to be disasters and the Mafia joke is a revealing glimpse of what the people really think of the Communist governments. One of the classic Eastern European jokes involves a riddle. Question: What is the difference between Capitalism and Communism? Answer: In capitalism man exploits man, but in Communism it is just the reverse. Source: http://www.doksinet In this joke, the humor of reversal is at work: both Capitalism and Communism are, it turns out, the same--based on exploitation and Communisms claim of being superior, from a moral point of view, is ridiculed. After the demise of the various governments in Eastern Europe, it was revealed that these governments were corrupt and were run by cynical opportunists and paranoids who exploited the general public cruelly. Let me conclude this discussion of Eastern-European jokes with one that reflects the ironic situation in

which these countries found themselves. At a Communist Party Congress it is announced that Communism has triumphed all over the world. Even the United States has elected a Communist as President. The delegates dance in the aisles, cheering like mad, except for an old man, who sits in the corner with a glum expression on his face. “Comrade,” asks a delegate “Why are you not happy?” “Because,” " says the old man, “I wonder where we are going to buy our wheat next year.” This joke deals with the reality behind the five-year plans and glorious statistics always announced by the East European governments. Without America, and other Capitalist nations, the joke tells us, Eastern European Communists countries would starve. Earl Butzs Ethnic Joke In 1974, Earl Butz, who was the Secretary of Agriculture, told a joke that almost led to him being removed from office. When politicians tell ethnic jokes, they court disaster and often end up being destroyed, politically.

Source: http://www.doksinet Butz told a joke "off the record" to a number of reporters at a private breakfast in New York. The joke involves a response to a statement by the Pope Paul VI about world hunger. After the Popes statement, the joke, which is not very funny at all, goes as follows: After the Popes remarks, an Italian woman is overheard saying "He no playa the game, he no make-a the rules." This "joke" caused a furor. Catholics and Italian-Americans were outraged Butz was called to the White House where he got a severe reprimand and was forced to issue an apology. Ethnic humor is no longer considered acceptable in America, especially when it is told by public officials. We can see that even twenty years ago it was considered distasteful. It is still found in folklore, but it has been pretty well banished from the airwaves and media. Ronald Reagans Bombing Russia Joke In 1984, President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio

broadcast and, according to CBS, said the following, presumably while he was testing his microphone: My fellow Americans, I am pleased to announce I just signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes Source: http://www.doksinet He was just joking and probably never thought his words would be recorded, but discovered that the rest of the world didnt consider this "joke" humorous at all. The Polish News Agency PAP commented that Reagan had called the Polish leadership "a bunch of no good lousy bums" a couple of years earlier, while testing his microphone. The agency said that while Reagan didnt say these words formally, he knew they would be spread by news agencies. The Standard, a London paper called the joke "a serious embarrassment and Le Monde suggested psychologists would have to decide whether the statement was "an expression of a repressed desire or the exorcism of a dreaded phantom." Members of the

British Labor Party described Reagans remarks as "sick humor." The point, then, is that it is dangerous for politicians to joke around and very dangerous when that politician is president of the United States. George Bush Makes a Joke that Causes Trouble Politicians face danger when they try to be funny. Consider a problem that George Bush had when he was campaigning for the 1988 Presidential nomination. After a meeting with NATO diplomats, Bush learned that a recent Soviet military exercise had been carried out without any mechanical breakdowns. He then said, thinking he was being amusing: "Hey, when those mechanics who keep those tanks running run out of work in the Soviet Union, send them to Detroit, because we could use that kind of ability." Source: http://www.doksinet This occasioned a huge uproar in Michigan and officials of the United Autoworkers Union said they were outraged and demanded that Bush apologize. Bush apologized saying "Hey, give

me a break I didnt mean anything by it." He later admitted he wished he had never said it "I thought I was trying to be funny," he said, "and obviously it didnt work very well." Sometimes, of course, politicians are funny and make very witty comments, as when Adlai Stevenson campaigned in St. Paul, Minnesota "I find St. Paul appealing, he said, "But I find Peale (Norman Vincent Peale, a religious leader) appalling." One of the classic witty comments made by a politician was made by Churchill. A woman sitting next to him was exasperated by his chatter and didnt like his politics. "If you were my husband," she said, "Id put poison in your coffee." "Madame," Churchill replied "If I were your husband, Id drink it." Humor and Political Cultures: Four Ways of Laughing Aaron Wildavsky has suggested that in democratic societies you find four political cultures. He explains how these cultures arise in an essay

"Conditions for Pluralist Democracy Or: Cultural Pluralism Means More than One Political Culture in a Country." (Mimeographed, May 1982) He writes: What matters to people is how they should live with other people. The great questions of social life are "Who am I?" (to what group do I belong) and "What should I do?" (Are there many or few prescriptions I am expected to Source: http://www.doksinet obey?) Groups are strong or weak according to whether they have boundaries separating them from others. Decisions are taken either for the group as a whole (strong boundaries) or for individuals or families (weak boundaries). Prescriptions are few or many indicating that the individual internalizes a large or a small number of behavioral norms to which he or she is bound. (1982, 7) Drawing upon the work of Mary Douglas, with whom Wildavsky has collaborated, he combines boundaries and prescriptions and comes us with four political cultures: 1. Fatalists:

Weak Boundaries, Many Prescriptions 2. Competitive Individualists: Weak Boundaries, Few Prescriptions 3. Hierarchical Elitists: Strong Boundaries, Many Prescriptions 4. Egalitarians: Strong Boundaries, Few Prescriptions Each of these political cultures has certain attributes that Wildavsky spells out in this paper and in a number of his other works. For example, Elitists believe in stratification, but have a sense of noblesse oblige for those below them. Competitive individualists believe in the market and take risks, stressing the importance of personal initiative for personal gain. The Egalitarians stress that people are equal in terms of their needs and continually criticize both the elitists and the individualists for not doing enough for the fatalists, who have more or less opted out of the economic system and believe that luck is the determining factor in life. (This Source: http://www.doksinet description is highly reductionistic, I might point out. For a

fuller elaboration of Wildavskys views, see his essay "Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A Cultural Theory of Preference Formation," reprinted in A. Berger, ed., Political Culture and Public Opinion, Transaction Publishers, 1989.) Communication theory tells us that groups tend to seek out material (television shows, plays, films, and we can add humorous material) that reinforces their view of things and supports and validates their belief system. And they tend to avoid material that would cause dissonance and attack or cause them to question their beliefs. The situation is complicated, because people in a given political culture sometimes change, for a variety of reasons, so there is movement and in these cases, people in one political culture might seek out (not necessarily consciously) material that would justify their moving to a different political culture. Sometimes, of course, they find themselves being moved, for example, by economic forces that

might push a competitive individualist, for example, into a fatalist political culture. Let us assume, for simplicitys sake, that we have our four political cultures and that everyone (in America or wherever) belongs to one of them. Individualists, Elitists, Egalitarians and Fatalists, according to communication theory, would be seeking out or responding most favorably to jokes and other humor that justify their position and avoiding humor that attacks or questions it. Thus jokes, it could be argued, always have a political dimension to them even though they may not deal with politics, per se. That is, the subject Source: http://www.doksinet may not be political but the value system or attitudes expressed in the joke would, in principle, connect with or reinforce the beliefs of one of our four political cultures and not do so for the other three political cultures. If a joke deflates authority, it would be egalitarian; if it pokes fun at "lower elements" it would be

elitist; if it ridicules egalitarians (Marxists, socialists, social workers, Communists, do-gooders, etc.), it would be elitist; and if it shows that society is irrational and based on chance and luck, it would be fatalist. People of all political persuasions might laugh at a joke because they get (at the unconscious level, so the Freudians argue) a guilt-free expression of aggression. Or they find an incongruity, as the incongruity theorists ague But the joke would most fully resonate, so the theory described goes, with only one group of people--those whose political culture it supports or is congruous with. And it would disturb another group of people, those who are members of a political culture that is opposed to the political culture supported by the joke. All of this, of course, occurs at the unconscious level, for the most part. People, as a rule, do not consciously put up filters through which they "strain" jokes and humor--though in some cases, as in the case

cultures that honor and revere mothers-in-law, people do not find mother-in-law jokes funny. That, at least was my experience a number of years ago when I participated in a course on humor that had students from many countries. A Japanese student told me "we dont find mother-in-law jokes funny." He also didnt find any of the cartoons in an issue of The New Yorker I showed him funny, which shows the degree to which culture and allusions shape our sense of humor. It doesnt always work that way, however. Some Catholic Source: http://www.doksinet comedians make a career of poking fun of the Catholic Church, but it is generally deemed acceptable for members of some group to ridicule members of their own group. It is also possible, I might add, that since jokes are often rather complex, with a number of different humorous techniques going on, people from different political cultures might find different parts of a given joke humorous. And what applies to jokes also applies, of

course, to all forms of humor. What follows are four examples of humor, each of which would appeal primarily, I would suggest, to one of the four political cultures. These jokes, remember, need not be about politics and politicians, though jokes about them would have a more direct and obvious relation to one of the four political cultures. A joke that appeals to a member of one political culture could make fun of any of the other three political cultures. Elitist Humor In Russia, they tell ethnic jokes about a minority people in the far north, the Chukchi people who are similar to Eskimos, that are analogous to the Polish jokes told in America. A Chukchi goes to a store to buy a television set. The clerk tells him that color sets are available. "Fine," says the Chukchi, "Ill have a yellow one" Source: http://www.doksinet This joke ridicules the intelligence of the Chukchi man, who mistakes what the clerk says and thinks "color" television applies to

the color of the sets. This joke and Polish jokes like it, which ridicule a group for being stupid, has an elitist cast to it. The Chukchi are supposedly dumb and when we laugh at them for being so, it is from a position "above" them, so to speak. I might add the some theorists argue that all humor is based on feelings of superiority, and Hobbes, one of the greatest political theorists, argued in The Leviathan: The passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from a sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly. According to Hobbes theory, all humor is based on superiority and the feeling of "sudden glory" we get when something happens that enables us to elevate ourselves above others, or the way we once were. Egalitarian Humor Jokes told by egalitarians would poke fun at elites or competitive individualists, both of whom are criticized by egalitarians. Thus, jokes about

powerful business or political figures, jokes about aristocrats, jokes about movie stars and celebrities, and jokes about entrepreneurial types would all be examples of egalitarian humor. This joke has been told about Reagan and also about Justice OConnor and the members of the Supreme Court. Source: http://www.doksinet President Reagan and Nancy go to a restaurant for lunch. The waiter asks Nancy Reagan for her order first. "Ill have grilled salmon and a cup of coffee," she says. "What about the vegetable?" asks the waiter "Hell have the same thing." This joke alludes to Reagans age and supposed lack of vitality--he used to fall asleep at Cabinet meetings and was famous for taking naps and not putting in much of a day at the White House. Individualist Humor Jokes appealing to competitive individualists would poke fun at elitists, egalitarians or fatalists or would support the values of the individualists at the expense of others. Two businessmen

were attending a meeting at a mountain resort and were roommates in the same cabin. One evening they heard some scratching outside the door. One went over to look, came back, and started putting on his running shoes. "Whats going on?" asks his roommate "Theres a giant bear outside, who looks so hungry that hes going to smash his way into this cabin." "Well," says the other man, "why put on sneakers? You cant outrun a bear." "Thats true," says the man, "but all I need to do is outrun you" Here we see the values of competitive individualism highlighted and reinforced; the first man can run faster than his roommate and so, logic tells Source: http://www.doksinet us, will escape the bear. You dont have to be able to outrun a bear as long as you have someone else that you can outrun when being chased by a bear. The following joke pokes fun at elites (military, in this case) and is based on the technique of allusion: A

Washington hot dog vendor comes home one evening with more than a thousand dollars. "How did you earn that much money?" asks his wife "Selling hot dogs for a hundred times their regular price," says the vendor. "Whod be crazy enough to pay that much money?" responds his wife. "Lots of people," says the vendor. They all work at the Pentagon" This joke alludes to the infamous procurement practices of the Pentagon, which involved paying thousands of dollars for certain tools that were obtainable for just a few dollars at hardware stores. The hero is a small time entrepreneur who takes advantage of elites at the Pentagon, who are, so the joke suggests, used to paying fifty or a hundred times what anything is worth. Fatalist Humor Fatalist humor would involve jokes that show how important luck or chance is in the scheme of things, or which ridicule elites, individualists and egalitarians by showing that they are foolish or have their status

due to connections, accidents of birth and things like that. Source: http://www.doksinet A social worker sees a bum and tries to convince him to go to work. "Why should I work?" asks the bum. "To make some money," replies the social worker. "What will I do with the money?" asks the bum "You will become independent and when you make enough money, you wont have to work any more." "But I dont work now," said the bum Here the person at the bottom of the ladder triumphs. What sense does it make going to work so you can have leisure time when you already have leisure time, as a bum? Of course you dont have money and cant buy things and have a luxurious leisure time, but the joke avoids these matters by focusing strictly on the matter of free time. A Radical Hypothesis about the Origin of the Political Joke Gregor Benton, an anthropologist, has written an essay, "The Origins of the Political Joke" that appears in Humour and

Society: Resistance and Control, edited by Chris Powell and George Paton. Benton argues that political jokes "are a powerful transmitter of the popular mood in societies where this mood can find no officially sanctioned outlet." (Powell, 1988, 33) In bourgeois democracies these jokes tend to be bloodless, he suggests, since people have the vote and dont need political humor to ease tensions. But these jokes, which are "the chief form of orally-transmitted folk wisdom today" (1988, 35) flourish in dictatorships. The jokes are a response to the tensions of living in total societies, since dictators seek to control every aspect of life in the societies where they are in power. Benton quotes George Source: http://www.doksinet Orwell who wrote that "every joke is a tiny revolution" and that "you cannot be memorably funny without at some point raising topics which the rich, the powerful and the complacent would prefer to see left alone." (1988,

40) He then discusses Jewish jokes and suggests that "discrimination and persecution, and how to cope with them, are the subject of innumerable traditional Jewish jokes," which, he adds, take on a number of different forms. What is important is that these forms are also found in the typical political joke so the Jewish joke stands as a kind of prototype of the political joke. Benton writes: Three main sorts of discrimination feature in the political joke: discrimination by a minority, the Party, against the non-Party majority; discrimination by majorities against minorities (e.g Russians against Uzbeks or Czechs against Slovaks); and discrimination by a strong nation (the Soviet Union) against weaker ones (Eastern Europe and China). In the last two categories, both victims and victimizers put their feelings into joke form. This results in two different sorts of joke corresponding to judische Witze (jokes told by Jews) and Judenwitze (jokes told about Jews). (1988, 44) This

suggests that there is a connection between the Jewish joke and political jokes and Benton offers a number of Jewish jokes and political jokes that show how strong the relationship is. He offers one political joke that is a modification of one from the ghettos. Source: http://www.doksinet An advert in a Bucharest newspaper: "Swap high level of ideological training for geographically favourable location." (The original Jewish joke was: "Swap several centuries of history for a little geography." More recently the East Germans have taken it over. "Swap comfortable four-room flat for small hole in the wall.") He also points out that in Radio Erevan jokes, the questions are traditionally asked with a Jewish accent and answered with an Armenian one. His conclusion is that the political joke has the same function that the Jewish joke had--it helps relieve people of tension and helps keep them stable. It cushions the blows and creates "sweet illusions

of revenge," but its impact is only as long as the laugh it produces. More than jokes--namely organized opposition--are needed to deal with political problems and dictatorial states. I would agree, but I think political humor (especially jokes, which spread like wildfire) does play a role in mobilizing public sentiment and, by diminishing those in power and making them subject of laughter, facilitates resistance and even political revolution. The regimes in Eastern Europe, which seemed so strong, turned out to be hollow vessels that were knocked over with incredible ease. I would argue that the humor in Eastern Europe helped set the stage for the revolutions that followed, once it was clear that Russia had changed and that the regimes in Eastern Europe would not be kept in place by Russian tanks and soldiers. Humor may not seem to have much political impact, but I would argue that it is often a subversive force of considerable significance. It is used as a means of resistance by

those living under authoritarian regimes and, at the same time, unites people against the governing power structure and gives Source: http://www.doksinet them a common sense of identity. It also destroys their sense of obligation to the regime that is controlling them, so that when an opportunity comes to overthrow the regime, there will be a common desire to do so. Politicians in democratic societies sometimes tell jokes that cause them great problems; they cannot seem to resist the temptation to become standup comedians, for some reason. Or politicians become (as in the case of Quayle) the subject of comedians jokes in the talk shows, which is generally an indicator that they are at or near the end of their careers. Finally, let me make a distinction between political humor, which is humor that deals with politicians and parties and ideological matters and humor that appeals most directly to one of the four dominant political cultures in America. In certain respects, then, we

can argue that all humor has a political dimension to it. References: Bakhtin, M.M The Dialogic Imagination Michael Holquist, ed Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. 1981 Dundes, Alan. Cracking Jokes: Studies of Sick Humor Cycles and Stereotypes. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press 1987 Powell, Chris and George E.C Paton, eds, Humour in Society: Resistance and Control. New York: St Martins Press, 1988 Wildavsky, Aaron. Conditions for Pluralist Democracy or Cultural Pluralism Means More Than One Political Culture in a Country. Source: http://www.doksinet Mimeographed Monograph. Political Science Department and Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley. May, 1982