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Joking relationship
Topic: Social
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In anthropology, a joking relationship is a relationship between two people that involves a ritualised banter of teasing or mocking.
In Niger it is listed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.[1]
Structure
Analysed by British social anthropologist Alfred Radcliffe-Brown in 1940,[2] it describes a kind of ritualised banter that takes place, for example between a man and his maternal mother-in-law in some South African indigenous societies. Two main variations are described: an asymmetrical relationship where one party is required to take no offence at constant teasing or mocking by the other, and a symmetrical relationship where each party makes fun at the other's expense. The joking relationship is an interaction that mediates and stabilizes social relationships where there is tension, competition, or potential conflict, such as between in-laws and between clans and tribes.[3]
Joking relationships can also exist between nations. Writing on the joking relationships between the Scandinavian countries, sociologist Peter Gundelach states, "Joking relationships are social relations where citizens of two nations tease one another by employing stereotypes. Therefore a joking relationship can only be established between nations that are somehow related to each other."[4]
Extent
Joking relationships existed among the Tio people (in Republic of Congo) between members of the opposite sex and same generation, and between grandmothers and grandchildren.[5]: 57–8
Antithesis
See also
- Dozens (game)
- Ethnic joke
Sources
- ↑ "UNESCO - Practices and expressions of joking relationships in Niger" (in en). https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/practices-and-expressions-of-joking-relationships-in-niger-01009?RL=01009.
- ↑ Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (July 1940). "On Joking Relationships". Journal of the International African Institute 13 (3): 195–210. doi:10.2307/1156093.
- ↑ Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred (1952). Structure and Function in Primitive Society. London: Cohen & West: New York Free Press of Glencoe. pp. 95. ISBN 0710019866. https://archive.org/details/structurefunctio0000unse_l3f6/page/95.
- ↑ Gundelach, Peter (2000). "Joking Relationships and National Identity in Scandinavia". Acta Sociologica 43 (2): 113–122. doi:10.1177/000169930004300202. ISSN 0001-6993. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4201193.
- ↑ Vansina, Jan (1973). "Kinship". The Tio kingdom of the Middle Congo, 1880-1892. Internet Archive. London, New York, Oxford University Press for the International African Institute. ISBN 978-0-19-724189-9. http://archive.org/details/tiokingdomofmidd0000vans.
Further reading
- ""Joking Relationships" Can End Serious Conflicts, DePauw Political Science Professor to Tell International Political Science Colloquium in France". College News. October 4, 2005. http://collegenews.org/news/2005/joking-relationships-can-end-serious-conflicts-depauw-political-science-professor-to-tell-international-political-science-colloquium-in-france.html.
- Drucker-Brown, Susan (December 1982). "Joking at Death: The Mamprusi Grandparent-Grandchild Joking Relationship". Man 17 (4): 714–727. doi:10.2307/2802042.
External links
- Alfred Radcliffe-Brown Biography from Answers.com
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