SV: Arguing techniques

[Klaus Karttunen]

L.M. Fosse wrote
>As a matter of curiosity, I wonder if there is such a thing as, say,
>Bengali/Punjabi/Tamil etc jokes in India and if the point concerns a
>supposed characteristic of the targeted ethnic group. The Belgian jokes
>mentioned here are really the same jokes that Norwegians tell about Swedes
>and Swedes about Norwegians, the point being the supposed slow-wittedness
>of the members of the other ethnic group. (E.g.: Heard about the Swede who
>wanted to write "Happy Birthday" on a birthday cake and spent two hours
>trying to get it through his typewriter?)  In Norway and Sweden, we also
>have Finnish jokes, where the point usually is the supposed stamina,
>vodka-guzzling ability and general toughness and virility of the Finns.
>Scottish jokes (stinginess) should be know to all on the list. So how about
>India?

I remember an afternoon spent in a cafe during the Sanskrit Conference in
Leiden (1987). The company included one Sikh and one half-Bengali and I was
able to hear a number of Sikh and Bengali jokes. The habit of making jokes
about neighbours seems to be rather universal and the stereotypic ideas
supported by these jokes have often very little to do with the reality. I
do not like much the Norwegian jokes about Finns I have heard (they tell
such in Estonia, too), but certainly the Finnish jokes about the Swedes or
Russians are not better.

Regards

Klaus


Klaus Karttunen
Institute for Asian and African Studies
Box 59, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
tel. +358-9-191-22224, fax. +358-9-191-22094