In
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
, a joking relationship is a relationship between two people that involves a
ritual
A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
ised banter of teasing or mocking.
In Niger it is listed on the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Structure
Analysed by British social anthropologist
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown in 1940,
it describes a kind of
ritual
A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
ised 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.
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."
Extent
While first documented academically by Radcliffe-Brown in the 1920s, this type of relationship is now understood to be very widespread across societies in general. In West Africa, particularly in
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, it is regarded as a centuries-old cultural institution known as ''
sanankuya''.
Antithesis
This type of relationship contrasts strongly with societies where so-called
avoidance speech or "mother-in-law" language is imposed to minimise interaction between the two parties, as in many
Australian Aboriginal languages
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
.
Donald F. Thomson's article "The Joking Relationship and Organized Obscenity in North Queensland" gives an in-depth discussion of a number of societies where these two speech styles co-exist.
['' American Anthropologist'', 37:3(1) pp. 460–490, 1935] The joking relationships which are most unconstrained and free are between classificatory Father's Father and Son's Son—which appears to be the same situation in the
Plains cultures of North America.
See also
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Dozens (game)
*
Ethnic joke
Sources
Further reading
*
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{{refend
External links
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown Biographyfrom
Answers.com
Interpersonal relationships
Social anthropology