Ethnic Groups, Social Identities: Jokes about Georgians and Tajiks

Abstract

This paper focuses on one of the most vigorous manifestations of verbal humour in Russian language nowadays: ethnic jokes. It presents a comparative analysis of jokes whose main character is either a Georgian or a Tajik. Georgians became protagonists of ethnic jokes in the 50’s and today are still leading figures. As a hero of ethnic humour in Russian, his image is highly stereotyped in the humorous discourse, presenting a well-known set of linguistic, cultural and behavioural traits. The humorous effect in jokes about Georgians is based on these traits, perceived by the joke-tellers as different from theirs, as belonging to the Other. In the ethnic humorous tradition in Russian language, Tajiks have not been standard characters. Nevertheless, in the last few years Tajiks became protagonists of a considerable amount of ethnic jokes. The difference between jokes about Georgians and those about Tajiks is remarkable: Georgians act as representatives of an ethnic group, whereas Tajiks represent a social group, the migrant workers of several nationalities, who can now be found in major Russian cities. It is thus generated a humorous discourse on immigration which shares many similarities with the media discourse on immigration not only in Russia, but also in Western countries.