je m'appelle l'amour.

Pragmatics in cultural linguistics. I wish FC2 allowed me to put more than one category per entry.



What is "an American joke"?


Boxers with stars and stripes, in red, white, and blue. On the front it says boldly: Stimulus Package.



Haha ok, I don't mean that kind of "American" joke.

It's just that I notice a difference in the perception of humor in different cultures. "What is funny" in each culture. I'll compare Japanese humor and American humor.


First of all, sarcasm doesn't work well in Japan. I've tried. That's when I felt the difference in the culture of humor.

*person trips*
Me: "Oh, that's not painful at all."
Japanese friend: "?"


Awkward.



So inspecting sarcasm, irony, and oxymoron in American humor. Please excuse my lame examples.

1. Sarcasm is an ironic remark usually with some intended bitterness.
A typical sarcastic remark: "Oh that was smooth." When in fact, of course, that wasn't smooth.

2. I think a separate category of "ironic" humor is needed for the less-bitter remarks. Just saying the opposite of what you mean. Saying something negative when you actually have positive intentions, perhaps.

*Girl A throws away used duct tape on table*
Girl B: "Um, I was going to keep that."
Girl A: "Oh shoot, shouldn't have thrown away that candy wrapper, either."
Girl B: "Gosh."

Of course if Girl B is some freak and is serious about her keepsakes, then the conversation would be bitter.


3. Oxymoron. Remarks that are self-contradictory. Another aspect of American jokes; at least I think so.

*Girl A, trying to scoop a hard tub of ice cream*
Customer: "Jeez, that looks like it takes a lot of effort."
Girl A: "Yeah after a week of work, I'm going to have really CUTE arm muscles."
Customer: "Haha, that's gonna look totally feminine."


Ok, in Japan, while irony and oxymoron exist, they don't come off as funny--at least on their own (I'll explain this). They'll give you a "wtf" look.


Some terminology before I make the comparison.


The irony, oxymoron, or just nonsense remark used for humorous intentions are called "boke ボケ" in Japanese. It literally means something like "fool/stupidity."


And do you notice how in my two examples earlier, the second speaker goes along with the ironic/oxymoronic statement that the first speaker makes? They carry on the conversation as if the irony and oxymoron are natural.

In Japanese, this is called "nori (ノリ)." Not seaweed (homonym). Nori literally means "ride," in concept meaning "to go along with."



So "American" humor is constructed with just boke and nori. You make a nonsense remark. The other goes along with it. Laugh. End. Voila.


A Japanese audience wouldn't find that particularly funny. Again, a "wtf" reaction.


Here's the difference for the Japanese comedians:

In addition to boke (and an optional nori), there needs to be a TSUKKOMI (ツッコミ）. Literally meaning, "running into." Tsukkomi is a remark to CORRECT the boke (the nonsense remark).

So the trash-keepsake situation, Japanese version:

*Girl A throws away used duct tape on table*
Girl B: "Um, I was going to keep that." (<-- boke)
Girl A: "Why the hell? You don't need trash!" (<--tsukkomi)

You can add nori (the going-along) to the tsukkomi:

*Girl A throws away used duct tape on table*
Girl B: "Um, I was going to keep that." (<-- boke)
Girl A: "Oh yes I should keep this candy wrapper too--- wait what the hell? You don't need trash!" (<--nori-tsukkomi)



Ok so if you're Japanese, you know what I mean. If you're not, to you, Girl A doesn't have any sense of humor.

But this interaction is funny to Japanese people. Classic boke-tsukkomi.



Isn't that strange? It's a cultural difference. Maybe Americans are more imaginative than Japanese people. Maybe Japanese people prefer to be slapped back into reality. Or maybe they like clearly differentiating between the "right (tsukkomi)" and "wrong (boke)."

In Japan you laugh AT the "wrong;" In the U.S. you laugh WITH the "wrong."


A deeper philosophy in the culture of humor?




Oh, aren't puns (another category) universally humorous? You think so? I think so. Ai think so?

你好.

I found out today that the French equivalent of the idiomatic phrase "It's Greek to me" is C'est du chinois, "It's Chinese"="It's Chinese to me."

It's interesting... the Japanese equivalent of the phrase is ちんぷんかんぷん [chinn punn kann punn], a semi-onomatopoeic phrase that supposedly comes from the Chinese phrase 聴不看不 [tempu kampu, roughly, from what I gather...] meaning "unable to comprehend, neither from listening to it nor looking at it." It's thought that it originated in the Edo period, when the Japanese didn't know what the bleep the Chinese folks were saying. But in essence, they're saying "It's Chinese to me," too.

I find it intriguing how different cultures find different languages "impossibly difficult."


On another note, the French language is becoming more and more popular in China today. 175 Chinese Universities offer French. Most Chinese students start learning foreign languages in high school...and it's usually English. Only 7 high schools offer French as a second language. But each year, there are about 6000 Chinese students that specialize in French and obtain proper licenses to find good jobs.

According to a survey, students study French "to continue their education in France" (51%), "for work" (25%), and "for leisure" (24%). Many think that knowledge in French will be advantageous in job searches. For those that study it for leisure, many think that it is one of "the most beautiful languages in the world."

According to another survey, many Chinese people find the French language "difficult, romantic, bizarre, clear, and gentle." The difficult aspects of the language for them are pronunciation, masculine vs. feminine nouns/agreements, and verb conjugations.

Overall, the future of the French language in China is bright, looking at it both economically and academically.

(Translated and summarized from Chine Informations.)

The article is from May 2008, but I think it's still very applicable.


I find it kind of funny that French is considered so...*stylish* everywhere. Oooh. I see French writing even in American fashion. In Japan, definitely, too... I speculate that many Japanese people are starting to recognize Engrish, making fashion manufacturers switch to "Flench"...

BUT I SEE RIGHT THROUGH IT, YOU FLENCHERZ!!


mwahahaha.


I can't find any good Flench shots, but here's an epic Engrish poster: