Item Detail
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25413
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0
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0
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English
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Sanpete County Humor : The Tales and the Tellers
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Latter-day Lore : Mormon Folklore Studies
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Salt Lake City
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University of Utah Press
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369-384
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Humor always has a target; someone or something is “made fun” of....Ethnic humor can be especially problematic in our age of multicultural sensitivity and political correctness. Ethnic humor marginalizes its target because it depends for its effect on accentuating the differences between the ethnic group and the larger population. It exploits and perpetuates stereotypes. However, there are two distinct kinds of ethnic humor. The first is the humor directed at an ethnic group by outsiders, often with hostile or demeaning intent: for example, “Polack” jokes. The second kind is the humor created by the ethnic group itself, the stories they tell on themselves. This humor is no less stereotypic, perhaps, but it has a different tone. An obvious example is the Jewish humor that is a staple of the American entertainment industry. The Scandinavian humor of Sanpete County belongs to this latter category. It is an “us” humor, not a “them” humor. [From the text]