Tegelased eesti etnilises huumoris
Characters in Estonian ethnic humour

Summary/Abstract: The study provides an overview of Estonian ethnic humour over the last century (1890-2004), focusing on three periods: the end of the 19th century, the Soviet period, and the years following Estonia's regained independence. The changes in the choice of the targets of joke throughout the century are mapped and the cultural, social and political influences in jokes are discussed. The analysis showed a clear tendency towards greater variation in ethnic joke targets. The 19th century offered the poorest choice in joke butts: only the closest neighbours of the Estonians were laughed at. During the Soviet period humour was mostly found in the life and people under the Soviet regime. In the last decade the Estonians have made fun of almost every possible ethnic group, including exotic faraway nations. The borders between "us" and "them" have been stretched; people develop more ethnic stereotypes, which results in jokes about a vast variety of nations. There have been considerable changes in the choice of joke targets in the course of the three periods, and, most likely, this tendency is manifest also in the jokelore of other countries. An interesting result to support the assertion is that the overlapping of joke scripts between the three periods was much smaller than expected (only 6% of all joke scripts were used in both the Soviet times and in the period imminently after regaining independence). It means there is a growing and active joke tradition that creates and interprets jokes. It would be interesting to find out what the situation outside the internet is - namely, is joking an active tradition that creates new jokes and finds new targets, are people still involved in mutual joke-telling, are there age differences in telling jokes, etc.

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