Polish joke
Polish jokes belong to the category of what philosopher Ted Cohen calls conditional jokes, which means that their understanding requires prior knowledge of what a Polish joke is. Conditional jokes depend upon the audience's affective preference, or their likes and dislikes. Although these ethnic jokes might be understood by many, their success depends entirely upon the negative disposition of the listener.[1]
Some of the earliest Polish jokes, also called Polack jokes – in reference to an ethnic slur – might have been told originally before World War II in disputed border-regions such as Silesia, wrote Christie Davies in The Mirth of Nations suggesting that "Polish jokes" did not originate in Nazi Germany, but a lot earlier, as an outgrowth of regional jokes rooted in "social class differences reaching back to the nineteenth century".[2] These jokes were later fuelled by ethnic slurs disseminated by German National Socialist propaganda which attempted to justify the Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles by presenting them as "dreck", dirty and inferior.[3][4] According to Davies, American versions of Polish jokes are an unrelated "purely American phenomenon" and do not express the "historical Old World hatreds".[5]
History
During the political transformations of the Soviet controlled Eastern block in the 1980s, the much earlier German anti-Polish sentiment dating back to the policies of Otto von Bismarck and the persecution of Poles under the German Empire, was again blatantly exploited in GDR against Solidarność (Solidarity). This tactic had become especially apparent in the "rejuvenation of `Polish jokes,΄ some of which – wrote Prof. John Torpey – reminded listeners of the spread of such jokes under the Nazis."[6]
Some Polish jokes were presumably brought to America by German displaced persons fleeing war-torn Europe in the late 1940s. [3] In U.S. culture, as in any culture, ethnic jokes about "new immigrants" may play on various negative stereotypes: laziness, sexual promiscuity, dishonesty, propensity to violence, poor hygiene, low intelligence, etc. But in the case of early Polish jokes told by Americans: "low IQ" was a particularly frequent cliché.[7] An example of a "Polish joke" told by TV media was: "Why can't they make ice cubes in Poland anymore? -- Because someone lost the recipe." However, the very same joke may be told about many different ethnic groups.
Polish migration from the dismantled Polish state throughout the 19th century was considerable due to ethnic discrimination and unemployment on traditionally Polish lands.[8] Polish Americans became the subject of derogatory jokes at the time when Polish immigrants came to America in considerable numbers fleeing mass persecution at home. They were taking the only jobs available to them, usually requiring physical labor. The same job-related stereotypes persisted even as Polish Americans joined the middle class in mid 20th century. "These degrading stereotypes were far from harmless. The constant derision, often publicly disseminated through the mass media, caused serious identity crises, feeling of inadequacy, and low self-esteem for many Polish Americans." During the Cold War era, despite the sympathy in the US for Poland being subjected to communism, negative stereotypes about Polish Americans endured.[9]
There is a debate whether the early "Polish jokes" brought to states like Wisconsin by German immigrants were directly related to the wave of American jokes of the early 1960s.[2] Since the late 1960s, Polish American organizations made continuous effort to challenge the negative stereotyping of the Polish people once prevalent in U.S. media. In the 1960's & 70's TV shows like All in the Family, The Tonight Show, and Laugh-In often used jokes received by American Poles as demeaning.[9] The "Polish jokes" heard in the 1970s were particularly offensive, so much so that the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs approached the U.S. State Department about that, however unsuccessfully.[9] The 2010 documentary film Polack by James Kenney explores the source of the "Polish joke" in America, tracing it through history and into contemporary politics.[10][11] The depiction of Polish Americans in the play Polish Joke by David Ives has resulted in a number of complaints by the Polonia in the US.[12]
See also
References
- ^ Ted Cohen (1999). Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters. University of Chicago Press. p. 21. ISBN 0226112306. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ a b Christie Davies, The Mirth of Nations. Page 176. Aldine Transaction, 2010, ISBN 9781412814577.
- ^ a b Tomasz Szarota, Goebbels: 1982 (1939-41): 16, 36-7, 274; 1978. Also: Tomasz Szarota: Stereotyp Polski i Polaków w oczach Niemców podczas II wojny światowej; Bibliografia historii polskiej - 1981. Page 162.
- ^ Critique of Alan Dundes, professor of anthropology and folklore from University of California in Berkeley inThe Mirth of Nations by Christie Davies
- ^ Christie Davies, The Mirth of Nations ibidem. Page 181.
- ^ John C. Torpey, Intellectuals, Socialism, and Dissent Published 1995 by U of Minnesota Press. Page 82.
- ^ Polish American Journal, Boston, NY. Quote: "...[American TV viewers] were encouraged to bash Poles with 'jokes' that portrayed the Polish people as having subhuman intelligence."
- ^ Helena Znaniecka Lopata, Mary Patrice Erdmans, Polish Americans Published by Transaction Publishers, 1994, New Brunswick, New Jersey. 294 pages. ISBN 1560001003
- ^ a b c Dominic Pulera, "Polish+joke"&ei=xY-MSL_xG5XIigHVwqHdAg&sig=ACfU3U2Lh_ecLbTPj6QkQbJuVV-5_bNLAQ Sharing the Dream: White Males in Multicultural America Published 2004 by Continuum International Publishing Group, 448 pages. ISBN 0826416438. Page 99.
- ^ IMDb entry for Polack, 2010 documentary
- ^ Homepage of Polack 2010 documentary, including credits and press announcements.
- ^ Marek Czarnecki, Commentary on the play "Polish Joke", posted at the American Council for Polish Culture website.
- David Ives, Polish Jokes and other plays, ISBN 0-8021-4130-7