1. What does Critchley mean by ethos and ethnos?
(i) According to Critchley, Ethos can be described as the concept that links people to their culture, place of residence, their character and how they view the world, hence giving them some ethnic uniqueness (81).
(ii) Critchley, say that ethnos are the ethnic elements that are associated with a particular society, community, or nation that are usually picked carefully to form ingredients for humor (82).
2. According to Critchley, humor is what reminds people of their comical ethnic features that cause them to laugh at themselves, their neighbors, or animal (87). It results in a comic effect that makes people reflect on their cultural elements and that of others, leading to laughter. Critchley discusses humor because it is a form of ethnic jokes which touch on personalities, lifestyle, body appearance, food, and day to day economic actives. His definition and discussion relate to his overall argument because jokes are understood by people who are familiar with the culture or ethnicity involved. This explains why foreigners cannot discern humor in the locals’ jokes.
3. Ethnic can serve as a symptom of repression in that; a community feels ashamed of their culture, religion, and beliefs if they are used humorously causing another community to laugh at them. The return of ethnic repression occurs when the population being laughed at by the other counterattacks the repression by forming jokes that ridicule particular ethnic features of their opponents (Critchley 82). Ethnic jokes in United State are reinforced by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), which once created a poster that stereotyped and misrepresented Indians. For instance, Americans targeting Indians, because foreigners are always funny (83). It illuminates the traces of racism still prevalent among the Americans.
Work Cited
Critchley, Simon.” Foreigners Are Funny: The Ethnicity of Humor.” (2013): 79-88.
