Yugoslav dirty jokes as solidarity / moment of loss was civil war
anecdote · Slovenian/Yugoslav ·
retold in 10 talks
In old Yugoslavia each ethnic group was identified by a mock-racist trait; cross-ethnic dirty jokes circulated as a mode of solidarity rather than racism. When ethnic tensions rose in the early 1980s the jokes disappeared, which Žižek reads as proof they were integrative, not racist.
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026
As told 8
“the moment we lost this, it was war”
“the moment we lost this, it was won.”
“The whole point was to tell a joke mocking yourself and the competition was who will tell a nastiest joke about yourself.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
Its cast and sources
populated by
Paul Veyne4Henry James2Josef von Sternberg2Graham Greene2Donald Davidson2Ágnes Heller2Mel Gibson2Cornel West2
alongside works
Every retelling 8
In old Yugoslavia each ethnic group was identified by a mock-racist trait; cross-ethnic dirty jokes circulated as a mode of solidarity rather than racism. When ethnic tensions rose in the early 1980s the jokes disappeared, which Žižek reads as proof they were integrative, not racist., illustrating the symbolic function,racism,political community
In old Yugoslavia, ethnic jokes (Slovenes as misers, Montenegrins as lazy, Bosnians as sexually obsessed) functioned not as racism but as a form of solidary obscene exchange. Their disappearance in the early 1980s, as ethnic tensions rose, was for Žižek a negative proof of their cohesive social function., illustrating symbolic function,ideology,political correctness vs. authentic encounter
In old Yugoslavia each nation had a stereotyped trait (Slovenes: misers; Bosnians: sexually obsessed; Montenegrins: lazy) and the cultural game was competitive self-mockery, whose joke about their own nation is the nastiest? These jokes disappeared when real ethnic tension rose in the 1980s., illustrating ethnic jokes and social function,multiculturalism
In ex-Yugoslavia, different nations exchanged jokes built on their own ethnic stereotypes (e.g., Montenegrins are lazy → masturbation-by-earthquake joke); this worked as genuine solidarity. When ethnic tensions erupted, the jokes disappeared, proof they had been functioning as solidarity., illustrating solidarity through obscenity,regulated violation,ideology in what you do
44:58 29.04.2023 Leipzig Slavoj Žižek "Die Paradoxien der Mehrlust: Ein Leitfaden für die Nichtverwirrten"2023-04-29 · 45:24
Old Yugoslavia was full of inter-ethnic jokes (Slovenians, Serbs, Albanians) told in a 'benevolent' way that fostered solidarity rather than division., illustrating benevolent racism,everyday-life
In former Yugoslavia, each nation had a clichéd identity in jokes (Slovenes misers, Montenegrins lazy, Bosnians sex-obsessed); exchanging these jokes ironically and proudly was a form of solidarity, and their disappearance in the early 1980s coincided with the emergence of real ethnic hatred., illustrating obscene humor and solidarity,ideology of racism vs. its critique