Joking Relationships and National Identity in Scandinavia

Abstract

This article studies the joking relationships among the Scandinavian countries, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Based on joke collections from books, the Internet and other sources, we find that Danes tell jokes about the Norwegians and Swedes, while Norwegians and Swedes tell jokes about each other, but not about the Danes. In general, the Danes tell jokes in which the butt, or object, of the jokes is a stupid Norwegian or a Swede whose values differ from those of the Danes. The Norwegians and the Swedes tell jokes in which the object is stupid - either a Norwegian or a Swede. The different values/stupid characterizations can be found in other contexts. The character of the jokes can be explained in part by the countries' respective national habitus, as they have been shaped by the types of conflictual and co-operative relationships among the countries.