TY - JOUR
T1 - Cantonese xiehouyu : sardonicism in a regional culture under threat
AU - Chey, Jocelyn
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Humour is characteristic of Cantonese culture, a fact which assumes extra significance because the language itself is under threat. There are many forms of humour usage, including aggressive and self-defensive types. Here I highlight one form, the Cantonese xiehouyu 歇後語, that I believe does not fall into either category, and therefore I describe it as ‘sardonic’, in the sense proposed by Vladimir Propp, that is, a life-endorsing ritual humour, as will be explained in the conclusion to this paper. I shall also comment on the fraught relationship between the central government of China and the Cantonese-speaking region, on recent government campaigns to restrict the use of local dialects and languages, and on local resistance, particularly as expressed in this linguistic humour form sometimes described in English as ‘a proverb with the second part suspended’.
AB - Humour is characteristic of Cantonese culture, a fact which assumes extra significance because the language itself is under threat. There are many forms of humour usage, including aggressive and self-defensive types. Here I highlight one form, the Cantonese xiehouyu 歇後語, that I believe does not fall into either category, and therefore I describe it as ‘sardonic’, in the sense proposed by Vladimir Propp, that is, a life-endorsing ritual humour, as will be explained in the conclusion to this paper. I shall also comment on the fraught relationship between the central government of China and the Cantonese-speaking region, on recent government campaigns to restrict the use of local dialects and languages, and on local resistance, particularly as expressed in this linguistic humour form sometimes described in English as ‘a proverb with the second part suspended’.
KW - Cantonese dialects
KW - humor
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:39379
UR - https://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=659624259737135;res=IELHSS
M3 - Article
SN - 0030-5340
VL - 48
SP - 167
EP - 181
JO - Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia
JF - Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia
ER -