Schlemiels and schlimazels, Albert Einstein and Jewish mothers-in-law - what do jokes about Jews reveal about Jewish identity and self-worth? Does it matter if a Jewish joke is told by a Jew or a non-Jew? Are Jewish jokes masochistic? Are they funny? The Genius of the Jewish Joke supplies not only countless jokes and riddles about Jewish characters and communities, but also reveals the relationship between Jewish humor and attitudes about Jewish culture and identity.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The numerous jokes in this analysis of Jewish humor will provoke smiles and chuckles, but there is nothing laughable about Berger's scholarly look at the genre of the Jewish joke. Berger dissects Jewish humor from psychological, literary, political and cultural aspects, contending that Jews used humor as a "survival mechanism" to cope with suffering, powerlessness and marginality. The jokes reflect an "existential courage," a resistance to persecution rather than an internalization of the victim mentality, he posits. The author of many books on media, popular culture and humor, Berger (professor of broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University) cites a host of sources, including Freud, to support and illustrate his theories. He explores humor in both generic and specifically Jewish terms, lists 45 techniques of humor, discusses comic types like schlemiels and schlimazels and examines the role of stereotypes in ethnic humor. In this finely argued study, Berger discounts the theory of Jewish humor as masochistic, arguing instead that the self-criticism in Jewish jokes is "liberating and life-enhancing."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"This is the funniest thing I've read since Freud. It's also funnier than anything on TV. The book finally explained to me why I laugh—not that there is anything to laugh about. Berger is wasting his time in academia. We need him in television."
—Marvin Kitman, Newsday
"In this finely argued study, Berger discounts the theory of Jewish humor as masochistic, arguing instead that the self-criticism in Jewish jokes is liberating and life-enhancing."
—Publishers Weekly
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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More About the Author
I was born in Boston and kept moving west as I got educated: western Mass (the University of Mass at Amherst), Iowa (the University of Iowa in Iowa City), Minnesota (The Univ. of Minnesota) in Minneapolis). I landed a job teaching at San Francisco State and have been in the Bay Area since 1965. I've been married for 49 years, but it only seems like 47 or 48 years, to a former philosophy professor. I've kept a journal since 1956 and all my books have come out of the journals. I'm an artist and illustrate my books and books by other writers from time to time. I have two children and four grandchildren. Now, in 2009, I've got five books in various stages of publication:
1. Bali Tourism. Routledge. To be published in March, 2011 (I hope).
2. Japan Tourism: An Ethno-Semiotic Analysis. Published in 2010.
3. The Cultural Theorist's Book of Quotations. Published in 2010.
4. The Objects of Affection: Semiotics and Consumer Culture. 2010.
5. Seeing is Believing: An Introduction to Visual Communication. 4th
edition. To be published in 2011.
1. Bali Tourism. Routledge. To be published in March, 2011 (I hope).
2. Japan Tourism: An Ethno-Semiotic Analysis. Published in 2010.
3. The Cultural Theorist's Book of Quotations. Published in 2010.
4. The Objects of Affection: Semiotics and Consumer Culture. 2010.
5. Seeing is Believing: An Introduction to Visual Communication. 4th
edition. To be published in 2011.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The genius of the jewish Joke,
This review is from: The Genius of the Jewish Joke (Classics in Communication and Mass Culture) (Paperback)
I found this book informative and very intertaining.I enjoy a good laugh and this book gave me a lot to laugh about.
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