Joking Relationships and National Identity in Scandinavia

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. Peter Gundelach, Department of Sociology, 22 Linnesgade, DK-1361 Copenhagen K, Denmark ? Scandinavian Sociological Association 2000 1. Scandinavian stereotypes Two Danes, two Finns, two Norwegians, and two Swedes are shipwrecked and cast upon a deserted island. By the time they are rescued the Danes have formed a co-operative, the Finns have chopped down all the trees, the Norwegians have built a fishing boat, and the Swedes are waiting to be introduced. (Connery 1966:18) This joke illustrates some commonly held national stereotypes often shared among Scan-