![]() ![]() This paper contributes to our understanding of the inception of disaster humor by refuting the position of ‘technological determinism’ that is central for the theory of disaster jokes. Hence, such jokes align with dominant values and standpoints circulating in the Greek public sphere via underscoring the inequality between the Greek majority and migrants and via naturalizing the latter’s assimilation to majority norms and values. They (re)produce and perpetuate xenophobia and racism by portraying migrants as ‘dangerous invaders’ in the Greek territory and as ‘culturally inferior’ people. Migrant jokes seem to be part of Greek majority’s response to the migration ‘threat’ against national sovereignty and linguocultural homogeneity. The prospect of Greece becoming a permanent base for these people has evoked diverse reactions. During the past few years, the number of migrants arriving at Greek shores has significantly increased. ![]() In our study, we aim to analyze jokes related to the migration crisis and circulated online since 2014 following Davies’ methodological guidelines. ![]() He particularly argues that jokes seem to work like a “thermometer” conveying truths for the sociopolitical system. One of Davies’ significant contributions to the sociology of humor involves the exploration of the relation between jokes and the social order. In both cases, however, migrant-targeting jokes seem to reinforce national homogenization by circulating racist stereotypes for migrants in a light-hearted manner and by naturalizing the latter’s marginalization and/or assimilation. ![]() Our analysis shows that the local sociopolitical context plays a significant role in shaping the ways migrants are humorously represented and targeted: the incongruities identified in the first dataset are different from those of the second. Our first collection of jokes comes from the period 1990–2010, i.e., when Greece, enjoying financial prosperity, received mostly Albanian migrants, while the second one comes from 2014 onwards, i.e., when Greece, facing a severe financial crisis, received mostly Muslim migrants. We examine two datasets of online migrant-targeting jokes from two different time periods in Greece. This study adheres to critical humor studies investigating how humor targeting the migrant ‘Other’ may reproduce social inequalities in the form of racist stereotypes. ![]()
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