HUMOR OF THE ENGLISH AND SERBIANS

It is known that humor brings people together, but also points out the differences between them and, more broadly, between nations. Our man, an immigrant from Serbia who even immigrated to Canada inevitably encounters English humor, sitting reclining in front of the TV screen. "Why are these people laughing," he asks, "What is so funny?” he is in doubt. Fortunately, there is a possibility that the TV channel will change and disappear, along with the question, but still something remains vague, one feels deprived. He still doesn't know what is so funny to "them" and not to "us".

Here, in search of an answer to this question, let's analyze one joke, our joke, a Serbian joke, from both perspectives, English and Serbian.

A blonde flies to New York, sitting in first class. The flight attendant approaches her and says that her ticket is for economy class and suggests that she moves there. "I'm fine here...", the blonde refuses. The co-pilot then approaches her, repeating the flight attendant's words and receiving the same answer. Finally, the captain of the plane approaches and bending down whispers something in the blonde's ear. She looks at him with a face like thunder: "Why didn't you tell me that right away!", she gets up shouting. The flight attendant and co-pilot asked the captain how he managed to convince her. "Simply, I told her that first class doesn't fly to New York.'

No doubt our man will crack up when he hears this. It is because there is a stereotype about blondes as attractive coquettes but also people of somewhat lower intelligence. The Serb laughs at that stereotype. Thus, humor, or a joke that causes laughter due to an individual's reaction to a certain topic, is directed at a specific person.

And how will an Englishman in Canada react to this joke? He will react politely, smiling so as not to offend you. Basically, behind that smile lies indignation, because he is not sure what to laugh at, what is so funny in this joke. First of all, the treatment of a blonde is considered an insult in Canada, and it is not laughed at. Being a blonde female is sexist to people here in Canada. The behavior of the plane captain is unprofessional and belittling, and here the customer comes first. So there are no elements to laugh at.

So what are the English laughing at? They laugh at the situation, the word play in the sentence, the context. Let's say, in a TV show, a young girl enters a room where a guy is sitting on a couch. She sits down next to him; they hold hands and look into each other's eyes. Suddenly, he jumps up and says, "Dear, it’s chilly. I'll close the window.” Here the Englishman will laugh heartily. But he is not laughing at the young man, but at the situation, at the unexpected scene change. Therefore, humor is not directed at the individual but is directed at the object. And how will the Serb react? Most likely, he will not react with laughter. He will have a sour taste in his mouth. "What a fool! He has a woman by his side, and he is worried about the draft!" Here we can see the disagreement.

English love puns. The English language is rich in ambiguous words. For that understanding, a perfect knowledge of the language is necessary, and our immigrants, for the most part, lack that. This misunderstanding raises the question of what "they" are laughing at. English culture, in contrast to Serbian culture, requires people to be addressed indirectly in a conversation so that they can draw conclusions from the context. It is the complete opposite of Serbs who use direct speech. For example, when it is raining for days, an Englishman will say, "I wish it were sunny." Our man will say, "It's raining again, it's raining all the time, damn you, as if you didn’t rain for eight months in Vancouver."

So how will our man cope with English humor? He will do it either by changing the channel or by better knowledge of the language and good knowledge of English culture.