Humor across frontiers

Humor across frontiers

It has been said that humor crosses national boundaries with difficulty, especially when heading east. If we analyze this assertion for a moment, several implications emerge. First, it is self-evident that the victim of a humorous attack is hardly likely to see the funny side of it. French anecdotes depicting the Belgians as a collection of slow-witted yokels fail to gain appreciation in Brussels. Dutch people resent similar treatment at the hands of the Belgians.

Secondly, failure to appreciate the funny side of a 'foreign' anecdote does not necessarily depend on one's being the victim. Serious-minded, factual Germans do not split their sides on hearing American jokes about Texas, which usually depend on gross exaggeration. The story about the Mexican driving just as fast as he could for 24 hours to get out of Texas, but finding he had not managed it, thrills the American imagination but sounds far fetched to the German, who would usually reply, 'He should have used a German car.' This response would be considered very funny in Germany and fairly good in England and Scandinavia.

Apart from the Koreans (who seem to like everybody's jokes), few Orientals are amused by American or (most) European jokes. The Confucian and Buddhist preoccupation with truth, sincerity, kindliness and politeness automatically eliminates humor techniques such as sarcasm, satire, exaggeration and parody, and finds little merit in crazy humor or jokes about religion, sex and underprivileged minorities. Sick or black humor is definitely out.

So what is left, you might ask? Eastern humor, such as we understand it, is couched in subtlety, gentle, indirect reproach or reprimand, occasionally victimizing listeners in a sly but non-aggressive manner which yet leaves them room for response and stops short of depriving them of their dignity. Even the rougher, occasionally bawdy Koreans take great care to protect the listener's 'wholeness' or standing. Chinese are noted for their aphorisms and proverbs, and they and Indians find great sources of humor in parables, which we in the west find only moderately funny, although they do combine wisdom, moralizing and a sense of perspective. We can understand the point of most Confucian aphorisms and Indian or Malaysian tales, while we rarely understand Japanese jokes. But then, neither do the Chinese.

Even in the area of international jokes, however, the national 'rinse' begins to show. Take, for example, the old joke about the journalists who organized a competition to write an article about elephants. The titles were as follows:

This joke, which probably originated at a conference of journalists, pokes fun at various national faiblesses - French lust, German seriousness, American bragging, British colonialism, etc. The punchline is the laugh about Finns' preoccupation with what others think about them. In Helsinki, however, they developed an alternative punch line where a Norwegian was added, the title being: 'Norway and Norway's mountains'.

Finns, Swedes and Danes find this alternative absolutely side-splitting.

The Norwegians (who consider themselves a humorous people) do not find this ending funny at all. In fact, they do not understand it. Do you?

Humor in business

As world trade becomes increasingly globalized, businesspeople meet their foreign partners more frequently and consequently feel that they know them better. It is only natural that when one develops a closer relationship with a stranger there is a tendency to avoid overseriousness and to begin to converse in a more relaxed manner. Swapping anecdotes is a good way of melting the ice in many situations and gaining the confidence of one's listener. A funny incident involving some personal discomfort or embarrassment is a good start; a sly attack on a 'common enemy' may soon follow.

Humor during business meetings is not infrequent in most European countries, although it is less common among Latins than with Northern peoples, where it is a valuable tool for breaking the ice. Perhaps among the Spaniards, Portuguese and Italians, there is little ice to break. Their own racy, gossipy, confiding, conversation style constitutes in itself, however, a valid humorous element.

It is in the Anglo-Saxon countries that humor is used systematically.

Relaxed in Canada and New Zealand, it can be barbed and provocative in Australia. In the USA particularly, sarcasm, kidding and feigned indignation are regarded as factors which move the meeting along and get more done in less time. Time is, after all, money. It is perhaps in the UK that humor is most intertwined in business talks. The British hate heavy or drawn-out meetings and will resort to various forms of humor and distracting tactics to keep it all nice and lively.

However, two nationalities in particular avoid jokes and other forms of humor during the actual business sessions. Germans find it out of place during negotiations. Business is serious and should be treated as such, without irrelevant stories or distractions. If you do not concentrate on the issue, you are not showing respect to your interlocutor. Kidding is, in their eyes, not honest and creates confusion in business discussion. They want to know about price, quality and delivery dates, with some precision, please.

After the meetings are over, Germans are quite willing to relax and joke with their partners in bars, restaurants and at home. Humor and anecdotes are more than welcome in these circumstances. Relaxation, like business discussion and many other activities in Germany, is fairly strictly compartmentalized.

Japanese also fail to see any benefit in introducing humor into business meetings. They will laugh if they are aware that you have told a joke (it is unlikely they will have understood it) but that is out of sheer politeness. They are normally nervous about understanding your straight talk in the first place, so that any clever nuances or tongue-in-cheek utterances will leave them floundering. They take anything you say quite literally. Americans using expressions like 'You are killing me' or 'Say that once again and I'll walk away from this deal' cause great consternation among their Japanese partners. One US executive who said a certain clause would blow the deal out of the water was asked, 'What water?' An Englishman was asked by the waiter at the end of a business dinner if the ten men present required ice-cream for dessert. As the table was laden with beer, the Englishman replied humorously that everyone was having beer for dessert. Two minutes later the waiter appeared with ten beers.

While the introduction of humor in international business talks may bring considerable gain in terms of breaking the ice, speeding up the issues, escaping from deadlock, putting your partners at ease and winning their confidence in you as a human being, the downside risks are often just as great. What is funny for the French may be anathema to an Arab; your very best story may be utterly incomprehensible to a Chinese; your most innocent anecdote may seriously offend a Turk. Cultural and religious differences may make it impossible for some people to laugh at the same thing. Who can say with certainty that anything is funny? If all values are relative and culture based, then these include humor, tolerance, even truth itself. And remember that laughter, more often than not, symbolizes embarrassment, nervousness or possibly scorn.

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