Prof. Brett O'Bannon Discusses "Joking Kinships" and Their Value in Resolving Conflicts on Radio France Internationale

December 20, 2005

December 20, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - [Download Audio: "Prof. O'Bannon on RFI" - 299kb] "To learn more, I've come along to a two day conference on joking kinships organized at the University of Political Science here in Paris," states a Radio France Internationale reporter in a story that aired today. "Professor Brett O'Bannon from DePauw University told me that the joking bond means almost no subject is off-limits for the jokers." O'Bannon, assistant professor of political science at DePauw, was interviewed while in Paris making a presentation on that subject to an international colloquium in October.

The professor spoke to the conference on "Speak No More of Cousinage?: The Political Economy of Joking Relationships" and his experiences in West Africa, where "joking kinships" bind families, clans and even entire ethnic groups into ties of imagined kinship. O'Bannon says the humor has been known to bring an end to serious conflicts.

"There's an obligation to not take offense to the joke. That's part of the joking relationship," O'Bannon told RFI. "It's a mutual obligation: one is obligated to joke; at the same time, however, one is obligated not to take offense... The jokes are often clear violations of sacred taboos. You know, talking about someone's ancestry -- you can get yourself in trouble if you do that anywhere else or under any other circumstance, but it's precisely within the structure of the joking relationship that not only is there an expectation that there's where you go with the joke, but that one doesn't take offense."

Dr. O'Bannon described to the network how he first became aware of joking relationships while conducting research in Senegal. Hear more in this clip: [Download Audio: "More from Prof. O'Bannon" - 888kb].

Learn more about Brett O'Bannon's research in this previous story. The RFI broadcast can be downloaded from the network's Web site for the rest of today. A link is available here.

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