<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 15 April 2007 - Volume 05</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: </span><span id="_user_mrdreyer@lantic.net" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Mark Dreyer <<a href="mailto:mrdreyer@lantic.net">mrdreyer@lantic.net
</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: LL-L "Demographics" 2007.04.13 (02) [E]</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Dear Ron:</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: L-Lowlands. Ethnic
Humour.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">I am the victim of linguistic
laziness. There is floating around in the family a massive tome, 'Till
Ulenspeghel' by Da Costa, calligraphied, illuminated, illustrated &
beautifully bound, & I can only enjoy the occasional Flemish interpolations,
& must go to lesser interpretations for the meat.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Tell, why is Low German &
Afrikaans humour so scatalogical? e.g. Till hears a young mother endlessly
urging her child to go on the potty & eventually he has enough of the matter
& while she momentarily drifts away he shifts the child off & makes a
donation on its behalf, only Mama is so endlessly fulsome in her wonder &
praise of the infant Till flees in disgust.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Van der Merwe decides he wants
an oil-well, because those who do get so rich. So he calls in his brother who
bores artesian wells & tells him where to put the hole & to carry on
until they strike oil. But this is the Karoo Shield, formed in pre-Carbonacious
times, & of course not even water comes. But Van is nothing if not thrifty
& makes the best of a bad job & puts an outhouse over the
hole. Then he inaugurates it, & dies in action, so to speak. The Court
of Inquiry asks his wife for her input & she muses, "Well the van der Merwes
are strange folk, & so stubborn! I know my husband, when he drops
something, he holds his breath until he hears it fall."</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">For Cape Coloureds, on the
other hand, a joke is merely the vehicle for their lightning-fast repartee,
like. Gammat who walks past a ship moored in Capetown Harbour & nearly
catches a faceful of slops. He shouts up to the ship, "Hey, your Father was
a fisheries inspector & your mother a harbour-seal!" the Captain looks
out of a porthole & shouts, "Who are you talking to?" Response, "You,
thunderguts, you with the ship round your neck!"</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Gammat goes to the movies,
& on the way meets Rachel, he joshingly asks her, "What does this 'V' stand
for, Rachel?" while with his finger he traces the neck-line line of a rather low
'V'-neck sweater. "Oh, Gammat," she shyly responds, "the 'V' stands for
'Virgin." "Such a pity!" says Gammat, "I was going to invite you to join me to
the bioscope right now, but I suppose it wouldn't be proper for a virgin..."
"Never mind," says Rachel hastily, "Gammat, it's an old jersey!"</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">So much High Dutch wit, on the
other hand, is simultaneously subtle & erotic & often makes
scabrous reference to religious figures. e.g. The Mother Superior had
to visit the Tante in a strange House, & saw the seat up, &
fainted.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">I could share another one about
Jakob de Doper, but it may be too raunchy for mixed company.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Why is the middle Eastern
Nasredin so political? e.g. They come to a city gate but the guards won't let
them in without a 'donation' until Nasredin objects that there is a relative of
the Sultan among the party. In some alarm they let the company pass
through until one guard with more of his native wits about him asks,
"Effendi, & who is he of the Sultan's household?" the wit points to the last
one of the party, a heavily loaded donkey, & says, "Him." History does not
relate...</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Some other city, some other
Sultan, grabs Nasredin & orders him to teach his donkey to speak Persian
within a year, or die. His friends go into mild mourning on his behalf
& he tells them to relax, "A year is a long time. The Sultan may die, I may
die, the donkey may die..."</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Some real boffins have studied
humour, but I still don't know why I laugh. They say a Prussian did his doctoral
thesis on humour, & forever after, he would hear one or another anecdote out
& after due consideration declare, "Yes, that is a joke..."</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Yrs,</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Mark<br><br>----------<br><br>From: <span id="_user_kevin.caldwell1963@verizon.net" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Kevin Caldwell <<a href="mailto:kevin.caldwell1963@verizon.net">
kevin.caldwell1963@verizon.net</a>></span><span id="_user_mrdreyer@lantic.net" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);"></span><br>Subject: LL-L "Philosophy" 2007.04.15 (04) [D/E/German]<br>
<div><p><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Actually, it reminds me of a series of
radio advertisements for Netflix (a company that rents DVDs through the mail). The
ads are done like a quiz show, with the host asking a couple of totally absurd
questions that are impossible to answer, but the "contestant" gets them right. The
third question is then something really easy about Netflix. The ad makes the
point that it is really easy to rent from Netflix.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Sample questions and answers from the ads:</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">What is the square root of orange? Turquoise.</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">If 5 is happy, what is 6? Disappointed.</span></font></p><span class="sg">
<p><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Kevin Caldwell</span></font></p></span><span class="q">
<div style="border-style: none none none solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color blue; border-width: medium medium medium 1.5pt; padding: 0in 0in 0in 4pt;">
<p><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">From: <font color="#790619"><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);"><span>"M.-L. Lessing" <<a href="mailto:marless@gmx.de" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
marless@gmx.de </a>></span></span></font><br>
Subject: LL-L "Philosophy" 2007.04.15 (03) [D/E]</span></font></p>
<div>
<div bgcolor="#ffffff">
<blockquote style="margin-top: 5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 5pt;">
<div>
<p><font color="#790619" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Jacqueline Bungenberg
de Jong wrote:</span></font></p>
</div>
<p><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;" lang="NL">Q: Wat is het verschil tussen een dood vogeltje ?
</span></font><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">(What is the difference between a dead bird?)</span></font></p>
<p><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;" lang="NL">A: Zijn ene pootje is even lang. </span></font><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">(Its one leg is of equal length)
</span></font></p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<p><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It reminds me of things one hears every day, like "the
couple loved each other" or "Europa hat sich miteinander
ausgesöhnt". Two are needed for the verb, but the subject is only one,
containing a multitude. The difference in the riddle is: Two are needed for the
comparison, but the subject is only one, containing only one -- one bird,
one leg. Is the joke really philosophy or just a satire on such phrases as
the above? </span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Marlou</span></font></p></div></div></div></div></span></div>----------<br><br><font size="2">From: </font><span id="_user_luc.hellinckx@gmail.com" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">
Luc Hellinckx</span><span style="font-weight: normal;" class="lg"> <<a href="mailto:luc.hellinckx@gmail.com">luc.hellinckx@gmail.com</a>></span><font size="2"><br>Subject: </font>LL-L "Philosophy"<br><br>
Beste Ron,<br>
<br>
You wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="CITE">
<font color="#000000">Jacqueline, </font><br>
<br>
<font color="#000000">My first reaction was that it seemed like a koan (公案, Japanese kōan, Mandarin gōngàn, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koan" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koan</a>),
a puzzling type of question ("riddle"?) used in Zen Buddhism, mostly in
the Rinzai (臨済, Mandarin Línjì) school, in most cases to point out
delusions of human perception. If what you quoted is in fact a koan,
I'd venture to guess that it targets the perception of duality.</font><br>
</blockquote>
Here we have a connection with Nasreddin Hoca again, who was also
notably proficient in pointing out such matters...and with Uilenspiegel
in second order if you wish. By the way, the very name "Uilen-spiegel"
could roughly be interpreted in two complementary ways in older
Brabantish, meaning both "your-mirror" (~ u-lie(de)n-spiegel) and
"their-mirror" (~ hun-lie(de)n-spiegel) at the same time. Mmm, duality
in the Lowlands: a far cry from yin/yang? *s*.<br>
<br>
Kind greetings,<br>
<br>
Luc Hellinckx<br></div><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">
From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>Subject: Traditions</font><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Mark:</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
> Tell, why is Low German &
Afrikaans humour so scatalogical? </span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br><br>Interesting questions, Mark. Do I have my own theories. You betcha I do! ;-)<br>
<br>You're dealing with satire, after all. Let's see how the all-knowing Wikipedia defines that:<br><br></span><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Satire
</span> (from Latin <span style="font-style: italic;">satira</span>, "medley, dish of colourful fruits") is a technique used in drama, fiction, journalism, and occasionally in poetry, the graphic arts, the performing arts and other media in which the artist or author draws out societal or religious criticisms through use of other literary devices. Although satire is usually witty, and often very funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humour but criticism of an event, an individual or a group in a clever manner.
<br></div><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">What we might want to add to this is the element of shock value, be it subtle or abundantly palpable. So, according to my theory those features you mentioned may point out the no-nos of time and place.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Ulenspeghel is from the late Middle Ages and from an almost solidly Roman Catholic Europe (being prior to the Reformation). At that time, average people lived under deplorable conditions, with horrible food, each family or groups of families in one-room houses (if they were relatively lucky) together with animals, with no sanitation and no privacy, and death and privation to be witnessed from earliest childhood. Being overly prudish and thin-skinned wouldn't have gotten you very far. In contrast, the Church held up images of pious purity and of the innate sinfulness of body and sexuality, of "natural sin." To point out purity and godliness you had to contrast it with corruption and depravity, with "sin," even in religious texts and their verbal and pictorial interpretations for the largely illiterate, uneducated masses. You see lots of horrific and even offensive depictions in late medieval paintings of purgatory for instance, and not only in the Lowlands. Hieronymous Bosch (1450-1516) shows us some late impressions of this in his paintings. Carnival provided permission to abandon many societal rules, and it is here that these traditions are utilized to mock the establishment and the unthinking masses that follow it. Added to it are echoes of the
</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>danse macabre</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> tradition, the tradition of the "dance of death" that involves everyone from serf to pope, a conveniently legitimate genre to let loose against the sanctimonious high and mighty. Less than flattering characterizations of monks, nuns, bishops and even popes were particularly popular with the masses, and this developed into a ribald and scatological street comedy tradition that was solidly based on satire. Scatology was something everyone could understand -- and remember that many people didn't live beyond early adulthood when scatological humor still holds some appeal. It was a convenient means of flinging at the establishment that to which it scatology refers. I do believe there were different traditions in Germanic-speaking Europe that allowed this to be expressed more clearly. Please also bear in mind that most of Germanic-speaking Europe was Christianized much later than most of Romance-speaking Europe.
<br><br>Ulenspeghel seems to have liked to target hierarchical conventions and lack of critical thinking. In the example I provided, this involved "mud"-slinging at the conventional unquestioning reverence apprentices were expected to have for their masters.
</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br>
<br>
> </span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Why is the middle Eastern
Nasredin so political? </span></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Sufi traditions (diverse as they are) existed and even now often still exist on the periphery of Islam, oftentimes outside the legitimate range, and tended to be barely tolerated or not tolerated at all. Many believe that Sufism didn't grow out of Islam but merely found a home in Islam and thus developed with Islamic trappings. Generally speaking, Sufism denotes mystic traditions that emphasize spiritual cultivation and divine love. It tends to scorn the institutionalization and intellectualization of faith. It rather emphasizes each person's unique relationship with God. This relationship can be intensified by various means, in many schools by means of ecstatic joy, usually through poetry, music and dance, such as among the ("whirling") dervishes of the Mehlevi school. Although this may not be totally
</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">à propos</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, I'd liken it to Hassidism with its anti-academic, anti-establishment tendency in seeking simple joy within the framework of Judaic faith. I have been fortunate enough to spend a whole Sabbath among Hassidim and to attend Mehlevi Sufi
</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;">S</span>ema</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> celebrations, and I must say that I can see many striking similarities. Scorning "stale" religious conventions and clerics' sway and instead seeking divine intimacy and ecstasy are perhaps the most striking similarities. Just as Europe, the Middle East knew no separation between religion and politics. Sufism and some other movements tended to be outside, be it as a matter of choice or as a matter of exclusion. It therefore does not come to me as a surprise that an anti-establishment, political humor tradition developed among them.
<br><br>Luc, I'm with you in seeing common threads with Zen. That's pretty astute of you. In the above-mentioned traditions you seek enlightenment or at least divine connections mostly through what to us seems like ecstasy, while in Zen it tends to be through intensive moment-to-moment mindfulness and "sitting" (
i.e. meditation). It all boils down to a common endeavor to seek altered, alternative states of consciousness to bring out innate awareness that is too simple for our intellects which is trained to look for complexity -- the joy of the moment, the joy of just being, of just being one with the Great Power without the "monkey mind"'s interfering chattering.
<br><br>Seemingly absurd, joke-like riddles and responses that are designed to shake us out of our lazy dream state, the "predigested world ," seem to represent a striking feature all these movements share. However, the other traditions allow mocking (
i.e. satire), while the <span style="font-style: italic;">koan</span> tradition does not (though it causes us to question and even abandon conventional thinking). I believe that is because backbiting, put-downs and other expressions of resentment, scorn and poking fun at people, have no place in Buddhism, certainly not in Zen, which is based on the basic belief in complete interconnectedness and the ultimate absence of "self," in a need to "save all transient beings" by means of "loving kindness" (मैत्री
<span style="font-style: italic;">maitrī</span>) and "compassion" (करुणा <span style="font-style: italic;">karuṇā</span>). In this regard I personally find this tradition more similar to what I perceive the mindset and endeavor of Jesus of Nazareth to be: make people,
<span style="font-style: italic;">any</span> people, think and feel in new ways by challenging </span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">them</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">, even startling them, but not to the detriment of others ... because there
<span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> no "others" ... but there are stones and glass houses.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">