Why do many think Germans are not funny?
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<sukasukaguetau866@gmail.com>Mar 31, 2022, 1:01:07 PM3/31/22
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Tears streamed down my face from laughing so hard and I clapped loudly until my hands turned red. But I was surprised by my own reaction, as I was being entertained by German comedians at the Quatsch Comedy Club in Berlin, in what many might call an oxymoron situation.
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Germany clearly values shows with good humor, a fact that is evidenced by the soaring popularity of this comedy venue in Berlin. In fact, comedy has deep roots in German culture, with an emphasis on satire in politics as well as physical slapstick comedy. However, according to a survey conducted by Badoo.com in 2011, Germans are considered the least funny nation. This further reinforces the well-known stereotype that Germans are not funny.
“I never knew about the stereotype. I only knew it when speaking to people who spoke English,” Nicole Riplinger, an English and French teacher from Saarbrücken, told me. "I don't think we consider ourselves lacking a sense of humor."
"I love humour," he adds, "especially when it comes to ironic and socially important issues."
What he describes has a long tradition in Germany, where the use of political and social taboos formed the basis for the typical comedy of satirical talk shows on cabaret television programs, which are similar to today's variety shows but laden with political satire.
So, if Germans have always had talent in them, how did this stereotype come to be?
Nicola McLelland, professor of German linguistics at the University of Nottingham, UK, believes that the way different languages can influence the way different cultures convey and understand jokes.
He explains that humor typically uses ambiguity in word interpretation and sentence construction to create alternative meanings, which can add a humorous element to a situation. For example, the expression 'we see the duck' has a double meaning: either we see a duck that belongs to him, or we see him in the act of ducking out of danger.
However, German constructions can be very different. Nouns can have three different genders and four different cases. Verbs also have many different forms. The exact meaning of a sentence depends on the correct use of the gender and the case belonging to the final meaning, influencing how humor can be conveyed. Basically, it's harder to crack jokes in German when grammar makes things less ambiguous.
Germany clearly values shows with good humor, a fact that is evidenced by the soaring popularity of this comedy venue in Berlin. In fact, comedy has deep roots in German culture, with an emphasis on satire in politics as well as physical slapstick comedy. However, according to a survey conducted by Badoo.com in 2011, Germans are considered the least funny nation. This further reinforces the well-known stereotype that Germans are not funny.
“I never knew about the stereotype. I only knew it when speaking to people who spoke English,” Nicole Riplinger, an English and French teacher from Saarbrücken, told me. "I don't think we consider ourselves lacking a sense of humor."
"I love humour," he adds, "especially when it comes to ironic and socially important issues."
What he describes has a long tradition in Germany, where the use of political and social taboos formed the basis for the typical comedy of satirical talk shows on cabaret television programs, which are similar to today's variety shows but laden with political satire.
So, if Germans have always had talent in them, how did this stereotype come to be?
Nicola McLelland, professor of German linguistics at the University of Nottingham, UK, believes that the way different languages can influence the way different cultures convey and understand jokes.
He explains that humor typically uses ambiguity in word interpretation and sentence construction to create alternative meanings, which can add a humorous element to a situation. For example, the expression 'we see the duck' has a double meaning: either we see a duck that belongs to him, or we see him in the act of ducking out of danger.
However, German constructions can be very different. Nouns can have three different genders and four different cases. Verbs also have many different forms. The exact meaning of a sentence depends on the correct use of the gender and the case belonging to the final meaning, influencing how humor can be conveyed. Basically, it's harder to crack jokes in German when grammar makes things less ambiguous.
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