Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Volume/Issue:
Volume 54: Issue 1
Humour and functions of proverbs in social interaction
Author:
Outi Lauhakangas Finnish Literature Society Rautiontie 3 C 12 00640 Helsinki Finland

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Pages:
95–103
Online Publication Date:
04 Jun 2009
Publication Date:
01 Jun 2009
Article Category:
Journal Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/AEthn.54.2009.1.8
Keywords:
humour; functions; use of proverbs; social strategies; social interaction; social situation
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When people use a proverb or a proverb-like saying, it mostly represents an action to change the atmosphere of the situation going on. A social-psychological approach gives an apparatus to interpret different functions of proverbial speech and its relations to the use of humour in general. The article is based on the author’s study of functions of proverbial speech in social interaction. Proverbs are considered as a special kind of social strategy. Among the categories of the functions of proverbial speech listed in the Appendix, priority is given to those strategies in which a humoristic solution is most often preferred to serious social strategies. An obvious category in which proverbs are used humorously is ‘turning the situation into a joke’. In potentially conflicting situations such as negotiations it is important that both parties have an opportunity to joke about the situation. The liberating effect of humour, when somebody is using a proverb in a proper situation, is often an outlet for an individual’s own inner emotional tension. Something of the socially unburdening function of proverbs has also been recorded for proverb texts themselves. One can find lots of exaggerating expressions and humorous incongruity in the imagery of proverbs.

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Cover Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Print ISSN:
1216-9803
Online ISSN:
1588-2586

Senior Editors

Editor-in-Chief: Ágnes FÜLEMILE
Associate editors: Fruzsina CSEH;
Zsuzsanna CSELÉNYI
Review Editors: Csaba MÉSZÁROS; Katalin VARGHA

Editorial Board
  • Balázs BALOGH (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities)
  • Elek BARTHA (University of Debrecen)
  • Balázs BORSOS (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities)
  • Miklós CSERI (Hungarian Open Air Museum, the Skanzen of Szentendre)
  • Lajos KEMECSI (Museum of Ethnography)
  • László KÓSA (Eötvös University, Budapest)
  • lldikó LANDGRAF (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities)
  • Tamás MOHAY (Eötvös University, Budapest)
  • László MÓD (University of Szeged)
  • Attila PALÁDI-KOVÁCS (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities and Eötvös University, Budapest)
  • Gábor VARGYAS (Institute of Ethnology, Research Centre for the Humanities and University of Pécs)
  • Vilmos VOIGT (Eötvös University, Budapest)
Advisory Board
  • Marta BOTÍKOVÁ (Bratislava, Slovakia)
  • Daniel DRASCEK (Regensburg, Germany)
  • Dagnoslaw DEMSKI (Warsaw, Poland)
  • Ingrid SLAVEC GRADIŠNIK (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
  • Dmitriy A. FUNK (Moscow, Russia)
  • Chris HANN (Halle, Germany)
  • Krista HARPER (Amherst, MA USA)
  • Anya PETERSON ROYCE (Bloomington, IN USA)
  • Ferenc POZSONY (Cluj, Romania)
  • Helena RUOTSALA (Turku, Finland)
  • Mary N. TAYLOR (New York, NY USA)
  • András ZEMPLÉNI (Paris, France)

Further credits

Translators: Elayne ANTALFFY; Zsuzsanna CSELÉNYI; Michael KANDÓ
Layout Editor: Judit MAHMOUDI-KOMOR
Cover Design: Dénes KASZTA

Manuscripts and editorial correspondence:

Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Institute of Ethnology
Research Centre for the Humanities
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
H-1453 Budapest, Pf. 33
E-mail: actaethnographicahungarica@gmail.com

Reviews:
Mészáros, Csaba or Vargha, Katalin review editors
Institute of Ethnology
Research Centre for the Humanities
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
H-1453 Budapest, Pf. 33
E-mail: meszaros.csaba@btk.mta.hu or vargha.katalin@btk.mta.hu

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2023  
Scopus  
CiteScore 0.6
CiteScore rank Q2 (Music)
SNIP 0.369
Scimago  
SJR index 0.164
SJR Q rank Q2

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Acta Ethnographica Hungarica
Language English
Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 1950
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 2
Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia
Founder's
Address		 H-1051 Budapest, Hungary, Széchenyi István tér 9.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1216-9803 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2586 (Online)

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