THE POLITICS OF HUMOUR Laughter, Inclusion, and Exclusion in the Twentieth Century GERMAN AND EUROPEAN STUDIES General Editor: Rebecca Wittman The Politics of Humour Laughter, Inclusion, and Exclusion in the Twentieth Century Edited by Martina Kessel and Patrick Merziger UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press 2012 Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com Printed in Canada isbn 978-1-4426-4292-8 Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks. German and European Studies Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication The politics of humour : laughter, inclusion, and exclusion in the twentieth century / edited by Martina Kessel and Patrick Merziger. (German and European studies) Includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-1-4426-4292-8 1. European wit and humor – History and criticism. 2. American wit and humor – History and criticism. I. Kessel, Martina II. Merziger, Patrick III. Series: German and European studies pn6149.p64p64 2012 809 .7′93581 c2011-906205-4 University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing activities. This book has been printed with financial support from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Germany, and the Series on German and European History, University of Toronto. Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction. Landscapes of Humour: The History and Politics of the Comical in the Twentieth Century martina kessel 3 1 When Are Jewish Jokes No Longer Funny? Ethnic Humour in Imperial and Republican Berlin peter jelavich 22 2 Creole Cartoons mark winokur 52 3 Talking War, Debating Unity: Order, Conflict, and Exclusion in ‘German Humour’ in the First World War martina kessel 82 4 Producing a Cheerful Public: Light Radio Entertainment during National Socialism monika pater 108 5 Humour in the Volksgemeinschaft: The Disappearance of Destructive Satire in National Socialist Germany patrick merziger 131 6 Laughing to Keep from Dying: Jewish Self-Hatred and The Larry Sanders Show vincent brook 153 7 Ethnic Humour and Ethnic Politics in the Netherlands: The Rules and Attraction of Clandestine Humour giselinde kuipers 175 8 ‘The Tongues of Mocking Wenches’: Humour and Gender in Late Twentieth-Century British Fiction eileen gillooly 202 Contributors 221 This page intentionally left blank List of Illustrations 1.1: Anti-Semitism: In the zoo a parrot squawks ‘Yid yid!’ (1924) 42 1.2: Gross: Two men pass by a manicure salon (1924) 43 1.3: The Epitaph: A man sees a tombstone in a Jewish cemetery (1924) 44 2.1: Frame capture from Fun in a Bakery Shop (1902) 59 2.2: Frame capture from The Enchanted Drawing (1900) 59 2.3: Frame capture from Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) 59 2.4: Detail from Thomas Nast, ‘The Champion of the Fenians’ (1876) 60 2.5: Detail from Winsor McCay, ‘Little Nemo in Wonderland’ (1906) 60 2.6: H. Strickland Constable, ‘Ireland from One or Two Neglected Points of View’ (1899) 62 2.7: Frame capture from Little Nemo (1911) 63 2.8: Frame capture from Felix Gets Broadcasted (1923) 66 2.9: Frame capture from Felix in Hollywood (1923) 67 2.10: Frame capture from Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929) 69 2.11: Cab Calloway frame capture from Minnie the Moocher (1932) 76 2.12: Ghost walrus frame capture from Minnie the Moocher (1932) 76 2.13: Frame capture from The Old Man of the Mountain (1933) 76 3.1: Censored postcard from the First World War 93 5.1: Robert Högfeldt, ‘In Harmony’ (‘In Eintracht’) (1938) 145 5.2: Robert Högfeldt, ‘The Optimists’ (‘Die Optimisten’) (1937) 146 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This volume had its origins in a conference on Humour in the Twen- tieth Century, held at the Munk Centre of the University of Toronto. We gratefully acknowledge the generous financial support provided by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, the German Academic Exchange Service, and the Munk Centre of the University of Toronto. Not all original participants could be included here, but we thank all for stimulating discussions. Jeff Kopstein and Edith Klein at the Munk Centre provided intellectual and administrative support. We would like to thank the Series on Ger- man and European History at the University of Toronto for including the volume and providing financial support, as well as the Fritz Thys- sen Foundation for supporting the publication financially. Finally, we would like to thank University of Toronto Press for taking on this project and for providing excellent editorial support. M.K., P.M., Bielefeld/Berlin, January 2011