“We are not afraid of flu ‘cause we’re drinking all day through”: epidemy jokes as a symptom of social tension

Abstract

Folklore is an important form of social response to crisis situations (including epidemics). Can it, then, become a diagnostic symptom for analyzing social tensions? Basing on experiments of Peter McGraw, we propose a model to measure dynamics of three joke topics: perceived strength of danger, distance from danger and ways to deal or avoid danger. On the data from folklore reaction to the “swine flu” pandemics of 2009 we show that new jokes about the swine flu appeared in accordance with McGraw model, in the situation when the danger was perceived as mild (it seemed possible to catch the flu but not die from it), and the distance as medium (shown in the idea that the source of contamination were the people in public spaces rather than the agents from overseas). Hence, growth or reduction of quantity of jokes may suggest symmetrical change in the perception of epidemics. The paper was written as part of a scientific research project within the RANEPA state assignment “Folklore ideologies and behavioral strategies in contemporary city”.