Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The study provides an ethnographic probe into the lives of the members of the PCR test team during the pandemic of COVID-19.The aim is to show the use of humour as a communication strategy in times of crisis from the perspective of symbolic anthropology and ethnography of communication, especially theories of danger and joke.The approach of state health institutions have often failed to meet the needs of society, affecting patients' access to information, the treatment of diseases or the identification of positive patients.Humour helped to prevent the conflicts, signalled forgiveness and influenced attitudes towards adherence to the rules.We focus on interpersonal and interactional aspects of communication, social identification of the respondents, as well as the influence of political culture.Coping strategies are followed through: (1) representations of dirt and the boundaries of the body, (2) the recontextualization of the statements and acts, (3) the boundaries of the joke in relation to feelings of safety, and (4) the subversive effect of humour and flirtation in a time of the disciplining of bodies.The study demonstrates how laughter bridges the gap resulting from the conflicting informational inputs.The recontextualisation of the teams' motto: Corona does not exist! is interpreted in its socio-pragmatic dimension.
Source: Slovenský národopis
Authors: Viktória Kállayová, Helena Tužinská
Institution: Comenius University Bratislava
Language: Slovak
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4362556296