Author: Sharif Kanaana

This article consists of two main parts: a theoretical part which proposes considering the joke as a form of play and an applied part which illustrates the theoretical part using political jokes produced by the Palestinian society during the five years of the "Peace Process" extending from mid 1991 to early 1997. This period is divided into five stages with several variables including the prevailing political conditions, the motivating factors for the production of the jokes, the individuals targeted by the jokes, and the overall mood reflected in the jokes for each of the five stages. Several representative jokes are quoted for each of the five stages.

Keywords: Narratives, humor, Palestine, folklore, peace process.  

Sharif Kanaana, PhD. Anthropology, Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Science, Faculty of Arts, Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.