NEWFOUNDLAND HUMOR AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY

 Gordon Ralph

 

          The purpose of this paper is to investigate the basis of Newfoundland humor from an historical and cultural perspective to assess whether a claim to uniqueness is justifiable, and, as well, to evaluate the impact of recent socio-political movements on the future of Newfoundland humor.  All provinces and all peoples claim to possess some regional, cultural or ethnic diversity as an important part of their identity definition.  In the 1980s and 1990s there was an increase in Canadian regionalism, reflected in the strength of two new regional political parties and the failures of two proposed constitutional accords to compromise centralizing and de-centralizing tendencies.  All provinces see themselves as unique, and they may be, but one may be just a little more so?  It is the belief of Herbert Lench Pottle that:” ...the peculiarities of the Newfoundland character today have a logical, meaningful and indeed inevitable linkage with all of Newfoundland’s yesterdays” (Pottle, 1983: 10).

            Though Newfoundland was the first province visited by Europeans, it was the last permanently settled and the last to enter Canada in 1949.  This province was always viewed as a colonial possession first by the French, then by the British and now by the Canadians (this relationship is certainly under question with the failure of the fish stocks).  “All the while our cousins on the continental mainland were organizing themselves into communities, raising their families, choosing their governments, we Newfoundlanders were battling for the primitive right to settle at all –  outlaws in fact on alien soil” (Pottle, 1954:11).  From the very beginning, survival in Newfoundland was a struggle:  a struggle against temporality; a struggle against the fishing admirals who came to exploit; a struggle against each other, in the absence of law and order and during the winter months, and a struggle to find food and firewood to maintain life.  This unique and austere environment became the setting for the evolution of Newfoundland humor.

            Cyril Poole as well locates much of the Newfoundland character in an adaptive response to the precarious weather:  “Because we have not been able linguistically to slay our enemies, fog and rain, sleet and snow, we must each day go forth and do battle with them.  And the battle has moulded our character” (Poole, 1982: 43).  For Richard Gwyn the Newfoundland character was “forged ... out of hereditary and environment. Newfoundlanders are proud and sentimental, tough and impractical.”  They are a people who “rejected the dynamism and tyranny of the Protestant ethic for a humanism which placed people above things and the spiritual above the material” (Gwyn, 1970: 62). James Overton as well feels that:  “It is a culture that has developed organically in isolation and it is the environment (especially the sea) that has been one of the key forces which has moulded the Newfoundland character” (Overton, 1988: 11).

            In 1994, on C.B.C’s Cross Country Check-up, Rex Murphy was in conversation with an Editor of “The Globe and Mail,” when the latter stated:  “There is no doubt that Newfoundland has a distinct culture.”  Later in the same program a Mr. Parsons phoned in from Nova Scotia to comment that ... “he left the fishery for education.  He would like to return.  The issue is not just economic.  There is a cultural uniqueness here (Nfld)”  (C.B.C., March 13, 1994).  The difference between Newfoundland and the other Atlantic Provinces also appears to be the basis of methodological decisions when conducting Sociological Research:  “...researchers sometimes divide Newfoundland from the rest of Atlantic Canada...” (Baer, Grabb and Johnston, 1993: 16).

            Newfoundland is the only province where the majority of the residents live on an island in the middle of the Atlantic and combined with the Labrador Peninsula are the eastern most points in Canada.  Demographically, the province is the most religiously homogeneous (with the exception of Quebec), it has the lowest rate of persons speaking the two official languages, and has the highest rate of births in Canada within its own province (Hillier, 1991: 23, 22, and 27).  The vast majority of the population can

trace an ancestry to either the south of England or Ireland with a smaller number of immigrants coming from Scotland (Mathews, Kearley, Dwyer 1982: 65) (see appendix 1).  The uniqueness of the culture and its strong ties with the past can be appreciated when one realizes that the province has produced two editions of The Dictionary of Newfoundland English.  The first edition contains 624 pages of unique Newfoundland expressions while the second edition adds to the first and presents 770 pages of unique expressions (Story, Kirwin and Widdowson 1982, 1990).  The physical location, the uniform roots, the unique preservation of historical language were all melded by the continuous austerity of the environment and provided the setting for the evolution of Newfoundland humor:

The stage was bountifully set where they could laugh with relish at themselves and with resonance at one another.

 

The natural habitats of these manifold forms of humor were such hives as one another’s homes, merchant’s stores, stage heads, the squid - jigging ground, at ‘times’ (local suppers and sales), launching and hauling up boats, mummering, lodges, lumber camps...  It is not much of an exaggeration to say that where two or three are gathered together, they are likely as not to be swapping yarns.  (Pottle 1983:13)

 

            As Newfoundland and Labrador humor appears to have evolved from the precarious conditions of the lives of the people, it would be considered functional for survival.  The removal of this adaptive mechanism posing a threat to the stability of the people.  The relationship between humor and the conditions of ones existence is not peculiar to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.  Lawrence W. Levine reviews the book On the Real Side and states:

“Humor allows us to discuss virtually everything, no matter how taboo. Subjects like incest, sexual performance, prejudice, class feeling, even intense anger toward those on whom we are emotionally or materially dependent, can be expressed openly and freely once they become part of humorous expression.  This is undoubtedly why many of those who have experienced the most consistent oppression –  blacks, Jews, and Irish –  have such a highly developed sense of humor.  (Levine, New York Times, February 27, 1994: 3)

 

            Though the cause of the oppression of the Newfoundlander and Labradorian can be linked to the environment and economic uncertainty rather than the social structure, the effect on the evolution of the humor is very similar.  This fact would be supported by the French philosopher Montesquieu (1689 - 1755) who Cyril Poole (1982) finds a source of inspiration:

“...the strength of passions and the clarity of thought are largely determined by climate. . . . cold air ‘constringes the extremities of the fibres’, while ’warm air relaxes and lengthens the extremities of the external fibres of the body’....in cold climates people are more courageous, bolder, less suspicious, less cunning, and more open and frank. ...our (Newfoundlanders) spirits are set in motion only by such strong stimuli as ‘hunting, travelling, war and wine.’ .... ‘the bravery of those in cold climates has enabled them to maintain their liberties.’”  (Poole, 1982: 48-49)

            Herbert Pottle reinforces this point when he acclaims:  “Traditionally, in the light of the adverse weather conditions of Newfoundland history, humour has been both an individual and a collective means of enabling life to be tolerable” (Pottle, 1982:14).

            Though the second major source of humor (economic uncertainty) has improved, relative to the province’s extremely humble beginnings, the source of this humor has shifted from the local merchant to the political patronage of governments:

This rather sudden somersault of condition - the turnover of traditional initiative to political handout –  has not been lost on Newfoundland humor, compounded mostly of satire, which has been enjoying a roaring trade, the politicians being both suppliers and customers.  (Pottle, 1982:15)

 

            Though Pottle made this comment over two decades ago, its current validity is still without question as we reflect on the recent successes of two of Newfoundland’s comedy troupes.  “This hour has 22 Minutes” was awarded The Golden Gate Award for 1993 in San Francisco which received participation from over 1200 entries from 51 countries.  This was the largest film festival in the world and their award was in the Comedy Category. Also, “Codco” was awarded two Geminis awards for 1993:  Best Writing of a Variety Program or Series and Best Performance in a Comedy (C.B.C. Files, St. John’s, NF).  Both groups tend to emphasize political or cultural incongruities or combinations of both. These are only two of the more prominent comedy groups; there are many others:  Buddy Waissisname and the other fellows, Rex Murphy, Ray Guy, Snook, Al Cluston, Joe Mullins, Ross Goldsworthy, and Mixed Nuts –  all performing throughout the province on different occasions.

            The evolution of the humor on this tiny province can be attributed to a number of factors, already mentioned; but another significant influence is the absence of any significant censorship.  As soon as a story hits the news, local comedians are guaranteed to be spreading wit, usually by word of mouth, within a matter of maybe hours and certainly days.  Child abuse; homosexuality discovered in public washrooms; the Bobbits; Waco, Texas Immigration Irregularities; and anything else can be the subject of fresh humor.  This is usually prompted by:  “Got either fresh one?” or “Any new ones on the go?” or “I haven’t heard a story in ages?”  The latter is a reminder of the oral tradition which was once dominant in the culture and is still present.  No subject is too sacred or according to Herbert Pottle:  “There seems to be no area of life too intimate for the advances of repressed humor.”  Pottle illustrates this point by recounting the traditional story about the baby born with no ears and nobody wanted to mention this point to the parents for fear of offending them until Levi (the grandfather of the child) came to visit.  Levi avoided all mention of the babies ears but continued to comment on the child’s very fine eye sight.  At one point the mother said, “Why are you asking about his eyes?”

            “Well,” sputtered Levi, “his eyesight better be good because, poor little crater, he’ll never be able to wear glasses.”  (Pottle, 1982:28)

            The reader might appreciate a ‘fresh one’:  Clyde Wells had an accident the other day; he was out for a walk and was hit by a fishing boat (late night party, Churchill Falls, April 21, 1994, 2 a.m.).

            There is no topic too sacred to be ridiculed through humor; however, some may argue that they have lived on the island for a number of years and have not experienced uncensored humor.  If this be a retort, the speaker has removed himself/herself from the inner catacombs of the humor tunnels.  Much of Newfoundland’s raw humor is potentially offensive, and if an individual were to show the slightest signs of offense or dismay at a mild linguistic nuance then they are removed from the list of those who would other wise be entertained.  The day-to-day interactions which form the context for the advance of the wit are not intended to offend and hence, an individual who responds adversely is immediately denied access:

It is quite safe to say that when Newfoundlanders get into a huddle, a humorous story is much more likely than not what brings them together and keeps them so...  Their common ground is so firm and so redoubtable that anyone who cannot share the same premises feels like an outsider.  (Pottle, 1982: 30)

 

            Much of Newfoundland’s humor is pointed at Newfoundlanders themselves, but they are also prepared to turn a phrase at the expense of minorities, women, men, children, dogs, cats, clergymen, businessmen and sometimes even politicians.  But the teller does not believe, nor wishes to convey, some deep social commentary and certainly does not wish to be accused of some anti-democratic intention which did not exist:  “Unlike the poisoned barb of satire and the killing poiny of wit, humor is healing.  It is not only wholesome, but recreative and rejuvenating” (Shalit, l987: 2).  The Newfoundlander does not believe that the Newfoundlander is stupid, blacks are inferior, Jews are cheap, women are unequal to men or that all politicians are dishonest.  But they are aware of the existence of these stereotypes and this notion becomes one of the bases of the humor. Always, the joke remains a joke, whose raison d’etre is pure entertainment void of a significant social commentary.

            Robert Stebbins identifies four types of humor.  These are consensus, control, conflict, and comic relief (Stebbins, 1990: 47-49).  The humor of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador should be classified as consensus humor creating feelings of friendliness and good cheer, and comic relief or release from a tense situation (See Pottle, above).  Control humor, intended to annoy; and conflict humor, an act of aggression have no place within context of Newfoundland wit.

            This point is shared by Martin and Baksh who conducted an extensive empirical study of Atlantic Canadian School Humor.  They referred to Damico (1980:133) who discovered through her sociometric study of adolescent class clowns that they can release tensions within the classroom and increase a sense of group cohesion among the  students (Martin and Baksh 1995:14).  They also referred to Hill (1988:20-24) who listed eight functions of humor.  Her sixth she classifies as “appeasement function of humor” which makes light of an otherwise serious issue and the seventh is a “coping mechanism” through which students share their personal problems (Martin and Baksh 1995:19).  Both of these functions are related to the way humor is used in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

            It is difficult to separate humor and culture.  Woods (1983:114)  found that students used humor to test the water in developing their own culture.  Woods also found that joking forms a cultural bond between teacher and student (Martin and Baksh 1995:24,21).  In school and out of school it appears as though sharing one’s sense of humor is sharing one’s culture.

            The function and nature of Newfoundland humor is not always clearly understood by those who are not completely immersed in the culture of the province.  There are occasional attacks against which the province must fortify itself.  These attacks come from individuals who have never lived in Newfoundland and Labrador and encounter the culture for the first time, or from individuals who did live in the province and have lived ‘up along’ (1) for many years and feel they must protect the province from the perceived dangers of traditional stereotypes.  The format which the latter expression approximates is a hybrid combination of Newfoundland roots with upper Canadian self-consciousness.

            On November 10, 1993, a sports reporter for the Gander Beacon presented an editorial which heavily criticized a local entertainer.  The comedian was speaking at the annual Fireman’s Ball and the female reporter, originally from Nova Scotia, had only spent a short time in Gander, Newfoundland.  She called Mr. Ross Goldsworthy a racist and extremely irresponsible.  Her article was entitled:  “appalled, dismayed and disgusted.”  The very next week the paper was inundated with letters to the editor in defense of Mr. Goldsworthy, he received 30 to 40 phone calls at home and hundreds of supporting comments on the streets of Gander.  There was not one note of support for the journalist, Angela MacIsaac.  A typical letter written in support of Mr. Goldsworthy was presented by Janet Samson who said:  “I know the jokes that were told and I know that these jokes were made to poke fun at the naivety of Newfoundlanders.  After all, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at.  Ms. MacIsaac if you didn’t get the joke, you should have asked for an explanation before printing your so called commentary” (Gander Beacon, November 10 and 17, 1993).

            In April, 1993, Mr. Harry Brown, a retired C.B.C. broadcaster, originally from Newfoundland, spoke on C.B.C. television against “Snook” (Peter Soucy), a popular commentator on the C.B.C. who performs in the guise of street local from St. John’s.  Mr. Browne said:  “He perpetuates the stereotype.  He tries to spend five minutes of my time telling me how stupid I am.  And convincing any potential investors that his original assessment of Newfoundland was correct.  If he were black or female, he would be fired” (C.B.C., Here and Now, April, 1993).

            On April 8, 1993, Rex Murphy a commentator for C.B.C responded to Harry Browne’s remarks and provided a caustic attack on Mr. Brown and full support for “Snook”. “Snook” himself responded and reminded Mr. Brown of the many comedians this province has produced in the past; in “Snook’s” words:  “come on Harry bye, lighten up!”  There were no commentaries in support of Mr. Brown (C.B.C., Here and Now, April, 1993).

            Later in April, a Toronto woman, Lillian Elaine, originally from Newfoundland, aired her disgust with a Toronto newspaper which ran an ad for a computer course to be taught in many languages –  one of which was Newfie.  She felt it made her embarrassed as there was no such language as Newfie.  This prompted C.B.C. to ask people on the streets of Newfoundland what they thought of the term Newfie and the comments of Ms. Elaine.  Of the 27 people interviewed, four were against the term, 20 found no fault with the term (many felt honored by the term) and three were against the term because they preferred to be called Labradorians (C.B.C., Here and Now, April, 1993).

            These situations reflect the current clashes which are beginning to surface as the definition of reality, historically enjoyed by Newfoundlanders, begins to collide with the dominant definition of reality which is prevalent throughout much of Canada.  These incidents reflect to a degree the Politically Correct definition of acceptability, dominant in some circles of the non-Newfoundland Canadian culture and its apparent antithesis which is more prevalent in Newfoundland.  According to Maclean’s . . .“a new, rapidly unfolding moral order, it is considered unacceptable for a white person to be critical of minority groups.... seemingly disparaging references to color, sex or sexual preference be banned” (Maclean’s, May 27, 1991:40).  Much of the humor of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, contains references to sex, sexual practises and sometimes to racial groups; however, the brunt of most jokes is the Newfoundlander.  Is this acceptable?  Especially when “Ethnographic research is based on the premise that what becomes defined as humor is subjective” (Martin and Baksh 1995:38).

            At the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Murray Dolfman, a successful lawyer and popular part time lecturer, was suspended for asking an Afro-American to read twice a section from the 13th Amendment dealing with enslavement; the students and administration felt the student was being singled out.

            At Harvard, a bitter controversy developed over the desires of gays and lesbians to express their sexuality, and the rights of heterosexuals to express their attitudes toward homosexuality.

            At Stanford University, Rudy Fuentes, co-founder of MeCha, a student multicultural organization, was intimidated, threatened and encircled.  He was called Politically Incorrect for not supporting the faction of the organization which wished to become more militant over multiculturalism.

            At Penn State University, Nancy Stumhofer, fought to have a reputable painting of a naked woman removed from the music room she was required to use.  Her claim was that the painting constituted harassment.  The administration complied.

            At the University of Washington, Seattle, body builder Peter Schaub found himself in a bitter controversy when he decided to enrol in Women’s Studies 200.  He contradicted the instructors who he found were promoting lesbianism and male hatred while teaching women how to be sexually independent.  At one point in the course, the belief that families would better without males, was advanced.  The dean promised to give him credit for the course without completing the required assignments as long as he removed himself from the class (Pack, ”Campus Culture Wars”, 1993).

            Professor Graydon Snyder, a 63 year old tenured professor at the Chicago Theologian Seminary, has filed a lawsuit against his school’s disciplinary board.  He was placed on probation and required to undergo psychological therapy for making a reference to the Talmud, the Jewish Book of Laws, where it states that a man is not liable to ‘indemnify her for indignity unless it was intentionally caused.’  In the theoretical scenario, a man fell from a roof and accidentally inserted his penis (Globe and Mail, March 1994).

            These American incidents do not relate directly to the context of Newfoundland’s outlandish humor.  The two have never met on the same playing field.  Many Canadian academics feel that this movement has strongly penetrated Canada, with the zero tolerance movement sweeping Ontario (C.B.C., Morning Side, February 3, 1994).  Harry Browne, Lillian Elaine, and Angela Maclssac may be examples of others yet to come. James Overton states:

The assumption of a common culture and character and the argument that this needs to be defended against outside destructive forces has a number of political implications.  The search for and the embrace of Newfoundland culture in many places goes hand in hand with a rejection of all that is held to be alien to the Newfoundland essence....  it is this character that makes it difficult for Canadians to accept politicians such as John Crosbie and Brian Peckford.... an expression of the Newfoundland soul that is just a little too ethnic for central Canadians to accept.  (Overton, 1988: 14-15)

 

            While the ”Zero tolerance” movement in Ontario has recently been satirized in Saturday Night magazine, the reader is sometimes left to ponder on the degree of exaggeration used for satirical purposes.  Though fulfilling an important criteria for good humor –  reflection creates apprehension (Frazer, ”Saturday Night”, April, 1994: 10 and 74).

            While many fear that the Politically Correct movement may be a new form of McCarthyism (MacLean’s, 1991: 45) or puritanism (MacLean’s, 1991: 41), it becomes obvious that society cannot exist for too long without some form of control.  The Temperance Society was established to protect society from hedonistic, demonic urges. Piloted primarily by responsible ladies, it attempted to guarantee that society would reach the highest ideals of religious fundamentalism.  With the secularization of religion and the subsequent erosion of the Temperance Society, the Politically Correct movement provides society with a new means of control.  Piloted by young academics, this new movement aspires to create a society which fulfils the highest ideals of democracy.  Perhaps, the new movement will have as much effect on Newfoundland and Labrador as its predecessor:

As a result of dedicated temperance work, imports dropped from 277,808 gallons of liquor in 1838 to 94,268 in 1847; nine years later the total was up to 256,361 gallons.  In 1858 the Total Abstinence and Benefit Society was founded; and in 1883 the Newfoundland Brewing Company.  The Temperance League was rushed into the breach in 1872; twenty years later the number of saloons in St. John’s had increased to fifty-eight.  (Poole, 1982: 16)

 

            At this juncture in history it appears as though the Politically Correct (PC) movement may have had as much effect on Newfoundland and Labrador as the prior restrictive order.  However, academics are worried that this new movement may create intellectual rigidity as it seems to be based more on harassment and intimidation, rather than open debate (MacLean’s, 1991: 45).  One of the assumptions of this new movement is that humor is a reflection of a particular attitude on the part of the teller and the telling transfers this attitude to others.  There is no room for an alternative possibility –  that humor may have a life of its own void of any significant social commentary.  While the PC movement may be attempting to protect minorities from oppression, it may be evolving toward its own self-contradiction by imposing a preordained definition of reality on a new context.  Deluze and Foucault both feel “the intellectual is no longer commissioned to play the role of advisor to the masses and critic of ideological content, but rather to become one capable of providing instruments of analysis... Jean-Francois Lyotard takes this position even a step further by adamantly declaring the death of those intellectuals whose aim it is to speak on behalf of humanity in the name of an abstract and moralistic truth...  For Lyotard, there is no universal subject capable of putting forth a new concept of the world” (Kritzman, 1988: xii).  “Discourses dominant in a historical period and geographical location determine what counts as true, important, or relevant, what gets spoken and what remains unsaid” (Cherryholmes, 1988: 35).  Here Foucault is reminding us that context remains the basis of truth and acceptability.

            Barry Adam recently analyzed new social movements and found that much of the analysis of new social movements suffers from either too much or too little attention given to a Marxian perspective.  It becomes difficult to conceptualize Newfoundland humor as some new anti-state response to economic imperialism.  The Newfoundland culture is only new to those who have yet to encounter it, but what it does share with other ‘new movements’ is “the right to be ourselves without being crushed by the apparatuses of power, violence, and propaganda” (Adam, 1993: 324).  Adam sees ‘how people come to identify themselves’ as basic to new social movements.

            In recent years, Newfoundlanders have become conscious of the fact that they have a different culture which must be preserved.  Many Newfoundlanders are beginning to question the impact which Confederation may have had on the Newfoundland culture (C.B.C., Here and Now, April 7, 1994):  “Academics have begun to write copiously about the Newfoundland soul and character and about cultural revival, and there has been the development of what F.L. Jackson terms ”‘Newfcult in the arts’”  (Overton, 1988: 6).

            Throughout this report there has been an assumption that the humor of the province is completely uniform; however, given the geographic isolation of costal regions –  variety exists.  The  writer of this report has found one particular joke which he has told over 100 times and discovered that all people from Newfoundland and Labrador laughed; however, only one third of non-natives enjoyed this joke.  (Note:  There is no attempt at legitimate scientific connections in these assumptions).  The joke is about a Newfoundlander from the island portion who was in a field with a bunch of sheep.  He would grab a sheep, put it up to an apple tree, give the sheep a bite and put it down.  He was doing this with all the sheep when a mainlander (a person who is not a native of the province) came by and said, ”Sir, it’s none of my business, but you’d save a lot of time if you climbed the tree, shook it and let the apples fall and then the sheep could eat whenever they wanted.”  The Newfoundlander pondered for a few seconds and replied:  “Bye, what’s time to a sheep.”  One of the important aspects of this culture is the all-pervasive and spontaneous humor, as Peter Newman recently states:

Great art, really great art, whatever its format, must be guided by an invisible hand:  the spontaneous blossoming of humanity caught in a moment’s creative impulse.  That’s even more true of great people, like Newfoundlanders.  Spontaneity is their middle name.”  (Newman, Maclean’s, 1994: 45)

 

            The PC movement stands as the antithesis of spontaneity and hence of Newfoundland culture.  Allan Dershowitz comment on the effect this movement will have on the academic community:  “We will see far worse teaching as teachers will have to think about every term, every illustration” (Pack, Campus Culture Wars, 1993).  The possibility of offence will serve as an inhibiting force in even face-to-face interactions and pose a threat to the spontaneity of the people and a threat to the culture.

            The Newfoundland culture evolved from the precarious circumstances of the lives of the people.  The element of humor was functional for their adaptation in the face of physical and economic uncertainty.  It is a humor which is intended to provide consensus and relief but not control and conflict (Stebbins).  As Newman states:  “To be a Newfie is to be a survivor.  That great spirit is in jeopardy.  They are about to become an endangered species” (Newman, MacLean’s, 1994: 45).  While Newman is primarily referring to the devastating impact that the failure of the fishery is having and will have on the culture of the island, the essential assumption is identical.  One threat is economic – the other ideological.  The construction of knowledge is derived from experience itself.  As Foucault said:  “How can the subject tell the truth about itself?”  (Kritzman, 1988: 38).  How can a Newfoundland academic whose avocation is stand-up comedy accurately analyze the relationship between Newfoundland culture and the Politically Correct movement?  How does someone who has never lived in Newfoundland interpret it?  Economics and ideology must work for the preservation of this culture!

(1)   The value of any culture ultimately depends not on good books or great art, but on the passage of people’s seed from one generation to the next, on their link to the soil and the sea.  The Newfoundlanders’ life force is expressed less in words than in deeds – in the compassion and humor they feel for one another when there is nothing else available to share.  That’s what is really at stake in Newfoundland these days.  And that’s why Canadians who don’t live on the Rock should not begrudge the relatively modest tax burden to keep our most vibrant culture alive and kicking. (Newman, MacLean’s, 1994: 45). The expression used for Canadians who are not from Newfoundland.  They live physically up and along from Newfoundland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Adam, Barry D. 1993. ‘Post – Marxism and the new social movements,’ Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 30(3): 316-336.

 

Baer, Brabb and Johnson 1993. ‘National character, regional culture and the values of Canadians and Americans,’ Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 30(1): 16.

 

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

1993      “Here and Now”, April 1, St. John’s, NL.

1993      “Here and Now”, April 8, St. John’s, NL.

1993      “Here and Now”, April 12, St. John’s, NL.

1993      “Here and Now”, April 15-27,  St. John’s, NL.

1994      “Morning Side”, February 3, 1994.

1994      “Cross Country Check-up”, Montreal, March 13, 1994.

1994            “Here and Now”, April 7, St. John’s, NL.

 

CherryHolmes, Cleo H. 1988.  Power and CriticismNew York:  Teachers College Press.

 

Damico, Sandra Bowman 1980.   “What’s Funny About a Crisis?  Clowns in the Classroom.”  Contemporary Education, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Spring).

 

Fennel Torn 1991.  ‘The Silencers’ McLean’s, May 27: 40-43.

 

Gander Beacon 1993.  ‘Appalled, Dismayed and Disgusted’, November 10, Gander, NL. 1998  ‘Letters to the Editor,’ November 17, Gander, NL.

 

Globe and Mail 1994.  ‘Theologian sues over harassment complaint,’ March.

 

Gwyn, Richard 1970.  Smallwood:  The Unlikely RevolutionaryToronto:  McClelland and Stewart.

 

Hill, Debora J. 1988.  Humor in the Classroom:  A Handbook for Teachers (and Other Entertainers)Springfield, Illinois:  Charles C. Thomas.

 

Hillier, Harry H. 1991.  Canadian Society, A Macro AnalysisScarborough:  Prentice-Hall.

 

Kritzman, Lawrence D. (ed.) 1988.  Politics, Philosophy, CultureNew YorkRoutledge.

 

Levine, Lawrence 1994.   ‘Laughing Matters’ New York Times Book Review.

 

Matthews, Kearley and Dwyer (eds.) 1982. Our Newfoundland and Labrador Cultural Heritage/Part One, Scarborough, Ontario:  Prentice-Hall.

 

Newman, Peter C. 1994.  ‘To kill a people – dash their dream’, McLean’s, April 25: 45.

 

Overton, James 1988.  ‘A Newfoundland Culture?’  Journal of Canadian Studies, 23: (1 and 2).

 

Pack, Michael 1993. ‘Campus Culture Wars’, Manifold Productions, (with South Carolina E.T.V.).

 

Poole, Cyril 1982.  In Search of the Newfoundland SoulSt. John’s:  Harry Cuff Publications.

 

Pottle, Herbert Lench 1983. Fun on the Rock, Toward a Theory of Newfoundland HumorSt. John’s: Breakwater Books.

 

Shalit, Gene (ed.) 1987. Laughing MattersNew YorkBallantine Books.

 

Stebbins, Robert A. 1990. The Laugh MakersMontreal:  McGill-Queen’s University Press.

 

Story, Kirwin and Widdowson (eds.) 1990. Dictionary of Newfoundland EnglishTorontoUniversity of Toronto Press.

 

                                                       Other Related References

 

Ermarth, Elizabeth Deeds 1992. Sequel to History, Postmodernism and the Crisis of Representational Time.  New JerseyPrinceton.

 

Forgacs, David (ed.) 1985.  Antonio Gramsci, Selections from Cultural WritingsCambridgeHarvard University Press.

 

Foucault, Michel 1972.  The Archaeology of KnowledgeNew York:  Pantheon Books.

 

Martin and Baksh 1995. School Humor:  Pedagogical and Sociological Considerations, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

 

Massumi, Brian 1992.  A User’s guide to Capitalism and SchizophreniaCambridge:  Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

McCormack, Thelma 1992 “Politically Correct”, Sociology and Anthropology Bulletin.  May.  

 

Ryan D. and Rossiter T. (eds.) 1983      Literary Modes (See Comic Mode) St. John’sJesperson. 1984 The Newfoundland CharacterSt. John’sJesperson Press.

 

Woods, Peter 1983      “Coping at School Through Humor.”  British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol.  4, No. 2.