Blason populaire: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Line 8:

==Form and role of blason populaire==

Blason Populairepopulaire represents an expression of traditional rivalry and a form of traditional insulting also seen in [[flyting]]. They may take the form of [[ethnic jokes]], [[ethnic stereotype]]s, [[football chant]]s, [[List of British regional nicknames|traditional nicknames]] and other forms.

Blason populaire performs a number of roles in society, such as social cohesion, by defining group behaviour or characteristics and contrasting those with another (alien, outsider or 'out group') group. This can be on a geographical, social, sex, occupation or pastime basis. For example, in one form blason populaire often seeks to undermine the masculinity of a rival group of males, or insult the appearance or chastity of the females of the rival group. Football chants often make reference to male players, officials or supporters being homosexual, effeminate or in some way not sufficiently masculine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edtimes.in/the-most-offensive-chants-in-football/ | title=The most offensive chants in football | work=ED Times | author=Sriraj Singhania| date=25 January 2021 }}</ref>

Line 31:

In another example, [[Culture of Yorkshire|Yorkshire]] people may describe themselves as strong, hard-working, honest, thrifty and straightforward. In blason populaire these qualities are humorously turned into weaknesses. The Yorkshireman is portrayed as too blunt and mean in the well-known blason populaire "a Yorkshireman is a Scotsman with all the generosity squeezed out of him". This refers to another blason populaire (that Scots are mean) to intensify the insult. This stereotype can also be seen in the Yorkshireman's Motto:

{{Text and translation

:''Ear all, see all, say nowt;''▼

| <poem>

:''Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt;''▼

:''AndEar ifall, ivversee thaall, does owt fersay nowt –;''

▲:''EarEyt all, seesup all, saypay nowt;''

:''Allus do it fer thissen.''<ref>{{cite book|first=Arnold |last=Kellett|title= Yorkshire Dialect Classics|page= 15}}</ref>▼

''And if ivver tha does owt fer nowt –''

▲:''Allus do it fer thissen.''<ref>{{cite book|first=Arnold |last=Kellett|title= Yorkshire Dialect Classics|page= 15}}</ref>

</poem>

| <poem>

Hear all, see all, say nothing;

▲:''EytEat all, supdrink all, pay nowtnothing;''

And if you ever do anything for nothing;

Always do it for yourself;

</poem>

}}

The UK also has a strong tradition of football-based blason populaire. Here the group bonding aim is present but there is also a more direct intent: to insult players to put them off their game. Officials and rival fans are also insulted through chants and songs. This is strongly correlated with flyting where the game of football is a ritualised form of battle. In football chants the opposition team or its players can be slated, or the football players of the home team lauded for being heroes or having their male characteristics exaggerated to emphasise their superiority. A chant about player Romelu Lukaku is an example of this:

<poem>

"''eE's our Belgium scoring genius |
He's got a 24-inch penis |
Scoring all the goals |
Bellend to his toes.''"

</poem>

Although this chant is not derogatory against the target per se (it was chanted by his supporters), it was later discouraged by Manchester United for expressing a stereotype of black men.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edtimes.in/the-most-offensive-chants-in-football/ | title=The most offensive chants in football | work=ED Times | author=Sriraj Singhania| date=25 January 2021 }}</ref> Other examples have been used against players referencing their behaviour off field to put them off their game on field. Among these, John Terry inspired a number of offensive chants ("He's shagging the ref, He's shagging the ref") which referenced his infidelity, and Wayne Rooney because he allegedly slept with a much older woman ("Fat granny shagger, you're just a fat granny shagger").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/10-funniest-yet-offensive-chants-english-football/7 |title=10 Funniest Yet Offensive Chants in English Football | work=Sportskeeda | author=Faizan Qadiri|date=25 September 2016 }}</ref>

Line 46 ⟶ 60:

Exceptions to the non-nationalistic tendency are often blasons populaires of the multi-group international comparison, manifested in epigrammatic form in European languages, with the most salient and representative stereotypical trait being attributed to the nations involved (what Billig (1995) refers to as 'banal nationalism'). Enumerative structures, usually tri- or quadripartite formulas, are the favoured apparatus. The syntactic and semantic juxtaposition of negative traits for comparative purposes is then counter-balanced by the positive representation of one nation, usually in final position, most commonly the in-group that invokes the comparison. Below is a nineteenth-century German example (Reinsberg-Düringsfeld 1863, 5) in which there is no apparent in-group.

::{{Text and translation|''Die Italiener fluchen, Die Franzosen schreien, Die Engländer essen, Die Spanier trotzen, Und die Deutschen betrinken sich.'' |The Italians curse, the French scream, the English eat, the Spanish defy, and the Germans get drunk.}}

:::(The Italians curse, the French scream, the English eat, the Spanish defy, and the Germans get drunk.)

==''Blasons populaires'' in Wallonia and Luxembourg ==

Line 125 ⟶ 138:

==See also==

*[[Town of fools]]

*[[Ethnic jokes]]

*[[An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman]]

*[[Florida man]]

==References==