الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 175 |  |  |
| | | from | 175 | | |
Abstract
This section presents a summary of the findings through answering the research questions which follow:
1. How jokes targeting Kurds are classified and analyzed using the general theory of verbal humor (GTVH) and the cooperative principle (CP)?
2. On basis of the two surveys undertaken, how do Iraqis of different generations view ethnic jokes? And how do jokes about Kurds said by Kurds themselves differ from those which are said by Arabs?
First, to answer the first question, 27 Iraqi ethnic jokes were analyzed according to the GTVH and the cooperative principle (CP). The 27 jokes had Script Opposition and Logical Mechanisms like juxtaposition and garden path. The jokes were chosen originally based on their target which is Kurds; however, after analyzing the jokes the researcher found that five jokes out of 27 had different targets. The cooperative principle was also used in the analysis and Table 4.4 shows the results of the violated maxims. It was found that all 27 jokes violated at least one maxim which is the quality maxim. The majority of jokes violated the quality and quantity maxims. There is a possibility that overt jokes and violating the quality maxim alone are connected.
Second, to answer the first part of the second question, the participants were divided into three age groups and were asked the following question in the surveys: 1-which joke do you perceive as offensive? 2- which joke do you perceive as funny? 3-do you think that Kurds are annoyed by these joke? 4- do you like jokes that target a certain component of the Iraqi society? In addition, there is the situation question in which Iraqis were asked to choose a joke to tell. The choices that the participants have are three jokes that represent two stereotypes about Kurds and overt language. Language jokes are believed to be the funniest with 43.2%, then simple-mindedness jokes 20.5%, then overt jokes 9.1%. However, 27.3% believe that none of the jokes is funny which is the second largest percentage. On the other hand, the most offensive type of joke for the participants is Simple-mindedness jokes with 27.9%, then comes overt jokes with 26.7%, then All with 23.3%. Language jokes ranked last with 11.6%. Moreover, 10.5% believe that none is offensive. The majority of participants (42.3%) believe that Kurds are extremely annoyed by the jokes that target them. This type of joke is not preferable in Iraq since the majority (71%) said that they do not like jokes that target a certain ethnicity, while 22% answered that they like this type of jokes. Only 7% answered that they sometimes they like this type of jokes.
Third, to answer the second part of the second question “How do jokes about Kurds said by Kurds themselves differ from those which are said by Arabs?” the following questions were asked to Kurds: “if you were to tell a joke that targets Kurds, which one will you choose?” Then, the researcher compared the choices which are made by Kurds and the choices of Arab. The choices of Arab and Kurd did not differ when it comes to choosing a joke to tell. Both tell all types of jokes that target Kurds and according to the Chi-square test, the results are insignificant which means there is no difference between the choices of Kurds and of Arabs. Kurds use these jokes themselves to show their immunity to such jokes and express their attitudes towards Kurds from different provinces due to Kurds regional rivalry.
Table 6. 1
A comparison between Arab and Kurds choices of jokes
Joke type Arab Kurds
Language 44% 62%
Simple-minded 13% 21%
Overt 18% 10%
Other 25% 7%
The jokes collected started with an apology to Kurds which the researcher took as a declaration of Arab or non-Kurd ethnicity. According to Khanaka (1990), Kurds do tell jokes that target Arab and Kurd themselves due to the regional rivalry between Kurds. However, there is no way to identify the ethnicity of the joke teller when the jokes are published on the internet. In Khanaka’s case, she collected the jokes from people she knew their ethnicity and she depended on the first time she heard the jokes to decide the origin of the joke. Jokes are circulated between Arabs and Kurd which eventually leads to confusing the origin of the joke and the ethnicity of the sharer. Thus, the researcher did not follow the same approach that Khanaka followed. Rather, the researcher presented jokes and asked Kurd to choose the one they would tell.
Jokes that target Kurds are more than those that target Adduleim in Iraq and the chi-square test shows that the result of the difference is significant. Second, there is a significant difference between the results of the first survey and the second. More participants refrained from telling jokes after the referendum, though many used offensive jokes on social media during the five months that witnessed the independence discussions. This change of attitude could be due to the military operation which resulted in causalities in Arabs and in Kurds. Third, language jokes are more preferable than other types by both Arab and Kurd.
6.2. Suggestions for Further Studies
This study tested the application of GTVH to Iraqi ethnic jokes that target Kurds; however, these jokes were canned. Further studies on Iraqi ethnic jokes in the communicative context might provide more insight about the nature of these jokes. Studying the reaction of society to such jokes is essential to understanding them because, as Billig (2001) said, many researchers ignored the negative side because they did not study jokes in context. Conversation analysis and modality can be the key to understand ethnic jokes as well. These fields have the capacity and tools necessary for such purpose. In addition, this study provided Iraqis’ attitudes towards these ethnic jokes; however, further studies using Bogardus’s (1924 as cited in Bhat ,2018) social distance scale to uncover the social distance between Arabs and Kurds in Iraq are needed. Analyzing Arabic disclaimers as Billig (2001) did in his study, will also uncover more information about the nature of these jokes. Moreover, a number of cartoons targeting Kurds appeared on social media after the referendum which could be studied and analyzed to uncover their effect on the harmony of the Iraqi society.
6.3. Limitations of the Study
One of the limitations of this study is the number of participants especially in the second survey which was less than the first one. It was difficult to convince Iraqis to participate in the survey on Facebook. The problem concerning the number of participants would be eliminated with a face to face survey instead of an online one. Many participants did not complete the first survey because it was long while in the second, the participants complained from the ethnic jokes. They commented asking for a survey without jokes because the jokes will hurt Kurds. One of those who complained was a Kurd participant. The researcher had to explain the purpose of the study carefully for him because he commented “It is inappropriate to deprecate Kurds in this way i.e. deprecating Kurds while saying it is for the purpose of a study.” The second limitation is the number of Kurd participants which was less than the Arab participants. Since 2005 and Kurdish is an official language in Iraq which means that Kurdish is used in schools and universities in Iraq. Thus, Arabic is not a must for education anymore. Therefore, not all Kurds learn Arabic. The surveys were in Arabic which limited Kurd participants to Arabic speaking Kurds only. This problem could be avoided with a survey in the Kurdish language for Kurds.
6.4 Contribution
The principle contributions of this thesis are:
• This study provided recent Iraqi ethnic jokes targeting Kurds from 6 websites and explained the main stereotypes about Kurds.
• Linguistic tools were applied to analyze these jokes which are GTVH by Attardo and Raskin (1991) and CP by Grice (1975).
• The attitudes of Iraqis towards these jokes were also investigated through two online surveys. In addition, a comparison between the number of jokes which targets Duleim and those which target Kurds was provided.
• A review of Kurds origin and the recent events in Iraq which included Kurds like the independence referendum were provided and explained