The Floor Falling Away

Dislocated Space and Body in the Humour of Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel

Bibliographic Data

ID8934941
AuthorsHagar Salamon (0000-0002-6946-7800, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume122
Issue1
Pages16-34
Publication date2011-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0015587x.2011.537128
OpenAlexW2013238397
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited21

The present paper analyses humorous stories circulating among Ethiopian immigrants now living in Israel. Typically told at community gatherings, these narratives articulate the drama of dislocation and the traumatic encounter with life in Israel, by focusing on the embarrassing clash of the quintessential "traditional" Ethiopian, with a new land-scape, time-scape, and body-scape. Characterised by an easy spirit, the revelation of innocence met with forgiving and accepting laughter, these stories enable internalisation and mediation of common ambivalences and vulnerabilities, converting them into elements of pleasure. Acknowledgements The author thanks Mulugete Mahari and Yael Aizic for assisting in the collection of the humorous stories and the transcription of the recorded materials, as well as The Folklore Research Center at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem for financial support. The author is grateful to Ilana Goldberg, Galit Hasan-Rokem, and Anbessa Tefera, as well as to the two anonymous reviewers, for their insightful reading of earlier versions of this paper. Some of the stories were presented at the International Society for Folk Narrative Research conference held in Athens in June 2009, and at the XVII International Conference of Ethiopian Studies and the Society for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry meeting held in Ethiopia in November 2009. The author extends thanks to the participants of the panels at these conferences for the stimulating discussion. Notes [1] For additional themes articulated in the humour of Ethiopian-Israelis—also appearing in five of the twenty-eight stories presented here—see Salamon (2010 Salamon, Hagar. 2010. Misplaced Home and Mislaid Meat: Stories Circulating Among Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel. Callaloo, 33(1): 165–76. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). [2] For studies on humour and assimilation to life in Israel, and to Israeli society, see Oring (1981 Oring, Elliot. 1981. Israeli Humor: The Content and Structure of the Chizbat of the Palmah, Albany: State University of New York Press. [Google Scholar]; 2003 Oring, Elliot. 2003. Engaging Humor, Urbana: University of Illinois Press. [Google Scholar]), Zilberg (2001 Zilberg, Narspy. 2001. "In-group Humor of Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel". In Language and Communication in Israel, Edited by: Herzog, Hanna and Ben-Rafael, Eliezer. 129–50. New Brunswick: Transaction Publication. [Google Scholar]), Shifman and Katz (2005 Shifman, Limor and Katz, Elihu. 2005. 'Just Call me Adonai': A Case Study of Ethnic Humor and Immigrant Assimilation. American Sociological Review, 70: 843–59. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Salamon (2007 Salamon, Hagar. 2007. The Ambivalence Over the Levantinization of Israel: 'David Levi' Jokes. Humor: International Journal for Humor Research, 20: 415–42. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and LeVine (2008 Le Vine, Chava. "'Before, You Were Just a Tourist! Now You are an Oleh Chadash!': Examining the Content and Functionality of In-Group Humor of Anglo-Saxon Immigrants to Israel." Seminar paper for the course on "Cultural Dynamics and Ethnic Humour in Israel," Jewish and Comparative Folklore, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2008. [Google Scholar]). [3] A participant in such a meeting recounted: "So we drink, we chat, we talk ... all kinds [of talk]. Who was where, who did what, all kinds of things. [...] those who work in a kindergarten tell about the children at the Ethiopian children's kindergarten, or about the new immigrants, [...] they talk, they laugh, about how they behave, that they don't know [how to behave], and then we also drink bun [coffee]. [...] I take a shower, put on perfume, wear jewellery from here, not from Ethiopia. It gives a feeling of fun." For a study of these gatherings, see Salamon, Kaplan and Goldberg (2009 Salamon, Hagar, Steven, Kaplan and Harvey, Goldberg. 2009. What Goes Around, Comes Around: Rotating Credit Associations Among Ethiopian Women in Israel. African Identities, 7(3): 399–415. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). [4] In the Northern Ethiopian culture in which immigrants to Israel previously lived, with its emphasis on respect and honour, such self-depreciation is rather rare. Therefore, one might suggest that it is perhaps the form and not only the content that is innovative in this corpus. I thank the anonymous reader for this remark. In addition, a new body of humorous stories, based on the well-known Ethiopian trickster, Abba Gevrehana, is now told among Ethiopian-Israeli soldiers of the Israeli Defence Forces. This emerging corpus of humour, which is still not fully established, seems to stand in opposition to the current body of humorous Ethiopian stories, and deserves a future study. [5] In most publications relating to the group while in Ethiopia, they were usually referred to as "Falasha." They themselves employ the name "Beta Israel" (the House of Israel) when referring to their Ethiopian past and when referring to their new position in Israel. For an ethno-historical study, based on interviews with group members now living in Israel, see Salamon (1999). [6] Ancient Ethiopic, Ethiopia's Semitic liturgical tongue used by Jews and Christians alike. [7] The Torah-centred religious observance of the Beta Israel is a function of their existence as a Jewish community, distinct from other Jewish communities. [8] Much has been written on these two dramatic operations. For a general description of their progress and outcome, see Kaplan and Rosen (1993 Kaplan, Steven and Rosen, Chaim. 1993. Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel: Between Preservation of Culture and Invention of Tradition. Jewish Journal of Sociology, 35: 35–48. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). On the centrality of the Exodus story in the immigration of the Jews from Ethiopia to Israel, see Ben Ezer (2002 Ben Ezer, Gad. 2002. The Ethiopian Jewish Exodus: Narratives of the Migration Journey to Israel 1977–1985, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]). [9] These newcomers are considered different from the immigrants who arrived in Israel up until Operation Solomon in 1991. On these groups, and especially on the Falashmura, see, for example, Kaplan (1993 Kaplan, Steven. 1993. Falasha Christians: A Brief History. Midstream, : 20–1. [Google Scholar]), Salamon (1994 Salamon, Hagar. 1994. Between Ethnicity and Religiousity—Internal Group Aspects of Conversion Among the Beta Israel in Ethiopia. Pe'amim, 58: 104–19. [Google Scholar]), Shabtay (2006 Shabtay, Malka. 2006. Yehudei Etiopia MiZera Beta Israel: Masaam Mi"Beta Israel" leBnei ha 'Falamura' v'l'Yehudei Etiopia, Tel Aviv: Lashon Tseha. [In Hebrew] [Google Scholar]) and, especially, Seeman (2009 Seeman, Don. 2009. One People, One Blood: Ethiopian-Israelis and the Return to Judaism, Piscataway, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. [Google Scholar]). [10] For a summary description of the immigration to Israel ("aliyah"), including references to many other publications, see, for example, Kaplan and Rosen (1993 Kaplan, Steven and Rosen, Chaim. 1993. Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel: Between Preservation of Culture and Invention of Tradition. Jewish Journal of Sociology, 35: 35–48. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and Kaplan and Salamon (2003 Salamon, Hagar. 2003. Blackness in Transition: Decoding. Racial Construct through Stories of Ethiopian Jews. Journal of Folklore Research, 40(1): 3–32. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 118–22). On basic aspects of their assimilation in Israel, see Westheimer and Kaplan (1992 Westheimer, Ruth and Kaplan, Steven. 1992. Surviving Salvation: The Ethiopian Jewish Family in Transition, New York and London: New York University Press. [Google Scholar]) and Kaplan and Salamon (2003 Kaplan, Steven and Salamon, Hagar. 2003. "Ethiopian Jews in Israel: A Part of the People or Apart from the People?". In Jews in Israel: Contemporary Social and Cultural Patterns, Edited by: Rebhun, Uzi and Waxman, Chaim I. 118–48. New England: Brandeis University Press. [Google Scholar]). [11] An attempt to obscure the impression of "otherness" was made by placing the Beta Israel's skin hue on a continuum with that of earlier Jewish immigrant groups; in particular, the Jews of Yemen and India. This corpus is characterised by jokes that are mainly "good-natured." In the first stages of the Ethiopian immigration to Israel, the dominant jokes focused on categorising the Ethiopians in the spectrum of Jewish colours (see Salamon 2001 Salamon, Hagar. 2001. "In Search of Self and Other: A Few Remarks on Ethnicity, Race, and Ethiopian Jews". In Jewish Locations: Traversing Racialized Landscapes, Edited by: Tessman, Lisa and Bar On, Bat-Ami. 75–88. Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield. [Google Scholar]; 2003). Jokes such as "What's the difference between an Ethiopian and a Yemenite? Five minutes' baking," or "Why did they bring the Ethiopians to Israel? To become spare parts for the Yemenites," emphasised the resemblance of the Ethiopians to the other Jews, and attempted to avoid their categorisation as racially other. At the time of writing, jokes about Ethiopians told by non-Ethiopian Israelis relate strongly to their colour by comparing Ethiopians with different types of chocolates. This highly generative cycle, fully accepts their blackness, as well as their "sweetness," and their belonging in Israeli society. [12] For these struggles, including especially the debate over their personal conversions, the blood scandal, see Seeman (1997 Seeman, Don. "One People, One Blood: Religious Conversion, Public Health, and the Immigration as Social Experience for Ethiopian Jews." Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1997. [Google Scholar]). Regarding other race-oriented struggles, see Salamon (2003). [13] Their everyday assimilation was, and still is, of course, a multi-faceted challenge consisting of issues concerning language, health, education, employment, and much more. The various ways in which humour participated in the assimilation of different ethnic groups to life in Israel, is still to be studied. Relevant examples are: Zilberg (2003), who dealt with humour as related to nostalgia, lost status, and longing for homeland and culture, among newcomers to Israel from the former Soviet Union; a study by Shifman and Katz (2005 Shifman, Limor and Katz, Elihu. 2005. 'Just Call me Adonai': A Case Study of Ethnic Humor and Immigrant Assimilation. American Sociological Review, 70: 843–59. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) on jokes told mainly by Eastern European Jews about the Yekkes (German Jews); Oring (1981 Oring, Elliot. 1981. Israeli Humor: The Content and Structure of the Chizbat of the Palmah, Albany: State University of New York Press. [Google Scholar]; 2003 Oring, Elliot. 2003. Engaging Humor, Urbana: University of Illinois Press. [Google Scholar], 97–115), on the chizbat of the Palmach; and LeVine (2008 Le Vine, Chava. "'Before, You Were Just a Tourist! Now You are an Oleh Chadash!': Examining the Content and Functionality of In-Group Humor of Anglo-Saxon Immigrants to Israel." Seminar paper for the course on "Cultural Dynamics and Ethnic Humour in Israel," Jewish and Comparative Folklore, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2008. [Google Scholar]), who, in an unpublished paper, studied the in-group jokes told by Anglo-Saxon immigrants to Israel, which focused mainly on Israeli drivers, money, and lowered standards of living. [14] And while Israel was prepared to absorb and accommodate its newcomers, the sheer number of Ethiopian immigrants inundated the state's absorbing capacity. For a study of the paternalistic attitudes of the absorption officials toward the Ethiopian newcomers, see Hertzog (1998 Hertzog, Esther. Bureaucrats and Immigrants is an Absorption Center. Tel Aviv, 1998. [In Hebrew.] [Google Scholar]). [15] According to the immigrants, in rural Ethiopia all forms of sanitation took place in nature. No man-made products were used for sanitation purposes. On that topic, Reidolf Molvaer wrote: "Traditional sanitary practices survive over most of Ethiopia. Any reasonably hidden place in nature can be used as a 'toilet' [...] this is a custom inherited from generations back, so few see any harm in it or feel any strong urge to change it, except in crowded towns where there are not enough open spaces" (Molvaer 2007 Molvaer, Reidulf. 2007. What Good is Technical Assistance? A Problem Illustrated with an Example from Ethiopia. International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 3: 91–113. [Google Scholar], 97). [16] Mistakes, both lexical and semantic, deriving from phonetic similarities between the Ethiopian languages Amharic or Tigrinya and Hebrew, are a source of many humorous anecdotes told within the Ethiopian Israeli community. Language and space intermingle: the linguistic affinity between Hebrew and Amharic, which underlies the slippage between the words bayit and bet, gar and agar, contributes to the confusion. [17] On the term Beseder ("OK," "all right," "in order") as a central humorous idiom of former Soviet Union immigrants in Israel, see Zilberg (2001 Zilberg, Narspy. 2001. "In-group Humor of Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union to Israel". In Language and Communication in Israel, Edited by: Herzog, Hanna and Ben-Rafael, Eliezer. 129–50. New Brunswick: Transaction Publication. [Google Scholar]). [18] The title Abba denotes respectability and honour, usually connected with elders. [19] Most of the immigrants were airlifted to Israel, a fact that is, of course, a focus of meaning in this discourse. Nevertheless, it is not part of their explicit humour. This may be due to the secrecy of the entire operation, but possibly also due to its being an isolated and extreme experience. The fact that this event remains outside the scope of the humour invites further study. In addition, although the immigrants' humour is far more concrete and physical, it is worthwhile to mention that the very concept of immigration to Israel is called aliyah, literally ascent or advancement, understood as both physical and spiritual, or moral. On the concept of absorption—the term used for assimilation—there is the sense of losing one's own former features and becoming undifferentiated. For an enlightening discussion of these concepts in Israel, see Golden (2002 Golden, Deborah. 2002. Storytelling the Future: Israelis, Immigrants and the Imagining of Community. Anthropological Quarterly, 75: 7–35. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 9). [20] At the time of research, these were the only available examples of online jokes popular among young Ethiopian Israelis. [21] The Beta Israel journey and struggle for recognition is the focus of an extensive amount of literature. For some of the main issues, see Corinaldi (1998 Corinaldi, Michael. 1998. Jewish Identity: The Case of Ethiopian Jewry, Jerusalem: The Magnes Press. [Google Scholar]), Ben Ezer (2002 Ben Ezer, Gad. 2002. The Ethiopian Jewish Exodus: Narratives of the Migration Journey to Israel 1977–1985, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]) and Kaplan and Salamon (2003). [22] While Lowe (1986 Lowe, John. 1986. Theories of Ethnic Humor: How to Enter, Laughing. American Quarterly, 38: 439–60. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 439) observed that "although minorities have often entered into full citizenship through long and arduous struggle, this procedure has sometimes been both shortened and sweetened when they have made up their minds to enter laughing," the case of the Ethiopian Israelis' humour paints a much more complex picture. It shows that while they cathartically laugh in relation to certain issues, other issues—seemingly-traumatic struggles, for example—are completely absent from their humour. Two opposing speculations may emerge. One possibility is that what seems traumatic to non-Ethiopians is not in fact what is actually traumatic to them in reality; another possibility is that these struggles are so painful that they cannot be expressed in a humorous fashion at all. Yet another option is to look at this fact as part of a process: in the present stage of their assimilation journey, humour mediates mundane, intimate experiences. While they have surmounted these initial difficulties, the perspective required in order to be able to laugh about specific vulnerabilities, does not yet exist for the issues that are not yet fully resolved. [23] This is a new concept in the study of immigration. Research on proprioceptive faculties (popularly known as the "sixth sense") is occurring in the life sciences. [24] The unique capacity of humour in containing and processing both individual and collective vulnerabilities, is highly apparent in the case of immigration and relocation. For a comparative study of humour among new settlers, including in Israel, see Oring (2003 Oring, Elliot. 2003. Engaging Humor, Urbana: University of Illinois Press. [Google Scholar]). [25] It must be stressed here that it is not my intention to claim these stories are told in order to create shared bonds, or to process the traumatic experiences of these early days in a new land. Rather, through their humorous narration, Ethiopian immigrants are able to tell their stories, entertain and amuse their audience, and share simultaneously in the experience of the past and, in the bond that emerges from sharing a joke, laugh together. [26] According to Turner (1969 Turner, Victor W. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, Chicago: Aldine. [Google Scholar]), Communitas is the communion of fellowship, which involves sentiments of close relations and structural likeness between individuals

Aesthetics · Art · Drama · Immigration · Innocence · Literature · Narrative · Pleasure · Political science · Revelation · Sociology · Taboo · Anthropology · Gender Studies · History · Humor Studies and Applications · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Psychology

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