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Playing With Otherness: Within and Beyond Stereotypes in Visual Representations
a specific content that emerges from a particular confrontation with the whole past
(and present) set from among the store of images of cultural and historical experi¬
ences. These cultural elements, of past and temporary origins, create the image of
the person standing vis-a-vis us.
Thus, the image is constructed and takes part in the process of formatting ste¬
reotypes or making a “generalized Other.” As a result, the German is presented as
militaristic or arrogant (ills. 16, 17, 26, 27), the Russian as thievish, and the Jew as
industrious (ill. 24).2?
Listeners react to jokes differently than to stories that are not intended as jokes;
they are not expected to express sympathy for the butt-figures, as in the case of the
Babina Glava representation. As Michael Billig puts it, the point is not to elicit con¬
cern for the pain suffered (2005: 54).
Both satire and humor can employ stereotypes. The difference in their use lies
in the intention and the goal they are supposed to achieve. In the case of satire, the
goal is most often to jeer and to make people aware of a drama, while humor aims at
producing contentment and merriment of all the participants.”’ The above distinc¬
tion between satire and humor acquires significance when one observes the fact that
while satirical are common in the press discussed here everyday cheerfulness is much
more difficult to encounter.‘ According to Alexander Kozintsey, satire forms a part
of a serious play, while play/humor should be understood as a temporary suspension
of social rules and roles, corresponding to Bakhtin’s notion of carnival, the object
of which is joy and the result of which is laughter (Kozintsev 2010: 129). Kozintsev
develops this idea further, claiming that the serious satire may turn into social ex¬
clusion and stir up hatred (Ibidem: 133), which makes for a significant distinction.
In both cases they deal with the unknown, first, fighting openly against the Other,
objectified as unwanted, evil, or ridiculous and, second, exposing the Other objecti¬
fied as unnoticed, not sufficiently visible. Satirical, in the sense of serious play, seems
to be frequent and characteristic of a modernizing period.
Education and Discipline as Part of a Social Civilizing Model
The period of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, from which came
the illustrations interpreted in this article, was a period of modernizing spirit in Po¬
land and, through the images depicting human interactions, a time of proliferation
of strict social and cultural rules—and of humor. Those were times of refinement;
of modernization entering the life of the cities; and of attaching increased impor¬
22 In Poland during this period.
23 For this article I limit my focus on humor to that having a disciplinary and playful function, skip¬
ping cases of humor that have a healing effect.
24° On the other hand, the censorship that was common during that period strived to avoid sensitive
ethnic subjects, as a result of which instead of a serious social and political satire, the public was pre¬
sented with lighter topics and forms.
27