Abstract The paper discusses Belarusian couples’ reflections on the role of humorous folklore in their daily family interactions. The interviewees generally regarded being humorous as a positive feature and identified (explicitly or implicitly) several functions of humor, such as framing group boundaries, offering criticism, and sharing ideas that would otherwise be difficult to communicate. A recurring distinction evoked by respondents was between “good” (benevolent) and “bad” (offensive) humor. However, interviews also revealed that the actual perception of humor, especially in the form of mocking and teasing, can be very context-specific, and the boundary between aggression and playfulness is not always clear-cut. The paper explores this ambiguity by examining self-reported instances of mocking and teasing, whereupon the producer and the recipient of humor need to resolve the tension between “having a good sense of humor” and using humor in an offensive or aggressive way. The couples’ attitudes towards family humor are discussed within the broader context of the value of humor in modern society. The paper also reflects on the limitations of using the interview as a data collection method for studying family humor.

中文翻译：

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“不吵架就是开玩笑”：白俄罗斯家庭幽默风俗的 Emic 观点

摘要 本文讨论了白俄罗斯夫妇对幽默民间传说在日常家庭交往中的作用的反思。受访者普遍认为幽默是一个积极的特征，并（明确或隐含地）确定了幽默的几个功能，例如界定群体界限、提出批评和分享否则难以交流的想法。受访者反复唤起的区分是“好”（仁慈）和“坏”（攻击性）幽默之间的区别。然而，采访也显示，幽默的实际感知，尤其是嘲弄和戏弄的形式，可能非常具体，攻击性和嬉戏之间的界限并不总是清晰的。该论文通过检查自我报告的嘲笑和戏弄的实例来探讨这种歧义，因此，幽默的制作者和接受者需要解决“具有良好的幽默感”和以冒犯性或攻击性的方式使用幽默之间的紧张关系。在现代社会幽默价值的更广泛背景下讨论了夫妻对家庭幽默的态度。该论文还反映了使用访谈作为研究家庭幽默的数据收集方法的局限性。