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Laughing about Corruption in Ethiopian‐Chinese Encounters
Author(s) -
Driessen Miriam
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/aman.13320
Subject(s) - language change , complicity , china , narrative , laughter , aesthetics , political science , sociology , political economy , media studies , law , social psychology , literature , psychology , art
In Ethiopia, the growing Chinese presence has inspired lively debate, often with an edge of humor. Corruption is one of the recurring topics in amusing narratives that circulate on and off the Chinese‐run building sites that have emerged across the Ethiopian landscape over the past two decades. While humorous corruption stories hint at the possibility of corruption and introduce the audience to the cultural codes of conduct, corrupt practices, equally aided by laughter, create instances of collaboration and complicity. Corruption in cross‐cultural encounters serves as a lens through which to imagine the Other and evaluate their behavior, and by drawing those complicit in corrupt transactions into shared (im)moral worlds, it generates opportunities for rapprochement. [ corruption, humor, encounter, Ethiopia, China ]