Contextualizing macro-level identities and constructing inclusiveness through teasing and self-mockery: A view from the intercultural workplace in Japan

Abstract

Humor generated through teasing and self-mockery can be both dividing and unifying: It signals intimacy and constructs inclusiveness through playful banter, but also contextualizes differences, denigrates, and draws boundaries. In intercultural workplaces, macro-level identities deriving from linguistic and cultural ideologies are especially salient as both sources and targets of such humor. Using data from American interns in Japan, the present study examines how such sociocultural differences are contextualized to create humor that foregrounds group divides and contributes to potential marginalization, but also constructs shared interactional styles that signal inclusiveness. Prior literature on this topic largely examines Western workplace settings where foreign workers are placed in the periphery. While Americans in Japan similarly represent a type of marginalized outsider, they are also categorically associated with English and Western hegemonies in the global workplace. This tends to position them as targets of fascination as well. The resulting style of teasing and self-mockery thus operates on the boundary of exclusiveness and inclusiveness, thereby contributing an additional perspective on the relationship between humor, identity, and inclusiveness.