The functions of collegial humour in male–only sporting interactions

Abstract

This article examines the functions of collegial humour in male–only interactions in a suburban Dublin sports club. The analysis highlights how humour is a central part of the social glue of the club, the solidarity invoked in humour helps to keep teams working together in a friendly way. Despite all speakers coming from similar backgrounds and engaging in shared enterprises together, members regularly engage in status and hierarchy work. While jovial face threatening acts, or ‘slags’, are often performed in a mischievous way to create a bit of fun and express solidarity, other purposes include hierarchy–maintenance and one–upmanship. Members value the inventiveness involved in sharing and collaborating on humour. Speakers in this context are quick to perform the “real man” persona in training in order to command respect and communicate important messages. This type of humour is an important politeness strategy to mitigate the face threatening nature of the constructive criticism that leaders of the club teams employ. Spending time at the club is a release for the members and an expression of solidarity amongst male peers, closeness in homosocial settings but also a performance of normative masculinity that is not generally appropriate in other contexts such as the workplace.