'Stalag happy': South African prisoners of war during World War Two (1939-1945) and their experience and use of humour

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Periodical article

Title:	'Stalag happy': South African prisoners of war during World War Two (1939-1945) and their experience and use of humour
Author:	Horn, Karen
Year:	2011
Periodical:	South African Historical Journal (ISSN 0258-2473)
Volume:	63
Issue:	4
Pages:	537-552
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	prisoners of war oral history humour communication World War II
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582473.2011.627374
Abstract:	South African prisoner-of-war (POW) experience, a much neglected subject in World War Two texts, is analysed in this article in terms of the experience and use of humour. Experience of humour as a means of coping during captivity reflected captives' humour identity at the time of the war; however, when interviewed, this coping mechanism is adapted to facilitate dual perspective, one of the many strategies interviewees use to smooth the progress of the interview and help with recall of often painful memories. A search for aspects unique to South African POWs concludes that humour was a universal coping and morale-boosting mechanism in the war as well as during interviews. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]