Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

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DA: Raza de majaderos, eso es lo que sois. Largaos si no queréis que os
queme las patas a los dos.
P: ¿Patas? ¡Si no traemos alpargatas!
DA: ¡Indios patarrajadas!
Chona: ¡Gachupín!
P: ¡Hijo de tu Real Madrid! 141
In this example, we see how, as Critchley suggests, ‘humour is local and a sense of
humour is usually highly context-specific’ 142 because in order to understand fully the
argument, we need to know the vocabulary the speakers are using and the references
they are making. Otherwise we would not understand the core of the joke. For example,
when Poncho says to Don Alejo ‘aquí está tu arbolote de la noche triste’, we should
know that in 1520, while trying to conquer Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Hernán Cortés lost an
important battle in the outskirts of the city, and he reacted by crying underneath an
ahuehuete tree. Poncho refers to this tree as a symbol of Spanish defeat, and instead of
just saying ‘I’ll beat you’, he is creative and expresses the same through a frame of
reference that the Spaniard is familiar with.
We can see what Mexicans consider laughable about Spaniards, as well as what
they believed that Spaniards thought about Mexicans. The language and manner of
speaking of the shopkeeper is exaggerated and thus the audience is clear about his
nationality. They also find this ‘different’ way of speaking to be funny, otherwise it
would not be emphasised. Also, by observing the expressions that both sides use to
offend the other, we see that both feel superior. They each become their opponent’s
antithesis. After being called ‘Hijo de Hernán Cortés’, Don Alejo tries to offend the
couple by calling them ‘indios’, but Chona and Poncho reply by saying they are proud
of it. If we take the side of Don Alejo, we will be glad that someone insults Mexicans;
however, if we are on Poncho and Chona’s side, we will be relieved that they did not
141 Arau, El Águila Descalza, 1969.
142 Critchley, On Humour, p. 67.