1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910955986903321

Autore

Dundes Alan

Titolo

Work hard and you shall be rewarded : urban folklore from the paperwork empire / / Alan Dundes and Carl R. Pagter

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Detroit, : Wayne State University Press, c1992

ISBN

0-8143-3741-4

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (249 p.)

Collana

Humor in Life and Letters Series

Altri autori (Persone)

PagterCarl R. <1934->

Disciplina

398.2/0973/091732

Soggetti

Office practice - United States - Folklore

Urban folklore - United States

American wit and humor

United States Social life and customs 1971-

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

""Cover""; ""Contents""; ""Preface""; ""Preface to the First Edition""; ""Introduction""; ""TRADITIONAL LETTERS""; ""DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES""; ""NOVEL NOTICES AND MEMORABLE MEMOS""; ""APPLICATIONS AND TESTS""; ""FOLK CARTOONS AND DRAWINGS""; ""THE EXTENDED DOUBLE ENTENDRE""; ""CONCLUSIONS""

Sommario/riassunto

Anyone who has ever filled in a form in triplicate, taken an aptitude test, or been rebuffed by a form letter will appreciate the urban folklore found in this collection. Urban people as a folk are bound together by their unhappy experiences in battling "the system," whether that system is the machinery of government or the office where one works. The wonderfully expressive materials in this book-chain letters, memoranda, notices, and cartoons-touch upon every major controversy of urban America: racism, sex, politics, automation, alienation, welfare, the women's movement, military mentality, and office bureaucracy. The humor of the materials pinpoints the ills and frustrations of modern society and becomes, in turn, an escape from them.