Based on several written collections of ethnic and dirty jokes distributed via "the racist underground," this presentation examined "offensive" jokes and joketelling as a sociosuasive form of rhetoric--a form of implied persuasion whereby racist, sexist and other attitudes considered objectionable by many are used to pander to and reinforce those same attitudes in others. Lines of inquiry included (1) cultural analysis using an emerging theory of sociosuasion (see "Sociosuasion and Tecnociceronianism"), (2) formal analysis using Kenneth Burke's "Lexicon Rhetoricae" (Counter-Statement), plus (3) a few avenues into content analysis.
