Having a Barter: Joking Relationships in Halleigh

Abstract

Part and parcel of such allowances and local social pressures is the role of joking relationships in Halleigh, what many individuals referred to as ‘having a barter’. Having a barter involves insults, quick-witted insults in a disguised exchange of power and as a means of assessing and maintaining the boundaries of dyadic relationships, because this central means of relating to others in Halleigh is sometimes said to be very politically incorrect and thus reserved for both classificatory purposes – as far as knowing who does and does not belong to a particular group of people – as well as a means of maintaining a locally constructed notion of ‘fairness’. ‘Having a barter’ and notions of political correctness appear to stop groups from outside the community of Halleigh, including asylum seekers and immigrants, from ‘integrating’ and/or feeling a sense of belonging in this particular area and society. This is because when someone insults you, you are not to take offence. I have been told, ‘if someone calls you chicken wings, you call them chicken legs and tell them to never wear shorts!’ I see it as an exchange of power because of the fact that all parties involved are expected to participate in the barter in the context of ‘fair humour’.