The aim of this article is to analyze the role of jocosity during moments of critique which could otherwise result in conflict but which, through moral devices based on humor preserve peace, whilst effectuating critique. The investigation, based on ethnographic observations in the streets of a peripheral neighborhood and the central zone of Rio de Janeiro, emphasize two devices: “zoação”, in which the critique is presented as if it weren’t serious or relevant, but nevertheless still poses a challenge; and, on the other hand, the “marra” in which one competitively rebukes the superior moral position claimed by the critique, jokingly attacking the critic with another critique, thereby initiating a dispute. In both cases, the coordination between the critique-as-form and the joke-as-form create a double mechanism of effectiveness, sustaining a critical slack according to which the perception of moral negativity remains in circulation, but without formal debates about principles and breaks with routine.
jocosity; critique; effectuation; sociability; morality