joviality

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The joviality (from the Roman god Jupiter ), and affability , describes a benevolently condescending, affable, well-humored, patronizing (jovial) behavior.

The adjective, which has been attested since the 18th century, stands for older "jovial" (16th century), which corresponds to the French jovial and it. gioviale goes back to Latin Iovialis "belonging to Jupiter (Latin also Iovis )". Medieval astrology is responsible for the transfer of meaning, which saw the planet Jupiter, named after the Roman father of gods, as the cause of human happiness and cheerfulness and then referred to the cheerful as iovialis , those born in the constellation of the planet Jupiter.

From the standpoint of superiority and strength, the jovial man can approach a lower placed person, such as a subordinate, with benevolence (“familiar”, “tapping the shoulder”). Joviality towards women was only considered appropriate when there was a large gap in rank. It requires tact at all . Kind condescension of high placed women took on different traits and was described more as "kind". In the course of gender emancipation, women can now also act jovially in the corresponding positions.

Tactically used (“superimposed”) joviality is mostly intended to hide the true intentions, power relations , property and class differences . Joviality comes as a tactical instrument and a. in religious proselytizing to create a basis for the mission discussion on equal terms.

Joviality often ends quickly when the target person is offended or reacts in the same way, or when the jovial person is no longer sure of their superiority.

See also

Wiktionary: jovial  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Coziness , goodness
• Patriarchy

literature

• Martin Jehne : Joviality and Freedom. On the institutionality of the relationships between the upper and lower classes in the Roman Republic. In: Bernhard Linke , Michael Stemmler (eds.): Mos maiorum. Investigations into the forms of identity creation and stabilization in the Roman Republic (= Historia individual writings. Volume 141). Steiner, Stuttgart 2000, pp. 207–235 ( limited preview in the Google book search).