Negotiating instances of failed humour in a transient transnational community

This study explores how a transient transnational community of teacher educators responds to and negotiates instances of failed humour, addressing a specific research gap in how teacher educators collaborate and interact internationally. Based on a cumulative PhD study within an Erasmus Plus Project (proPIC, 2017-2020), this paper examines instances of failed humour occurring in project meetings between 15 teacher educators from different sociocultural backgrounds. Using the concept of transient transnational communities (Oesterle et al. 2020) and Bell’s (2015) typology of failed humour, this longitudinal and qualitative case study adopts Interactional Sociolinguistics to analyse face-to-face encounters. The analysis of six instances of failed humour from four transnational meetings provides insights into the negotiation processes and highlights significant themes, concluding with a sequencing framework for managing failed humour. The findings indicate the dynamic and fluid nature of these interactions, showing that norms are not static but are continuously negotiated and reshaped based on the community's constellation and context. The study highlights the significant impact of gender and status, demonstrating how these factors influence the management of failed humour and the interactional strategies that emerge.