An inference-centered analysis of jokes
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Francisco Yus
Abstract
In previous research (Yus 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012), a distinction was made, in a general classification of jokes, between those that are based on the speaker’s manipulation of the audience’s interpretive steps leading to an interpretation of the joke, and those whose main source of humor lies in the reinforcement or invalidation of commonly assumed social and cultural stereotypes. However, interpretive strategies for obtaining interpretations work in parallel to the processing of cultural information and also of mental frames, schemas and scripts that are retrieved by the hearer in order to make sense of the text of the joke. In this chapter, a more comprehensive picture of joke interpretation (the Intersecting Circles Model) is proposed to account for how some or all of these interpretive procedures may be manipulated for producing humorous effects.
Abstract
In previous research (Yus 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012), a distinction was made, in a general classification of jokes, between those that are based on the speaker’s manipulation of the audience’s interpretive steps leading to an interpretation of the joke, and those whose main source of humor lies in the reinforcement or invalidation of commonly assumed social and cultural stereotypes. However, interpretive strategies for obtaining interpretations work in parallel to the processing of cultural information and also of mental frames, schemas and scripts that are retrieved by the hearer in order to make sense of the text of the joke. In this chapter, a more comprehensive picture of joke interpretation (the Intersecting Circles Model) is proposed to account for how some or all of these interpretive procedures may be manipulated for producing humorous effects.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The pragmatics of irony and humor 1
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1. Irony and humor
- The power of inversion 17
- Intentionality and irony 39
- An inference-centered analysis of jokes 59
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2. Irony and humor in mediated discourse
- Discursive mechanisms of informative humor in Spanish media 85
- Narrative strategies in Buenafuente’s humorous monologues 107
- Cartoons in Spanish press 141
- Phonological humor as perception and representation of foreignness 159
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3. Irony and humor in conversational interaction
- Failed humor in conversational utterances in Spanish 191
- Humor and argumentation in everyday talk 219
- Tackling the complexity of spontaneous humorous interaction 243
- Subject index 269
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The pragmatics of irony and humor 1
-
1. Irony and humor
- The power of inversion 17
- Intentionality and irony 39
- An inference-centered analysis of jokes 59
-
2. Irony and humor in mediated discourse
- Discursive mechanisms of informative humor in Spanish media 85
- Narrative strategies in Buenafuente’s humorous monologues 107
- Cartoons in Spanish press 141
- Phonological humor as perception and representation of foreignness 159
-
3. Irony and humor in conversational interaction
- Failed humor in conversational utterances in Spanish 191
- Humor and argumentation in everyday talk 219
- Tackling the complexity of spontaneous humorous interaction 243
- Subject index 269
