Analyzing structure and function in humor: Preliminary sketch of a message-centered model
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Nathan Miczo
Nathan Miczo is Professor in the Department of Communication, Western Illinois University. His primary area of teaching and research is interpersonal communication. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Nathan Miczo, Department of Communication, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL 61455.
Abstract
Utilizing Attardo's general theory of verbal humor and Meyer's rhetorical functions of humor, as well as insights from conversation analysis, this paper presents a model linking form and function in conversational humor. In the model, an initial pair of incongruous scripts (i.e., a script opposition) is activated as membership categories are referenced in the set-up. The punch- or jab-line introduces a second script opposition that “resolves” or makes sense out of the first opposition in terms of preference organization (presenting either a preferred or dispreferred response). When examining conversational humor, those preferences have implications in terms of uniting or dividing interlocutors. If the resolution aligns with the preferred entity/activity of the set-up, then the effect should be unifying. If the resolution does not align (i.e., is dispreferred), then the effect should be divisive. The model is used to analyze two jokes and two conversational sequences.
About the author
Nathan Miczo is Professor in the Department of Communication, Western Illinois University. His primary area of teaching and research is interpersonal communication. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Nathan Miczo, Department of Communication, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL 61455.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Putting the “self” in self-deprecation: When deprecating humor about minorities is acceptable
- Humor use, reactions to social comments, and social anxiety
- The role of identification with women as a determinant of amusement with sexist humor
- Analyzing structure and function in humor: Preliminary sketch of a message-centered model
- Chilean Spanish version of the State Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI-T-60, trait form): Individual and couple forms
- The effects of humor cartoons in a series of bestselling academic books
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Putting the “self” in self-deprecation: When deprecating humor about minorities is acceptable
- Humor use, reactions to social comments, and social anxiety
- The role of identification with women as a determinant of amusement with sexist humor
- Analyzing structure and function in humor: Preliminary sketch of a message-centered model
- Chilean Spanish version of the State Trait Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI-T-60, trait form): Individual and couple forms
- The effects of humor cartoons in a series of bestselling academic books
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
