Home Linguistics & Semiotics What is counter-Versailles literature? – At the intersection of humblebrag, irony, and humor
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What is counter-Versailles literature? – At the intersection of humblebrag, irony, and humor

  • Baiyao Zuo

    Baiyao Zuo is Associate Professor in the Department of French Language and Literature, East China Normal University. She obtained her Ph.D. Degree at the University of Geneva in 2017. Her research interests include pragmatics and cognitive linguistics. She is especially interested in computer-mediated communications, negation, humor, and self-praise.

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Published/Copyright: June 18, 2024

Abstract

The counter-Versailles literature (counter-VL) is born out of the resistance to Versailles literature (VL). The latter is in essence the same as humblebrags. Authors of counter-VL pretend to post VL but are essentially making up jokes or expressing ironies and self-mockeries. Based on the samples gathered from Weibo, this study divides counter-VL into two types according to how their non-VL nature is revealed. By identifying the echoed VL strategies, we investigate how the irony of VL and self-mockery are incarnated in counter-VL and result in humorous effects. This study also highlights the social and psychological factors that influence the creation and effects of counter-VL.


Corresponding author: Baiyao Zuo, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China, E-mail:

Award Identifier / Grant number: 41300-20101-222788

About the author

Baiyao Zuo

Baiyao Zuo is Associate Professor in the Department of French Language and Literature, East China Normal University. She obtained her Ph.D. Degree at the University of Geneva in 2017. Her research interests include pragmatics and cognitive linguistics. She is especially interested in computer-mediated communications, negation, humor, and self-praise.

  1. Research funding: This work was funded by Fundamental Research Fund for the Central Universities (43800-20101-222640).

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Received: 2023-08-04
Accepted: 2024-05-20
Published Online: 2024-06-18
Published in Print: 2024-08-27

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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