The Joke-Coop: Pragmatic Issues of Jokes and Joking
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Mira Magdalena Sickinger
Abstract
This paper investigates the question whether jokes and joking demand cooperative communication; where jokes refer to fictional narratives and joking refers to the performative situation in which these are told. The investigation first offers an evaluation of the distinct properties inherent to the narrative joke’s form and its performance. This includes an analysis of Austin’s conception of the performative utterance. While Austin deliberately excludes joking from his theory, I show that a significant characteristic of joking is the convergence of the illocutionary and perlocutionary act. The investigation assesses further prerequisites for successful joke performances and proceeds with the examination whether Grice’s cooperative principle applies to joking, or whether these maxims are being violated within joking; and critically engages with Attardo’s and Raskin’s responses to this question, who claim the latter. I provide an important corrective to Attardo’s and Raskin’s positions by proposing an account that stresses pragmatic distinctions between jokes and joking and argues for the possibility of cooperative humorous communication.
References
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© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Titlepages
- Table of Contents
- Articles
- Playful Transgression Theory of Humor and Laughter
- The Joke-Coop: Pragmatic Issues of Jokes and Joking
- Crying and Laughing Together: Georges Bataille, Friendship, and Deep Emotions
- Humor in Chinese Traditions of Thought, Part Two: Chan Buddhism, Han Confucianism, Legalism, the School of Names, and the Annals of Lü Buwei
- The Concept of Humorous Irony: Jorge Portilla, Carlos Alberto Sánchez, Richard Rorty, Jonathan Lear, and Socrates, with Minimal Reference to Kierkegaard
- In Memoriam: Daniel C. Dennett
- In Memoriam: Daniel C. Dennett Edited by Lydia Amir
- “Much Too Hard!”: Daniel C. Dennett on Humor
- Daniel C. Dennett: An Intellectual in a World of Technicians
- Daniel C. Dennett: A Wellspring of Inspiration
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate Edited by John Marmysz
- Self-Referential Humor as Feminist Protest
- Too Much Burden on Humor?
- The Challenge of Self-Acceptance: Embracing Imperfection in a Perfectionist World
- “… And You Can Use a Little Improvement”
- The Sardonic Philosophy of Emil Cioran: Enter Crying, Exit Grinning
- Philosophic Satire and Comedy Study
- Philosophic Satire and Comedy Study Edited by Steven Gimbel
- Nicki Minaj and the Double Entendre: When Explaining a Joke Doesn’t Kill It
- Tractatus Ludico-Philosophicus (expurgated version)
- Humor in Philosophy Education
- Humor in Philosophy Education Edited by Christine A. James
- Professorial Academic Identity Defined through Humor
- Symposium
- Symposium Edited by Lydia Amir Giorgio Baruchello and Arsæll Már Arnarsson, Humour and Cruelty, Vols. 1 – 3 (parts 1 and 2) Berlin: de Gruyter, 2022 – 2024. De Gruyter Series in Philosophy of Humor, edited by Lydia Amir Critics
- The Humorously Cruel Experience of Reading Humour and Cruelty
- Do Humor and Cruelty Go Together?
- An Insightful Tour de Force in Comprehensive Metaphysics of Humor
- Cruel Humor and Funny Cruelty
- Author’s Response
- Author’s Response
- Humoring Our Critics’ Ostensibly Good-Humored Cruelties and Ársæll Már Arnarsson
- Book Reviews
- Book Reviews Edited by Lydia Amir With Pierre Destrée (Ancient and Medieval Philosophy) and John Marmysz (Modern and Contemporary Philosophy)
- The Philosophical Stage: Drama and Dialectic in Classical Athens. Joshua Billings. Princeton University Press, 2021. pp. X + 269
- Philosophy of Humour: New Perspectives, edited by Viktoras Bachmetjevas and Daniel O’Shiel. Brill, 2023. pp. ix + 186
- Philosophical Self-Knowledge: Two Studies. Donald Phillip Verene. Ibidem-Verlag, 2023. pp. 120
- Three Answers to the Question “What Is Philosophy?”: A Comedy in Three Acts. Stuart Dalton. Cascade Books, 2024. pp. xxiv + 328
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
- Call for Papers
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Titlepages
- Table of Contents
- Articles
- Playful Transgression Theory of Humor and Laughter
- The Joke-Coop: Pragmatic Issues of Jokes and Joking
- Crying and Laughing Together: Georges Bataille, Friendship, and Deep Emotions
- Humor in Chinese Traditions of Thought, Part Two: Chan Buddhism, Han Confucianism, Legalism, the School of Names, and the Annals of Lü Buwei
- The Concept of Humorous Irony: Jorge Portilla, Carlos Alberto Sánchez, Richard Rorty, Jonathan Lear, and Socrates, with Minimal Reference to Kierkegaard
- In Memoriam: Daniel C. Dennett
- In Memoriam: Daniel C. Dennett Edited by Lydia Amir
- “Much Too Hard!”: Daniel C. Dennett on Humor
- Daniel C. Dennett: An Intellectual in a World of Technicians
- Daniel C. Dennett: A Wellspring of Inspiration
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate Edited by John Marmysz
- Self-Referential Humor as Feminist Protest
- Too Much Burden on Humor?
- The Challenge of Self-Acceptance: Embracing Imperfection in a Perfectionist World
- “… And You Can Use a Little Improvement”
- The Sardonic Philosophy of Emil Cioran: Enter Crying, Exit Grinning
- Philosophic Satire and Comedy Study
- Philosophic Satire and Comedy Study Edited by Steven Gimbel
- Nicki Minaj and the Double Entendre: When Explaining a Joke Doesn’t Kill It
- Tractatus Ludico-Philosophicus (expurgated version)
- Humor in Philosophy Education
- Humor in Philosophy Education Edited by Christine A. James
- Professorial Academic Identity Defined through Humor
- Symposium
- Symposium Edited by Lydia Amir Giorgio Baruchello and Arsæll Már Arnarsson, Humour and Cruelty, Vols. 1 – 3 (parts 1 and 2) Berlin: de Gruyter, 2022 – 2024. De Gruyter Series in Philosophy of Humor, edited by Lydia Amir Critics
- The Humorously Cruel Experience of Reading Humour and Cruelty
- Do Humor and Cruelty Go Together?
- An Insightful Tour de Force in Comprehensive Metaphysics of Humor
- Cruel Humor and Funny Cruelty
- Author’s Response
- Author’s Response
- Humoring Our Critics’ Ostensibly Good-Humored Cruelties and Ársæll Már Arnarsson
- Book Reviews
- Book Reviews Edited by Lydia Amir With Pierre Destrée (Ancient and Medieval Philosophy) and John Marmysz (Modern and Contemporary Philosophy)
- The Philosophical Stage: Drama and Dialectic in Classical Athens. Joshua Billings. Princeton University Press, 2021. pp. X + 269
- Philosophy of Humour: New Perspectives, edited by Viktoras Bachmetjevas and Daniel O’Shiel. Brill, 2023. pp. ix + 186
- Philosophical Self-Knowledge: Two Studies. Donald Phillip Verene. Ibidem-Verlag, 2023. pp. 120
- Three Answers to the Question “What Is Philosophy?”: A Comedy in Three Acts. Stuart Dalton. Cascade Books, 2024. pp. xxiv + 328
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
- Call for Papers
