THE ROLE OF HUMOUR IN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
THE ROLE OF HUMOUR IN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Summary/Abstract: Laughter is a universal response to various situations and takes many different forms, from bitter sarcasm to harmless self-irony and from silly jokes to witty remarks or meaningful anecdotes. Despite the universality of humour itself, the mechanisms that trigger it vary from culture to culture. Therefore, when dealing with people from different countries, in a professional environment, it is essential to know the cultural peculiarities of each type of humour they respond to, in order to avoid blunders or misunderstandings. The main purposes of this article are to present the theories on humour, to raise awareness on the types of comic effects pertaining to different nations and to give examples of how humour can be used in intercultural contexts as an icebreaker, a successful way to keep a conversation going, a tension reliever in business or political talks or, simply, a team binder in a multicultural company.

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