Towards a comprehensive theory of culturally constructed humour Cover Image

Towards a comprehensive theory of culturally constructed humour
Towards a comprehensive theory of culturally constructed humour

Author(s): Sajjad Kianbakht
Subject(s): Anthropology, Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Semantics, Pragmatics, Cognitive linguistics, Descriptive linguistics, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Theory of Communication
Published by: Krakowskie Towarzystwo Popularyzowania Wiedzy o Komunikacji Językowej Tertium
Keywords: humour; General Theory of Verbal Humour;cultural conceptualisations;

Summary/Abstract: In the present research, we discuss Humour Studies within Linguistics, focusing mainly on linguistic theories of humour including the Semantic Script Theory of Humour (SSTH; Raskin 1985), and the General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH; Attardo 1994, 2017b). The study demonstrates different types of cultural conceptualisations (Sharifian 2017a, 2017b) that the interlocutors draw upon, such as cultural categories, cultural metaphors, and cultural schemas to create humour, and we argue that the General Theory of Verbal Humour does not account for culturally-constructed verbal humour. Hence, we argue that it is necessary to fill this gap in the most prevailing theory of verbal humour, the General Theory of Verbal Humour, by demonstrating how cultural conceptualisations must be considered in identifying and analysing instantiations of humour, in moving towards a comprehensive theory of culturally constructed humour.

  • Issue Year: 8/2020
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 1-24
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: English