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16 - Linguistic Creativity and Humor in Context

from Part IV - Applications of Context Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 November 2023

By
Delia Chiaro
Edited by
Jesús Romero-Trillo
Jesús Romero-Trillo
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
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Summary

While linguistic creativity is an essential feature of those who actively create instances of verbally expressed humor (VEH), awareness of context is equally indispensable. Humor is primarily cognitive, so it follows that language is the lowest common denominator between speaker/writer and receiver, in order for a joke, pun, quip, etc., to achieve its goal and, above all, to be recognized as being humorous in intent. However, over and above familiarity with the formal rules of a common language between interactants, successfully transmitted humor is also context dependent. Context involves both adherence to pragmatic rules and the recipient’s sociocultural encyclopedia. And if these two elements were not sufficient, humor also embroils the issue of sense of humor and the moral closeness/distance of our recipient to the object of our humor in order for it to be considered benign.

Keywords

humour translationironyencyclopaedic knowledgeGricean maximsverbally expressed humour
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Language in Context , pp. 353 - 370
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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