The Cross-Cultural Pragmatics of Humor

Seminararbeit , 2014 , 25 Seiten , Note: 1,3

Anglistik - Linguistik

This paper deals with humor in cross-cultural contexts by drawing on Wierzbicka's concept of "cultural scripts". It explains why humor, more than other speech acts, is culture-dependent and describes the conditions in which humorous talk is initiated and upheld. Studies on possible reactions to humor and the difficulties of joking in an intercultural setting are discussed as well.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

3. Humor and cross-cultural pragmatics
3.1 The play frame as trigger of humorous talk
3.2 Who initiates the play frame or humor in general?
3.3 Cross-cultural considerations on starting humor
3.4 Possible reactions to humor: (lack of) comprehension
3.5 Possible reactions to humor: mind if I join in?
3.6 (Social) functions and effects of humor
3.7 Humor in intercultural settings

4. Concluding remarks

List of works cited:

• Hochschule: Universität Hamburg (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik)
• Note: 1,3
• Autor: Jakub Duch (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2014
• Seiten: 25
• Katalognummer: V511881
• ISBN (eBook): 9783346088802
• ISBN (Buch): 9783346088819
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: Humor, Pragmatics, Linguistics, Intercultural speech