The Pragmatics of Humour across Discourse Domains: (210 Pragmatics & Beyond New Series)

This edited volume brings together a range of contributions solely on the linguistics of humour. Rather than favour one approach, this collection of articles gives a state-of-the-art picture of current directions in pragmatic humour studies. The contributors assume multifarious theoretical perspectives and discuss a wide array of issues germane to different types of humour across discourse domains. Consequently, the whole gamut of humorous forms and mechanisms are elucidated, such as surrealist irony, incongruity in register humour, mechanisms of pun formation, as well as interpersonal functions of conversational humour. In addition, the papers address diversified manifestations of humour, such as puns in Shakespeare’s plays, gendered jokes on the Internet, sexuality in anti-proverbs, Woody Allen’s prose, humour in “Friends”, and parody by Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Most importantly, the chapters offer new research findings and advocate novel theoretical conceptualisations of humorous phenomena, drawing on the wealth of existing scholarship. Therefore, the volume is bound to serve as a well of knowledge and inspiration for both seasoned and beginning researchers with interests in the pragmatics of humour.

Table of Contents:
1. Pragmatics and linguistic research into humour (by Dynel, Marta); 2. Part 1. Stylistic figures as forms of humour; 3. 1.1: Irony; 4. Will anticipating irony facilitate it immediately? (by Giora, Rachel); 5. "That's not ironic, that's just stupid": Towards an eclectic account of the discourse of irony (by Simpson, Paul); 6. Irony via "surrealism" (by Kapogianni, Eleni); 7. 1.2 Puns and other wordplay; 8. The role of syllables and morphemes as mechanisms in humorous pun formation (by Seewoester Cain, Sarah); 9. Context-sensitive aspects of Shakespeare's use of puns in comedies: An enquiry into clowns' and pages' punning practices (by Adamczyk, Magdalena); 10. Dimensions of incongruity in register humour (by Venour, Chris); 11. Part 2. (Non)interactive forms of humour; 12. 2.1: Jokes; 13. Displays of "new" gender arrangements in Russian jokes (by Thielemann, Nadine); 14. Understanding ethnic humour in Romanian jokes (by Popescu, Carmen); 15. Sexuality in Anglo-American anti-proverbs (by Litovkina, Anna T.); 16. 2.2 Conversational humour; 17. Joker in the pack: Towards determining the status of humorous framing in conversations (by Dynel, Marta); 18. Humour in quasi-conversations: Constructing fun in online sports journalism (by Chovanec, Jan); 19. Humour and the integration of new staff in the workplace: An interactional study (by Pullin, Patricia); 20. Part 3. Forms of humour in public discourse; 21. Parody in the light of the incongruity-resolution model: The case of political sketches by Monty Pythons's Flying Circus (by Kaczorowski, Maciej); 22. "I'll be there for you!" On participation-based sitcom humour (by Dynel, Marta); 23. "Losers, poltroons and nudniks" in Woody Allen's Mere Anarchy: A linguistic approach to comic failure (by Ermida, Isabel); 24. Notes on humour and persuasion in advertising and legal discourse (by Forabosco, Giovannantonio); 25. Comic takeover or comic makeover?: Notes on humour-translating, translation and (un)translatability (by Chiaro, Delia); 26. Name index; 27. Subject index

Review :
The chapters [...] all offer valuable theoretical discussions, thorough empirical evidence, and interesting insights in the area of humour from the broadest reaches of the field of pragmatics. [...] This useful attempt to cover the field of humour and pragmatics in discourse certainly meets its target. Overall, the volume offers both theoretical and empirical insights into humour research. All contributions show a very strong link between theory and empirical data. This is the reason why the book is likely to be of interest not only to linguists, but also to psychologists and cognitive scientists involved in humour research. The merge of pragmatic and cognitive paradigms looks very promising in terms of its explanatory potential.