Some observations on the pragmatics of humorous interpretations

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1、Someobservationsonthepragmaticsofhumorousinterpretations:arelevance*theoreticapproachCARMENCURCÓ1IntroductionMostofthepragmaticliteratureonverbalhumourisdominatedbyadiscourseanalysisapproach(e.g.Raskin1985,Pretorius1990,Attardo1994).Theunderlyingassumptionintheseworksistha

2、tbeinghumorousisapropertyoftextsandthatlookingattheirstructureisthereforetheroutetoanadequatedescriptionandexplanationofverbalhumour.InthispaperItakeadifferentstance.Isuggestthatwhatweneedtoprovideisnotatheoryofhumoroustextsbutatheoryofhowhearersarriveathumorousinterpretat

3、ions.Inordertodothat,onehastoshiftthecentreofattentionfromthestructuralfeaturesoftextstothementalprocessesthatahearergoesthroughduringinterpretation,concentratingontherepresentationsheisledtoentertain,andthecomputationssuchrepresentationsenterintoduringcomprehension.Isugge

4、stthatattheheartoftheprocessthatresultsinahumorousorwittyinterpretationliesaparticularkindofinteractionbetweentheperceptionandmanipulationoftheincongruousandthesearchforrelevance.HereIbegintoexamineseveralwaysinwhichtheprocessmayoccurandsomeofthepragmaticmechanismsitinvolv

5、es.Irony,astreatedbySperberandWilson(1981,1986)andWilsonandSperber(1992)fitsinthispictureasaparticularcaseofverbalwit.2ConflictingpropositionalformsOneratherstraightforwardwayofleadingahearerintotheentertainmentoftheincongruousthroughlanguageistodirecthisprocessofinterpret

6、ationtotherecoveryofconflictingpropositionalforms.However,humourandtheabsurdarenotthesame.Itisnotjustanywayofarrivingatcontradictoryassumptionsthatwillplaya*IamgratefultoNeilSmith,RobynCarston,DeirdreWilsonandFernandoCastañosforimportantdiscussionsontheworkthatledtothispap

7、er,fortheirdetailedcommentsonearlierdrafts,andfortheircontinuousencouragementandsupport.IamalsoindebtedtotheNationalAutonomousUniversityofMexico(UNAM)forfinanciallysupportingthisresearch.28CarmenCurcósignificantpartinproducingahumorousinterpretationorresultinawitticism.Exp

8、licitconflictingpropositionalformsaremoreakintorepairsindiscourse,toritualbehaviours,orto