Article published in:
Metapragmatics of Humor: Current research trends
Edited by Leonor Ruiz-Gurillo
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 14] 2016
► pp. 79–101

Metapragmatics of humor

Variability, negotiability and adaptability in humorous monologues

| University of Alicante, GRIALE Research Group

The main aim of this paper is to propose a theoretical model for the study of humor as a metapragmatic ability, the so-called metapragmatics of humor (MH). After offering a short overview, humor will be analyzed from the conception of metapragmatics according to Verschueren (1999), (2000), (2009). Considering humor as a continuous choice where variability, negotiability, and adaptability become key notions, the knowledge resources in the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) (Attardo and Raskin 1991; Attardo 2001a, 2008; Ruiz-Gurillo, 2012) will be understood as metapragmatic awareness processes. Our proposal intends to integrate the productive process of the writer/speaker along with the interpretative process of the reader/listener. Finally, this metapragmatics of humor will be applied to humorous monologues.

Keywords: humor, metapragmatics, pragmatic awareness, General Theory of Verbal Humor , humorous monologue
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.From metapragmatic code to metapragmatic awareness
  • 3.A proposal for metapragmatics of humor
    • 3.1Adaptability as a key of metapragmatic awareness
      • 3.1.1Variability
      • 3.1.2Negotiability
      • 3.1.3Adaptability
      • 3.1.4Metapragmatic awareness indicators
    • 3.2Metapragmatic awareness of humor
      • 3.2.1Variability of humor
      • 3.2.2Negotiability of humor
      • 3.2.3Adaptability of humor
      • 3.2.4Metapragmatic awareness of humor
  • 4.Metapragmatics of humorous monologues
    • 4.1Metapragmatics from the writer/speaker
    • 4.2Metapragmatics from the reader/listener
    • 4.3Metapragmatic clues to humorous awareness
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 24 November 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.14.05rui
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HG=Buenafuente, Andreu 2011 Hablar es gratis [Speaking is free of charge] (Los monólogos de La Sexta). Barcelona: Planeta.Google Scholar

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Attardo, Salvatore
2020.  In Handbook of Pragmatics [Handbook of Pragmatics, ], ► pp. 155 ff. Crossref logo
Garrote, Marta
2021. Análisis del humor en un corpus de habla infantil espontánea. Spanish in Context 18:1 ► pp. 30 ff. Crossref logo
Ruiz-Gurillo, Leonor
2020. Evidentiality and humor in Spanish. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 33:1 ► pp. 302 ff. Crossref logo

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