Cover not available
Part of
Pragmatics and its Interfaces
Edited by Cornelia Ilie and Neal R. Norrick
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 294] 2018
► pp. 291–309

Pragmatics, humor studies, and the study of interaction

In this chapter, I examine the interface between pragmatics and humor studies, first by outlining the contributions pragmatics has made to our understanding of what humor is and how it functions in everyday interaction. I review research that draws on a range of empirical methods, to illustrate the diverse ways in which the interface has been approached and what these approaches have demonstrated about non-serious talk. I then examine how humor scholarship can inform our understanding of language use, and close by considering ways in which the pragmatics-humor interface might continue to develop. Here, I argue specifically for further integration of humor research into pragmatics.

Keywords: humor, failed humor, language play, social relationships
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Contributions of pragmatics to humor studies
  • 3.Contributions of humor studies to pragmatics
    • 3.1Humor and contextualization processes
    • 3.2Humor and identity
    • 3.3Humor and the negotiation of social relationships
  • 4.Future interfaces
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 7 September 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.294.13bel
References
Amir, Ori, Irving Biederman, Zhuangjun Wang, and Xiaokun Xu
2015 “Ha ha! Versus aha! A Direct Comparison of Humor to Nonhumorous Insight for Determining the Neural Correlates of Mirth.” Cerebral Cortex 25: 1405–1413. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 “Face as Relational and Interactional: A Communication Framework for Research on Face, Facework, and Politeness.” Journal of Politeness Research 2: 193–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010 “Constituting Face in Conversation: Face, Facework, and Interactional Achievement.” Journal of Pragmatics 42: 2078–2105. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Attardo, Salvatore, Jodi Eisterhold, Jennifer Hay, and Isabella Poggi
2003 “Multimodal Markers of Irony and Sarcasm.” Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 16(2): 243–260. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Attardo, Salvatore and Lucy Pickering
2011 “Timing in the Performance of Jokes.” Humor 24(2): 233–250. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Attardo, Salvatore, Lucy Pickering, and Amanda Baker
2011 “Prosodic and Multimodal Markers of Humor in Conversation.” Pragmatics and Cognition 19(2): 224–247. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Attardo, Salvatore, Lucy Pickering, Fofo Lomotey, and Shigehito Menjo
2013 “Multimodality in Conversational Humor.” Review of Cognitive Linguistics 11(2): 402–416. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Auer, Peter
1992 “Introduction: John Gumperz’ Approach to Contextualization.” In The Contextualization of Language, ed. by Peter Auer, and Aldo Di Luzio, 1–37. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bachorowski, Jo-Anne, and Michael J. Owren
2001 “Not All Laughs are Alike: Voiced but not Unvoiced Laughter Readily Elicits Positive Affect.” Psychological Science 12(3): 252–257.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bateson, Gregory
1955[1972] Steps to an Ecology of Mind. New York: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar
Bell, Nancy
2015 We are not Amused: Failed Humor in Interaction. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bousfield, Derek
2008 Impoliteness in Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boxer, Diana, and Florencia Cortés-Conde
1997 “From Bonding to Biting: Conversational Joking and Identity Display.” Journal of Pragmatics 27: 275–294. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson
1978[1987] Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Clift, Rebecca
2012 “Identifying Action: Laughter in Non-humorous Reported Speech.” Journal of Pragmatics 44: 1303–1312. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coulson, Seana
2015 “Frame-shifting and Frame Semantics: Joke Comprehension on the Space Structuring Model.” In Cognitive Linguistics and Humor Research, ed. by Geert Brone, Kurt Feyaerts, and Tony Veale, 167–190. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Culpeper, Jonathan
2011 Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davies, Catherine Evans
2003 “How English-Learners Joke with Native Speakers: An Interactional Sociolinguistic Perspective on Humor as Collaborative Discourse Across Cultures.” Journal of Pragmatics 35: 1361–1385. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drew, Paul
1987 “Po-faced Receipts of Teases.” Linguistics 25(1): 219–253. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Du, Xue, Yigui Qin, Shen Tu, Huazhan Yin, Ting Wang, Caiyun Yu, and Jiang Qiu
2013 “Differentiation of Stages in Joke Comprehension: Evidence from an ERP Study.” International Journal of Psychology 48(2): 149–157. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eder, Donna
1993 “‘Go Get Ya a French!’: Romantic and Sexual Teasing among Adolescent Girls.” In Gender and Conversational Interaction, ed. by Deborah Tannen, 17–31. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, Ann
1986 “Teasing: Verbal Play in two Mexicano Homes.” In Language Socialization across Cultures, ed. by Bambi Schieffelin, and Elinor Ochs, 182–198. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ekman, Paul, Richard J. Davidson, and Wallace V. Friesen
1990 “The Duchenne Smile: Emotional Expression and Brain Physiology II.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58(2): 342–353.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flamson, Thomas, and H. Clark Barrett
2008 “The Encryption Theory of Humor: A Knowledge-based Mechanism of Honest Signaling.” Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 6(4): 261–281. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frank, Mark G., Paul Ekman, and Wallace V. Friesen
1993 “Behavioral Markers and Recognizability of the Smile of Enjoyment.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64(1): 83–93.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fraser, Bruce
1990 “Perspectives on Politeness.” Journal of Pragmatics 14(2): 219–236. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Friedman, Sam, and Giselinde Kuipers
2013 “The Divisive Power of Humour: Comedy, Taste and Symbolic Boundaries.” Cultural Sociology 7(2):179–195. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giora, Rachel
2003 On our Mind: Salience, Context, and Figurative Language. New York: Oxford University Press.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giora, Rachel, and Salvatore Attardo
2014 “Irony.” In Encyclopedia of Humor Studies, v. 1, ed. by Salvatore Attardo, 397–402. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Gironzetti, Elisa, Lucy Pickering, Meichan Huang, Ying Zhang, Shigehito Menjo, and Salvatore Attardo
2016 “Smiling Synchronicity and Gaze Patterns in Dyadic Humorous Conversations.” Humor 29(2): 301–324. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Glenn, Phillip
2003 Laughter in Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Glenn, Phillip, and Elizabeth Holt
2013 Studies of Laughter in Interaction. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Gumperz, John
1982 Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haugh, Michael
2010 “Jocular Mockery, (Dis)affiliation, and Face.” Journal of Pragmatics 42(8): 2106–2119. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 “Humour, Face and Im/politeness in Getting Acquainted.” In Situated Politeness, ed. by Bethan Davies, Michael Haugh, Andrew John Merrison, 165–184. London/New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
2016 “‘Just Kidding’: Teasing and Claims to Non-serious Intent.” Journal of Pragmatics 95: 120–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hay, Jennifer
1994 “Jocular Abuse in mixed-group Interaction.” Wellington Working Papers in Linguistics 6: 26–55.Google Scholar
2001 “The Pragmatics of Humor Support.” Humor 14(1): 55–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holmes, Janet
2000 “Politeness, Power and Provocation: How Humour Functions in the Workplace.” Discourse Studies 2(2): 159–185. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 “Sharing a Laugh: Pragmatic Aspects of Humour and Gender in the Workplace.” Journal of Pragmatics 38: 26–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holmes, Janet, and Meredith Marra
2002a “Having a Laugh at Work: How Humour Contributes to Workplace Culture.” Journal of Pragmatics 34: 1683–1710. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2002b “Humour as a Discursive Boundary Marker in Social Interaction.” In Us and Others: Social Identities across Languages, Discourses and Cultures, ed. by Anna Duszak, 377–400. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2002c “Over the Edge? Subversive Humor between Colleagues and Friends.” Humor 15(1): 65–87. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holmes, Janet, and Stephanie Schnurr
2005 “Politeness, Humour and Gender in the Workplace: Negotiating Norms and Identifying Contestation.” Journal of Politeness Research 1: 121–149. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holt, Elizabeth
2010 “The Last Laugh: Shared Laughter and Topic Termination.” Journal of Pragmatics 42: 1513–1525. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holt, Liz
2012 “Using Laugh Responses to Defuse Complaints.” Research on Language and Social Interaction 45(4): 430–448. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Janes, Leslie, and James Olson
2000 “Jeer Pressure: The Behavioral Effects of Observing Ridicule of Others.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 26(4): 474–485. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2015 “Humor as an Abrasive or a Lubricant in Social Situations: Martineau Revisited.” Humor 28(2): 271–288. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jorgensen, Julia
1996 “The Functions of Sarcastic Irony in Speech.” Journal of Pragmatics 26: 613–634. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kotthoff, Helga
1996 “Impoliteness and Conversational Joking: On Relational Politics.” Folia Linguistica 30(3–4): 299–325. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Linell, Per
1998 Approaching Dialogue: Talk, Interaction and Context in Dialogical Perspectives. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Locher, Miriam, and Richard Watts
2005 “Politeness Theory and Relational Work.” Journal of Politeness Research, 1(1): 9–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lockyer, Sharon, and Michael Pickering
2001 “Dear Shit-shovellers: Humour, Censure, and the Discourse of Complaint.” Discourse and Society 12: 633–651. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maemura, Yu
2014 “Humor and Laughter in Japanese Groups: The Kuuki of Negotiations.” Humor 27(1): 103–119. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Miller, Peggy
1986 “Teasing as Language Socialization and Verbal Play in a White Working-class Community.” In Language Socialization across Cultures, ed. by Bambi Schieffelin, and Elinor Ochs, 199–212. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mustajoki, Arto
2012 “A Speaker-oriented Multidimensional Approach to Risks and Causes of Miscommunication.” Language and Dialogue 2(2): 216–243. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Norrick, Neal
1993 Conversational Joking: Humor in Everyday Talk. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
O’Donnell-Trujillo, Nick, and Katherine Adams
1983 “ ‘Heheh’ in Conversation: Some Coordinating Accomplishments of Laughter.” The Western Journal of Speech Communication 47: 175–191.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pickering, Lucy, Marcella Corduas, Jodie Eisterhold, Brenna Seifried, Alyson Eggleston, and Salvatore Attardo
2009 “Prosodic Markers of Saliency in Humorous Narratives.” Discourse Processes 46: 517–540.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Raskin, Victor
2008 The Primer of Humor Research. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sacks, Harvey
1972 “An Initial Investigation of the Usability of Conversational Data for Doing Sociology.” In Studies in Social Interaction, ed. by David Sudnow, 31–74. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Schieffelin, Bambi
1986 “Teasing and Shaming in Kaluli Children’s Interactions.” In Language Socialization across Cultures, ed. by Bambi Schieffelin, and Elinor Ochs, 165–181. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schnurr, Stephanie and Janet Holmes
2009 “Using Humor to do Masculinity at Work.” In Humor in interaction, ed. by Delia Chiaro, and Neal R. Norrick, 101–123. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Skalicky, Stephen, Cynthia M. Berger, and Nancy D. Bell
2015 “The Functions of ‘Just Kidding’ in American English.” Journal of Pragmatics 85: 18–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Straehle, Carolyn
1993 “‘Samuel?’ ‘Yes, Dear?’ Teasing and Conversational Rapport.” In Framing in Discourse, ed. by Deborah Tannen, 210–230. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Szameitat, Diana P., Kai Alter, André J. Szameitat, Chris J. Darwin, Dirk Wildgruber, Susanne Dietrich, and Annette Sterr
2009 “Differentiation of Emotions in Laughter at the Behavioral Level.” Emotion 9(3): 397–405. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tholander, Michael
2002 “Cross-Gender Teasing as a Socializing Practice.” Discourse Processes 34(3): 311–338. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verschueren, Jef
2000 “Notes on the Role of Metapragmatic Awareness in Language Use.” Pragmatics 10(4): 439–456.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vettin, Julia, and Dietmar Todt
2004 “Laughter in Conversation: Features of Occurrence and Acoustic Structure.” Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 28(2): 93–115.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vine, Bernadette, Susan Kell, Meredith Marra, and Janet Holmes
2009 “Boundary-Marking Humor: Institutional, Gender, and Ethnic Demarcation in the Workplace.” In Humor in Interaction, ed. by Delia Chiaro, and Neal R. Norrick, 125–139. Amsterdam: Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zajdman, Anat
1995 “Humorous Face-threatening Acts: Humor as Strategy.” Journal of Pragmatics 23(3): 325–339. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

House, Juliane
2018. Translation studies and pragmatics. In Pragmatics and its Interfaces [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 294], ► pp. 143 ff. DOI logo
Ladilova, Anna & Ulrike Schröder
2022. Humor in intercultural interaction: A source for misunderstanding or a common ground builder? A multimodal analysis. Intercultural Pragmatics 19:1 ► pp. 71 ff. DOI logo
Yus, Francisco
2018. The interface between pragmatics and internet-mediated communication. In Pragmatics and its Interfaces [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 294], ► pp. 267 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. The Multimodal Performance of Conversational Humor [Figurative Thought and Language, 13], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.