Table of contents
Acknowledgments
xi
Introduction
1
Chapter 1.
Humor and context within the (socio)pragmatic theories of humor
10
1.1
Introductory remarks
10
1.2
Context in competence theories of humor
11
1.3
Context in other approaches to humor
16
1.4
Towards a more contextualized version of the General Theory of Verbal Humor
25
1.5
Attardo’s proposal on a performance theory of humor
27
1.6
Kuipers’ conceptualization of the knowledge about humor
30
1.7
The Discourse Theory of Humor
32
1.8
Summary
37
Chapter 2.
Humorous and non-humorous interpretations of attempts at humor – or why humor may fail
39
2.1
Introductory remarks
39
2.2
Metapragmatics and the study of humor
40
2.3
On humor failure and success
47
2.4
Humor failure and the Discourse Theory of Humor
51
2.5
The data of the case study
52
2.6
Data analysis
54
2.7
Discussion
63
2.8
Summary
64
Chapter 3.
Humor as metapragmatic commentary on language use – or how people attempt to regulate language use through humor
66
3.1
Introductory remarks
66
3.2
On memes and their metapragmatic function
68
3.3
Greek traditionalist grammar memes: Humorous memes about the cooking contest
Master Chef Greece
72
3.3.1
Interpreting standard and/or prestigious varieties as dialectal Greek
77
3.3.2
Expanding the use of the dialect of Ioannina
82
3.3.3
Discussion
85
3.4
Greek backlash memes: Humorous memes about the translation of English loanwords into Greek
86
3.4.1
Inappropriate connotations
92
3.4.2
Uncommon and unusable translation equivalents
93
3.4.3
Lower or higher inappropriate style
94
3.4.4
‘Bad’ English
96
3.4.5
Informal versus formal Greek
97
3.4.6
Corrective acts are incongruous
98
3.4.7
Discussion
99
3.5
Summary
102
Chapter 4.
Humorous ambiguity – or why humor may engender diverse and contradictory interpretations
103
4.1
Introductory remarks
103
4.2
On humor and social discrimination
104
4.3
The co-existence of racist and antiracist discourse
107
4.4
The genre of satirical news
109
4.5
Data description
112
4.6
Data analysis
113
4.6.1
Explicitly denigrating racists
114
4.6.2
Mocking those trivializing migrants’ lives
116
4.6.3
Targeting those who act for the benefit of migrants
120
4.7
Discussion
123
4.8
Summary
124
Chapter 5.
Evaluation and intertextuality in humorous discourse – or how speakers create social groups through humor
126
5.1
Introductory remarks
126
5.2
The evaluative/critical dimension of humor
127
5.3
Intertextuality and humor
131
5.4
The data of the study
133
5.5
Data analysis
135
5.5.1
Serious critical posts
135
5.5.2
Humorous critical verbal posts
138
5.5.3
Humorous critical memes
142
5.6
Discussion
147
5.7
Summary
149
Chapter 6.
Humor and critical literacy – or what and how we can learn about humor from its sociopragmatic analysis
150
6.1
Introductory remarks
150
6.2
Why teach
about humor?
152
6.3
What is critical literacy?
154
6.4
Why teach about the sociopragmatics of humor within a critical literacy framework?
160
6.5
Designing critical literacy courses on humor
164
6.6
A critical literacy approach to pandemic memes: Setting the agenda
167
6.7
Humor and memes during the COVID-19 pandemic
168
6.8
Classical art memes
173
6.9
The aims and data of the analysis
176
6.10
Data analysis
180
6.10.1
AF3/Text
181
6.10.1.1
Recontextualized portraits
184
6.10.1.2
Recontextualized interactions
185
6.10.1.3
Recontextualized paintings through meme producers’ commentary
186
6.10.1.4
Compositions including recontextualized paintings
187
6.10.1.4.1
Combinations of different paintings
187
6.10.1.4.2
Compositions made of the same painting
188
6.10.1.4.3
Compositions of paintings and contemporary photos
190
6.10.1.5
Summarizing the analysis in AF3/Text terms
191
6.10.2
AF2/Genre
192
6.10.2.1
The sociopragmatic functions of pandemic memes
193
6.10.2.1.1
Pandemic memes as sociopolitical criticism
194
6.10.2.1.2
Pandemic memes as coping and bonding mechanisms
198
6.10.2.1.3
In between criticism and coping/bonding: Pandemic memes about the ‘new normal’
202
6.10.2.2
Generic hybridization in pandemic memes
205
6.10.2.3
Summarizing the analysis in AF2/Genre terms
211
6.10.3
The analysis in AF1/Sociocultural Assumptions terms
213
6.11
Scrutinizing pandemic memes in class
214
6.11.1
Students’ collection of humorous data
214
6.11.2
Teachers’ familiarity with humor theory
215
6.11.3
Critical readings of humorous discourse
215
6.11.4
Debating diverse interpretations of humorous discourse
221
6.11.5
A comparative perspective – humorous vs. non-humorous discourse
221
6.11.6
Sharing perspectives in new texts
222
6.12
Summary
223
Chapter 7.
Conclusions
224
References
227
Name index
259
Subject index
263
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