|
Abstract:
The present paper explores the communicative value of verbal humour in its two major constituents: conversational humour and jokes. In our analysis of the interplay between the serious mode and the humorous one, we have tried to highlight the variety of functions that humour assumes in a serious communicative process by focusing on three basic functions: the lubricant, the abrasive and the coping function in occupational and educational contexts. In our analysis of jokes as the second constituent of verbal humour, we have tried to explore the information-conveying aspect of jokes, the type of jokes which are loaded with a certain piece of implicit or explicit information which renders their interpretative task problematic in case the hearer does not manage to identify this piece of information, hence the failure of the interpretative process. Our work has relevant implications for the general theory of humour and communication as well as applications to inspire professionals in occupational and educational settings.
|
