A Brief Logical Analysis of Humor Language.docx
- 文档编号:11484506
- 上传时间:2023-03-01
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:9
- 大小:21.06KB
A Brief Logical Analysis of Humor Language.docx
《A Brief Logical Analysis of Humor Language.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《A Brief Logical Analysis of Humor Language.docx(9页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
ABriefLogicalAnalysisofHumorLanguage
A BriefLogical Analysis of Humor Language
Abstract:
Thispaperaimsatanalyzingthemechanismsofhumorfromtheperspectiveoflogicinspiredfromtheinteractionalbetweenexecutantsandrespondent,whichisthestartingpointofthisthesis.Theanalysiswillconcentrateonthosehumorproductionsinwhichdifferentperceptionsoftheutterancesresultsinthedislocationoflogic.
Keywords:
logic;humor;production;interaction
1.Introduction
Humor,asapartofourlife,isacomplexdynamicsystem.Inaboardersense,humorisreflectedinallaspectsofoursociallife.Inanarrowersense,humoroftenrevealsthegeneralweaknessesoftheordinarypersonbut,withhumor,whatwouldoffendorcausepityinreallifecanberidiculouswithoutharm,sincetheaudiencelaughsnotatarealpersonbutacharacterwhotypifiesuglinessorbaseness.Moreover,humorhasitssoothingpower.Itinstantlytakesusawayevenifformomentsfromourtroublesandmakesthemeasiertobearanditgivesuspowerandanewperspective.Thiswaywegainachancetorelaxournerves,toreadjustourattitudestowardsourlifeandeventoourselves.
Humorhasbeenstudiedbypsychologists,physiologists,philosophersandlinguistsalike.Myinterestwillfocusonthefunnyeffectcausedbythedifferentperspectivesassumedbythetwospeakersinaconversation:
somethingthatwemaycall"interactionalhumor."Theword"interactional"standsfortherelationshipbetweenexecutantsandrespondentandbetweenthesuppositionsandentailmentsthatarethepragmaticorlogicalbasisoftheirrelationship.SinceIwillconductanalysisfromtheperspectiveoflogictoexplorehowhumorouseffectiscreated,Ibelievethatknowledgeoflogicwillillustratewhatislogicallywronginhumorouspiecesaswellasdeviantmodesofthinkingasreflectedinthem.Withtheseanalyses,wemayknowmoreabouthumor'smechanisminsteadofmerelygettingfunfromit.
Asforthetheoreticalbasisofthepaper,mylogicalanalysiswillinvolvetwocorrelatedsub-perspectives:
violationsofthefundamentallogicallaws,anddifferentiationsfromhabitualmodesofthinking.Theformerstandsatthe"surface"levelinanalyzingillogicallanguage,whilethelatteratthe"deep"levelinanalyzingthemodeofthinkingthatgiverisetoillogicalutterances.Aristotleastherealfounderofthestudyoflogicdescribesthreelawsasthebasisofallvalidlogic:
theLawofIdentity(AisA),theLawofNon-contradiction(AcannotbebothAandnotA),andtheLawofExcludedMiddle(AmustbeeitherAornotA).Thesearefundamentallawsguidinghumanthinking.Ourthoughtshouldbeconsistent,definiteandclearincommunication.Somehumorproductions,however,seemridiculousexactlybecausetheyviolateoneormoreoftheselawsdeliberatelyorunconsciously.
2.CloseRelationshipbetweenLogic,LanguageandHumor
SincetheclassicalperiodinGreece,philosophershaveconcernedthemselveswiththenatureofhumorandthecausesoflaughter.Yet,afterthousandsofyearsspenttryingtounderstandhumor,thereisstillagreatdealofcontroversiesaboutitsmechanism.
Thecloserelationbetweenlanguageandlogicformstherootoftheinteractionbetweenhumorandlogic.ThequestionoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandthoughthashauntedthephilosopherseversincethetimeofancientGreeceandhasbeenachallengetolinguists,psychologistsandanthropologistsalike.TheviewthatlanguageisthematerialappearanceofthoughtandthoughtsareexpressedinamentallanguagedatesbacktothetimeofPlato.Itiscommonlyacknowledgedthataspeaker'srealintentioncanbeknownthroughhisownlanguage.Theremustbesomelogicalprinciplestoguidetheexpressionineachdiscourse.Logicalinconsistencyisakeyelementofhumorleadingtoalaugh.
Inanalyzinghumor,logicalmechanismisalsooneelementofthesixknowledgeresources(KR)whichisthecentralideaoftheGeneralTheoryofVerbalHumor(GTVH)presentedbyAttardo(2001).Acomplexpresupposition,afalsesyllogism,themismanagementofbecauseandtherefore,andcirclinglogicsareallthelogicaltriggerstohumor.
3.LogicalAnalysisofHumor
Logicaldeviationsometimesoccursateachleveloflogicalthinking,whichincludesfaultyreasoning,viciouscircles,falseanalogyandfalsesyllogism.Thissectionwillnarrowthescopedownbyrestrictinganalysistotheincongruity-basedhumorwherelikelihood,logicalmalpracticeconcerningtheviolationoflogicallaws,falseanalogytogetherwithunexpectedresultfromlogicalinferencefunctioninthehumorouseffect.
3.1ViolationoftheLawofIdentity
AccordingtotheLawofIdentity,anythingisalwaysconsistentwithitself.Itsaysthatthethingswerefertoinourcommunicationshouldbethesameones.Theformulaofthislawis:
AisA.Areferstoanyconceptionorproposition.Thatistosay,inthesamecontext,thesamemeaningshouldbeexpressedthroughthesamesemanticexpression.Humormayarisewhenthelawofidentityisnotfollowed.Commonmistakesofthisviolationincludeconceptconfusion,conceptsubstitution,topicsubstitutionortopicdivergence.
3.1.1ConceptConfusion
Everyconcepthasitownintentionandextension.Conceptconfusionoccurswhentheintensionandtheextensionoftheconceptchange.Therealconnotationdiffersalthoughapparentlythesameliteralexpressionisused.Theincongruityleadstohumor.
Example1:
Theteacherasksthestudents:
"What'sthehalfofeight?
"
Onestudentanswersquickly:
"Itshouldbetwozeros."
Thenanotherstudentsaid:
"That'stheanswerforbeingdividedupsideanddownside.Thereshouldbetwothreesifitwasdividedfromrighttoleft."
Thesetwostudentshaveconfusedthereferenceoftheword"eight".The"eight"intheteacher'squestionreferstothefigure.Butthestudent'sperspectiveisthattheylooktheeightasthefigureitself.Theymakeconfusionbetweenthefigureitselfandthefigurereferredto.Itisareferentialambiguityscriptjoke.
3.1.2ConceptSubstitution
Conceptsubstitutionmeansthatthespeakersubstitutestherealmeaningofoneconceptforaspecificsituation,andusesitindicatinganothermeaningwhichisquitedifferentwiththepreviousone.Thecontrastofthesetwoconnotationsofthesameexpressioncreatesanincongruityandmakeslaughter.
Example2:
Employer:
Forthisjobwewantaresponsibleman.
Applicant:
Thenyouwantme.EverywhereI'veworkedwhensomethingwentwrongtheysaidIwasresponsible.
"Responsibleman"meansthepersonshouldbestrictwithhisjob,andensurethathisworkiswellqualified.Buttheapplicant'sunderstandingisnotinconformitywiththis.Whathesaystellsthatheshouldbeartheresponsibilityforhismistakes,andthatindicatesthatheiscareless,withoutasenseofresponsibility.Infact,thesame"responsible"carriestheoppositemeaning.Theambiguityofthewordgivesthechoiceofsubstitutionandcreatesthefunnyeffect.Inthisshortdiscourse,theword"responsible"shouldcarryonedefinitemeaning.Infact,thedeviceofusingawordthatcanexpressambiguitymeaningsisaneasilyunderstoodone.
3.1.3Topicsubstitution
Topicsubstitutionmeansusingonejudgmenttosubstituteanother,orusingoneprerequisitetosubstitutethewholeprerequisite.
Example3:
Bride:
"John,wouldyoulendmefiftydollarsifIaskedyou?
"
John:
"Why,yes,Isupposeso."
Bride:
"Allright,then,lendmefifty,butjustgiveme25ofit."
John:
"0k,Butwhy?
"
Bride:
"Thenyou'lloweme25andI'lloweyou25andwe'llbeallsquare."
Bridesubstitutesthemoneythatwillbelenttohimasthemoneyheownshimself.Onthatfalsebasishemakesinfactanunfairplan.ItisRightpremisesvs.Reasonfromfalsepremisesscriptoppositionandtheresolutionmakesalaugh.
3.1.4TopicDivergence
Topicsdivergencereferstoachangeinthedirectionoftheconversationinsteadoffollowingthecourseofcommunication:
Example4:
Marywassodisgustedatherhusband'scigarettesmokingthatshecomplainedtohimoneday.
"Ihopethatallthecigarettefactorieswillcatchfiresomeday."
"Don'tworry,dear.Allthecigaretteswillbeonfiresoonerorlater."Hesaidwithasmile.
Thefirst"fire"meansthefactorieswillbedestroyedbybig"fire",whilethesecond"fire"meansthecigaretteswillbelitandthensmoked.Theirsemanticmeaningsdifferalotinthiscontext.Therealmeaningofasentenceislargelydeterminedbythecontextinwhichitoccurs.Aslanguagecanservemanypurposes,onlywiththeoverallconsiderationofthespecificbackgroundcanweobtainthecorrectintentionoftheexpression.Humorexploitstheambiguityandleadsthereaderuptothegardenpath.
3.2ViolationoftheLawofNon-contradiction
Accordingtothenon-contradictionlaw,AcannotbebothAandnotA.Itmeansthatifanythingissaidtohaveacertainattribute,itcannotbesaidnottohavethatattribute.Inotherwords,anexpressioncannothaveandhavenoneofacertainmeaningatthesametime.Manyhumorousstoriescomefromfloutingthislaw.
Example5:
MymotherandIwerestandingatthecheckoutinthesupermarketasthecashierscanned
thethingswebought.Whenthepriceofabottleoforangejuicewasscannedas$4,mymother
said,"It'sonly$3.95."
Thecashierstoppedwhatshewasdoinganddisappeareddownoneoftheaislestocheck
theprice.Shesoonreturnedandsaidthatthepricewas$3.95.Whenshehandedmymother
thechange,thefivecentcoinrolledontothefloor.Muchtomyamusement,asthecashierbent
overtosearchforit,mymothersaid"Oh,don'tbother,it'sonlyfivecents."
T
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Brief Logical Analysis of Humor Language
![提示](https://static.bdocx.com/images/bang_tan.gif)