Laughing at the 'other' : Critical pragmatic insights into the humorous construction of opposing groups
| Title in English | 15th International Pragmatics Conference, 16-21 July 2017, Belfast |
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Workshop |
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| Description | Having enjoyed an increasing popularity among scholars over the past couple of decades, the issue of humour has developed an extensive body of research in linguistic pragmatics. This panel aims to develop that tradition by focusing on humour explicitly involving the ‘other’. However, while the ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ dichotomy is a recurrent theme in humour pragmatics, the issue has a broader significance: the analysis of humour involving the ‘other’ can reveal broader social practices, i.e. the ideologies, stereotypes and social beliefs that underlie the relationship between such mutually opposed groups (cf. Duszak 2002; Archakis and Tsakona 2005). To this end, the present panel calls for a multidisciplinary approach enriching pragmatics with insights from critical discourse studies in order to explore how the mutual contrast of ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ operates, what forms the relevant humorous acts take, and what ends the targeting of ‘others’ ultimately serves. |
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