An Analysis of The Simpsons from the Perspective of Cooperative Principle_英语论文

摘要

在人们的对话过程中，为了完成一次成功的对话，双方都有可能遵循格赖斯的合作原则理论。但是，读者们很容易注意到，在某些情况下，说话人会故意或无意地违反这个理论，这会对对话的内容和聆听者产生意想不到的幽默效果。言语幽默也被称为非合作交际行为。幽默效果的产生不是一个简单的过程，它与具体的对话语境息息相关。格赖斯的合作原则在理论上为言语幽默的产生提供了一条途径。因此，本文将在合作原则的理论框架下，从违反理论的角度，分析情景系列动画片《辛普森一家》，探讨它是如何产生幽默效果的。《辛普森一家》作为一部美国喜剧，不仅让观众开怀大笑，而且以一种风趣幽默的方式探讨了许多严肃的话题，涉及到美国现实生活的许多方面。

关键词：合作原则  《辛普森一家》  幽默  美国

Abstract

In the process of people's communication, in order to finish a successful conversation, the two sides of the talk will potentially abide by the principle of Grice's Cooperative Principle. However, it is easy to notice that on some occasions, the speaker intentionally or unintentionally violates the maxims, which will create unexpected humorous effects. Verbal humor is also called an uncooperative communicative act. The generation of humor is not a simple process. The production of humorous effect is closely related to the specific context. Grice's Cooperative Principle provides a way for the generation of humorous language in theory. Thus, under the framework of Cooperative Principle, this paper will analyze the conversational content of the influential animated cartoons The Simpsons from the opposite angle, and then analyze how it produces humorous effect. The Simpsons, as an American comedy, it not only makes the audience laugh, but also explores many serious topics in a funny and humorous way, involving many aspects of American real life.

Key words: Cooperative Principle  The Simpsons  humour  America

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction1

1.1  Background.1 

1.2  Aims and Significance of the Study2

Chapter Two  Literature Review4

2.1  Introduction.4

2.2  Studies of Humour.5

2.2.1 Superiority/Disparagement Theory.5

2.2.2 Relief/Release Theory.6

2.2.3 Incongruity Theory7

2.2.4 Summary.8

2.3  Studies of Grice's Cooperative Principle8

2.3.1 Domestic Researches8

2.3.2 Foreign Researches.10

2.4  Studies of The Simpsons.11

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework13

3.1  Introduction.13

3.2  Grice's Cooperative Principle13

3.2.1 Cooperative Principle13

3.2.2 The Four Maxims of Cooperative Principle14

3.3  Violation of the Cooperative Principle16

Chapter Four  Analysis of Verbal Humour in The Simpsons Based on the

Cooperative Principle.18

4.1  The Maxim of Quantity and Verbal Humour18 

4.2  The Maxim of Quality and Verbal Humour21 

4.3  The Maxim of Relevance and Verbal Humour25

4.4  The Maxim of Clarity and Verbal Humour.28

Chapter Five  Conclusion32 

5.1  Main Findings.32

5.2  Limitations33

Bibliography

Acknowledgements