An Analysis of Verbal Humor in Ellen Show from the Perspective of Relevance Theory_英语论文

摘要

幽默的话语能够在人类交际过程中创造轻松愉悦的氛围,它本身需要借助语言工具来建构和表达,并且与特定场合下话语的实际意义密切相关,因此它离不开语言自身规律,在一定程度上也十分依赖语境。近几年众多研究者们已经相继从合作原则、礼貌原则、概念整合理论等角度阐释了《艾伦秀》的话语幽默是如何产生和实现的问题,而本文将从关联理论的视角出发,将关联理论中的明示推理交际,最大关联与最佳关联和认知语境的概念与《艾伦秀》中主持人艾伦和嘉宾的幽默对话分析相结合,总结出“艾伦秀”中话语幽默产生的机制,加强读者对这一机制的了解,进而帮助读者正确解读国外影视节目中产生的言语幽默效果。

关键词: 言语幽默  关联理论  艾伦秀

Abstract

Verbal humor can make people relaxed and pleasant in the process of their communication. It needs some language models to construct and express itself, and is closely related to the actual meaning of discourses in a specific situation. Therefore, verbal humor cannot work without language rules, and it depends on certain contexts to some extent. In recent years, many researchers have successively illustrated how the humorous discourses generated and realized in the Ellen show from the perspective of the cooperative principle, politeness principle, and the conceptual integration theory. This thesis will refer to the concept of the ostensive-inferential communication, the maximal relevance and the optimal relevance as well as the cognitive context from the perspective of relevance theory. By analyzing the humorous dialogues between the host Ellen and guest in Ellen Show from the perspective of relevance theory, this thesis will summarize the production mechanism of verbal humor, and thus strengthen the readers’ understanding of the mechanism and help them to correctly understand the effects of verbal humor in the foreign films and television programs.

Key words: verbal humor  Relevance Theory  Ellen Show

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction 1

1.1  Purpose of This Thesis 1

1.2  Significance of This Thesis 2

1.3  Structure of This Thesis 2

1.4  Research Method of This Thesis 2

Chapter Two  Literature Review 4

2.1  Introduction 4

2.2  Approaches to Verbal Humor Analysis 4

2.2.1 Superiority Humor Theory 4

2.2.2 Relief Humor Theory 5

2.2.3 Incongruity Humor Theory 5

2.2.4 Semantic Humor Theory 6

2.3  Study of Verbal Humor in Talk Show 7

2.4  Summary 8

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework 9

3.1  Background of Relevance Theory 9

3.2  Definition of Relevance Theory 10

3.2.1 Ostensive-inferential Communication 11

3.2.2 Maximal Relevance and Optimal Relevance 12

3.2.3 Cognitive Context and Contextual Effects 13

Chapter Four  Verbal Humor of Ellen Show 14

4.1  Introduction 14

4.2  Discourse Analysis 14

4.2.1 The Process of Ostensive-inferential Communication 14

4.2.2 The Gap between Maximal Relevance and Optimal Relevance 16

4.2.3 The Change of Cognitive Context 17

Chapter Five  Conclusion 20

Bibliography  

Acknowledgements