Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 14. Number 2 June 2023 Pp.327-343
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol14no2.23
Humor in The Stand-Up Comedy You Wanna Hear Something Crazy?: A Universal
Pragmatic Study
Zainab Ahmed Mohammed
Department of English, College of Education for Womenp
University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Corresponding Author: zainab.ahmed2103m@coeduw.uobaghdad.edu.iq
Nawal Fadhil Abbas
Department of English, College of Education for Women
University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Received:02/12/2023 Accepted: 06/2/2023 Published:06/24/2023
Abstract:
Humor is an interesting phenomenon that has been studied widely, yet it is considered a universal trait that cannot be an old subject for a study. This study is conducted to investigate humor from a universal pragmatic lens in a stand-up comedy show, namely, You Wanna Hear Something Crazy?. It aims to study humor as a coin with two sides, the production side and the understanding side. To achieve the aim of the study, the researchers use an eclectic contains Grice’s CP model (1975) and Habermas’s UP model (1979, 1984, 1987, 1998). The study has noted that while using the observance and the non-observance of the cooperative maxims to produce humor, the universal validity claims of truth, sincerity, and normative rightness for reaching a mutual understanding with the audience are raised. The study concludes that more than one maxim can be used, whether it is observed or non-observed, to produce humor. Besides, humor can be produced through the combination sequence of the observance and the non-observance of maxims. It is also shown that humor has adhered to the universal validity claims of truth, sincerity, and normative rightness. On the whole, humor is used communicatively to get the hearer into a mutual understanding.
Keywords: Cooperative Principle, Humor, Stand-up Comedy, Universal Pragmatics, Validity
Claims, You Wanna Hear Something Crazy?.
Cite as: Mohammed, Z. A., & Abbas, N.F. (2023). Humor in The Stand-Up Comedy You Wanna Hear Something Crazy?: A Universal Pragmatic Study. Arab World English Journal, 14 (2) 327-343.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol14no2.23
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