Abstract
This chapter deals with four “why” theories of humor: superiority, incongruity, psychoanalytic, and paradoxical-meta-communication. They are contrasted with the “what” theory of humor that focuses upon forty-five techniques that are used to generate mirthful laughter in humorous texts of all kinds. The difference between the comic and the tragic is considered.
ApplicationThe forty-five techniques found in humorous texts are listed and some jokes and other humorous are analyzed using the techniques. A number of jokes are then offered for readers to analyze using the techniques.
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Berger, A.A. (2016). Humor: Jokes. In: Applied Discourse Analysis. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47181-5_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47181-5_12
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47180-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47181-5
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