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4 Conclusion 16
References 18
Analysis of the Verbal Humor in the American Sitcom Frasier from the Perspective of Speech Act Theory
1 Introduction
1.1 Background and Significance of the Study
As an important means of human communication skill, humor can be easily found in daily dialogue, films, televisions, books, magazines, newspaper, etc.. Humor not only makes people feel relaxed and cheerful, but also helps smooth social relations, cultivate friendly atmosphere and deal with embarrassing situations in communication. It is safe to say that humor plays an important role in all cultures. Therefore, researchers and scholars have attached great importance to the study of the generation, understanding as well as the application of humor from different perspectives such as linguistics, sociology, psychology and philosophy. Pragmatic principles have provided a broader view and a new angle for the further study of humor.
In the past decade, the Cooperative Principle and Politeness Principle have been frequently used to analyze the verbal humor of American sitcoms. Comparatively speaking, Speech Act Theory has been less frequently used. The Speech Act Theory was first proposed by John L. Austin in 1962 and developed by John R. Searl .Speech Act theory is one of the most important theories in the study of linguistic pragmatics. According to Speech Act Theory, we are performing actions when we are speaking. A speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act. This theory is not created specifically for explaining humor, but it offers a brand-new perspective and framework for the research of humor.
Frasier, as one of the most famous American situation comedy, has won five Emmy Awards best drama series from 1994 to 1998 and two Golden Globe Awards for best drama series in 1994 and 1995. Yet Chinese audiences still have some obstacles in understanding the verbal humor in this drama owing to cultural differences.
Since Chinese audience may have some difficulties in understanding the verbal humor in Frasier, which is an important and popular drama in China, and Speech Act Theory has proved to be effective in explaining the verbal humor in American situation comedy, it is significant to investigate the verbal humor in Frasier from the perspective of the Speech Act Theory.
1.2 Objectives of the Study
The paper aims to analyze the verbal humor in the American situation comedy Frasier from the perspective of Speech Act Theory, thus helping Chinese audience better appreciate the humor in that drama, and retesting the explaining force of the Speech Act Theory for analyzing verbal humor.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Studies on Speech Act Theory
Speech Act Theory was proposed by John Austin, the British philosopher of languages in his How to Do Things with Words in 1962. In this book, Austin proposed the contour of the theory and the basic conception of performative language, which focuses on the notion—“to say something is to do something”. Austin is the first one who explicitly distinguished “constative” from “performative” utterances (Verschueren, 2000, p.22). Constative language is the language of statement, which is used to state something or describe something. Its true value can be checked. Performative language is the language of action, which is focused on the body language to convey his meaning. Its true value can not be checked easily.
According to Speech Act Theory, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act. A locutionary act is the act of uttering words, phrases, and clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax lexicon and phonology. An illocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker’s intention; it is the act performed in saying something. A perlocutionary act is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about the utterance; it is the act performed by saying something (Austin, 1962). Among the three acts, the illocutionary act has been the focus of study for most linguists.