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Part of
Beyond Meaning
Edited by Elly Ifantidou, Louis de Saussure and Tim Wharton
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 324] 2021
► pp. 119–132

Humorous means, serious messages

A relevance-theoretic perspective on telling jokes to communicate propositional meaning

| University of Warsaw
Drawing on the observation that speakers may use jokes as stylistic devices to communicate propositional meanings, this paper offers a relevance-theoretic account of pragmatic mechanisms involved in this kind of communication, dubbed ‘meaningful jokes.’ First, I argue that the comprehension of any joke not only relies on the hearer’s background knowledge, but may also lead to the modification of beliefs. Then I explore selected forms of expression which potentially bear affinity to meaningful jokes, such as fiction, metaphors, allegories, and irony. Finally, I postulate that meaningful jokes rely on a unique propositional attitude and emergent implicatures resulting from the incongruity between the joke’s scenario and a real-life situation in which it was intended to be relevant.
Keywords: humour, jokes, propositional meaning, fiction, allegory, metaphor, irony, emergent implicatures, propositional attitude
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Understanding and enjoying jokes – a relevance-theoretic perspective
  • 3.The relevance of fiction and tropes vs. jokes
  • 4.What jokes tell us about the work of a physicist and the dangers of social media
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 November 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.324.c7
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