Abstract
Linguistic humour studies have been undertaken from different perspectives. The present paper offers a review of the most influential theories seeking synergies and convergence between them under the umbrella of cognitive linguistics, and, more specifically, resorting to Langacker’s (2001) current discourse space (CDS) as the overall framework which can accommodate and encompass those perspectives, along with Fauconnier and Turner’s (2003) Conceptual Integration Theory. A sketch of various theories is included (Raskin, 1985; Attardo, 1994; Coulson, 2005a; Veale, 2015, etc.), along with an analysis of points of convergence and similarities as the rationale for bringing them together against the backdrop of the CDS.
Highlights
Morreal posited that humour is a cognitive phenomenon─as it involves perception, thought, mental patterns and expectations─that triggers a sudden cognitive shift that we find pleasurable because we perceive it as a kind of play
I provided a streamlined and simplified model to account for humorous communication based on Langacker’s (2001) notion of current discourse space and Fauconnier and Turner’s (2002) theory on blending and conceptual integration networks
I bring together different approaches to humour with a more or less explicit cognitive stance, in order to seek similarities and convergence. The purpose of this exercise was to distil the essence of the different models and notions put forward to find the common denominator, as a way to map out the core features of humorous communication and account for them in a simplified model
Summary
From a linguistic point of view, humour is arguably one of the most complex instances of communication (Veale, Brône, and Feyaerts 2015). The notion of incongruity is largely behind almost every account of humour in linguistic theories (Raskin 1985; Giora 1997; Attardo 2001; Veale, Feyaerts, and Brône 2006; Yus 2016, etc.). I believe these approaches differ in perspective, but they share core elements which can be brought together and accounted for resorting to widely studied notions in cognitive linguistics, such as Fauconnier and Turner’s conceptual blending (2002) or Langacker’s current discourse space (2001). Regardless of the approach taken to tackle humour studies, certain recurrent shared notions emerge: a) The need for incongruity based on the interplay between two different possible interpretations of the humorous text In cognitive linguistics, this amounts to confronting two domains, i.e., knowledge structures, which can be entrenched or novel. Theories based on a purely semantic-pragmatic perspective are presenting first, before addressing those with a more cognitive stance
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