Language and image interaction in cartoons: Towards a multimodal theory of humor

Abstract

In cartoons, meaning and humor are produced either via two semiotic modes, the verbal and the visual, or solely via the visual mode. Due to their condensed form and to the interaction between language and image, cartoons are often considered to be a direct and easy to process means of communicating a message. The present study aims at showing that cartoon humor is not always easy to grasp fully, therefore the reader should pay attention to all the verbal and visual details of each cartoon. For this purpose, a General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) framework of analysis is adopted, while cognitive and semiotic approaches are complementary and relevant in this respect. Special attention is paid to exaggeration, contradiction, and metaphor as humorous mechanisms and to the hyperdetermination of humor, which seems to result from the interaction of verbal and visual elements and from the use of visual metaphor. By bringing to the surface some of the common humorous mechanisms in both the verbal and the visual mode, the present analysis aims at taking the GTVH a step further towards the unification of linguistic and semiotic approaches to humor.