Humoresques

Conversational Humour and (Im)politeness

Valeria Sinkeviciute, Conversational Humour and (Im)politeness. A pragmatic analysis of social interaction, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2019.

mot-clé : Australie, Grande-Bretagne, linguistique, moquerie, taquinerie.

Conversational Humour and (Im) politeness is the first systematic study that offers a socio-
pragmatic perspective on humorous practices such as teasing, mockery and taking the piss
and their relation to (im) politeness. Analysing data from corpora, reality television and
interviews in Australian and British cultural contexts, this book contributes to cross-cultural
and intercultural research on humour and its role in social interaction. Although, in both
contexts, jocular verbal practices are highly valued and a positive response–the 'prefered reaction' -
can be expected, the conceptualisation of what is seen as humorous can vary,

 especially in terms of what'goes too far'. By examining how attempts at humorous can occasion
offence, presenting a distinction between 'frontstage' and 'backstage' perceptions of jocularity
and looking at how language users evaluate jocular behaviours in interaction, this study shows how
humour and (im)politeness are co-constructed and negotiated in discourse. This book will be of
interest to scholars and students in pragmatis, conversational humour, (im)politeness, intercultural
communication, discourse analysis, television studies and interaction in English-speaking contexts.