Why are you amused: Unveiling multimodal humor from the prototype theoretical perspective

The European Journal of Humour Research

Guiying Jiang¹  Qiaoyun Chen² 

[1] Xiamen University;Xiamen Universtiy;

关键词: multimodal humor;    incongruity theory of humor;    prototype theory;    cognitive linguistics;   

DOI  :  10.7592/EJHR2018.6.1.chen

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This paper looks at multimodal humour through the lens of prototype theory in the framework of conventional incongruity theory of humour, aiming for a unified linguistic and semiotic approach to humour. From this perspective, humour can be achieved through the following three aspects of linguistic and non-linguistic categories: 1) prototypicality versus non-prototypicality of category members; 2) the family resemblance shared by category members; 3) vague inter-categorical boundary. The cognitive mechanisms behind this type of multimodal humour and its comprehension are discussed. The intermodal relationships involved are examined and categorised into two major types: complementary and non-complementary ones.

【 授权许可】

Unknown