~A discourse analysis approach to the social functions of humour, with reference to the political panel discussion programme, Question Time~
Humour has often been overlooked as a serious subject of study, but humour studies is a growing area of multidisciplinary research, of which one contributing discipline is linguistics. Much of the focus to date has been on identifying the mechanisms that trigger humour in self-contained joke texts. This thesis is part of a growing shift in focus towards studying (a) spontaneous, situational humour analysed in context, and (b) function rather than form. The literature on the social functions of humour is reviewed, and a new model proposed as an analytical framework. The model features five main functions of humour, which relate, respectively, to (i) amusement, (ii) social relations, (iii) self-presentation, (iv) representation and (v) the managing of the on-going action. Whereas the first four functions are largely drawn from the literature (albeit in a modified form), the latter function has been inadequately investigated to date, and its inclusion in the model is informed by the analysis. The data is taken from Question Time, a BBC political panel discussion programme, and a theoretical framework specific to the data is drawn from media studies and research on mediatised politics. Instances of linguistic
Roberts, Claire Louise
~A discourse analysis approach to the social functions of humour, with reference to the political panel discussion programme, Question Time~. Humour has often been overlooked as a serious subject of study, but humour studies is a growing area of multidisciplinary research, of which one contributing discipline is linguistics. Much of the focus to date has been on identifying the mechanisms that trigger humour in self-contained joke texts. This thesis is part of a growing shift in focus towards studying (a) spontaneous, situational humour analysed in context, and (b) function rather than form. The literature on the social functions of humour is reviewed, and a new model proposed as an analytical framework. The model features five main functions of humour, which relate, respectively, to (i) amusement, (ii) social relations, (iii) self-presentation, (iv) representation and (v) the managing of the on-going action. Whereas the first four functions are largely drawn from the literature (albeit in a modified form), the latter function has been inadequately investigated to date, and its inclusion in the model is informed by the analysis. The data is taken from Question Time, a BBC political panel discussion programme, and a theoretical framework specific to the data is drawn from media studies and research on mediatised politics. Instances of linguistic
discourse_analysis social_function humour reference political discussion programme question time humour often_overlook serious subject study humour study grow_area multidisciplinary contributing discipline linguistics much focus date identify mechanism trigger humour self text part grow shift_focus towards study spontaneous situational humour analyse context function rather form literature social_function humour review new model_propose analytical_framework model feature five_main function humour relate respectively social_relation iii self_presentation representation manage going action whereas first_four function largely draw literature albeit modify form latter function inadequately investigated date inclusion model inform analysis data_take question time bbc political discussion programme theoretical_framework specific data_drawn medium study politics linguistic