Exploring the Sociopragmatics of Online Humor (Topics in Humor Research, 12)

Dedication page
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Humor and context within the (socio)pragmatic theories of humor
	1.1 Introductory remarks
	1.2 Context in competence theories of humor
	1.3 Context in other approaches to humor
	1.4 Towards a more contextualized version of the General Theory of Verbal Humor
	1.5 Attardo’s proposal on a performance theory of humor
	1.6 Kuipers’ conceptualization of the knowledge about humor
	1.7 The Discourse Theory of Humor
		Analytical Focus 1: Sociocultural Assumptions (henceforth AF1/Sociocultural Assumptions)
		Analytical Focus 2: Genre (henceforth AF2/Genre)
		Analytical Focus 3: Text (henceforth AF3/Text)
	1.8 Summary
Chapter 2 Humorous and non-humorous interpretations of attempts at humor – or why humor may fail
	2.1 Introductory remarks
	2.2 Metapragmatics and the study of humor
	2.3 On humor failure and success
	2.4 Humor failure and the Discourse Theory of Humor
	2.5 The data of the case study
	2.6 Data analysis
	2.7 Discussion
	2.8 Summary
Chapter 3 Humor as metapragmatic commentary on language use – or how people attempt to regulate language use through humor
	3.1 Introductory remarks
	3.2 On memes and their metapragmatic function
	3.3 Greek traditionalist grammar memes: Humorous memes about the cooking contest Master Chef Greece
		3.3.1 Interpreting standard and/or prestigious varieties as dialectal Greek
		3.3.2 Expanding the use of the dialect of Ioannina
		3.3.3 Discussion
	3.4 Greek backlash memes: Humorous memes about the translation of English loanwords into Greek
		3.4.1 Inappropriate connotations
		3.4.2 Uncommon and unusable translation equivalents
		3.4.3 Lower or higher inappropriate style
		3.4.4 ‘Bad’ English
		3.4.5 Informal versus formal Greek
		3.4.6 Corrective acts are incongruous
		3.4.7 Discussion
	3.5 Summary
Chapter 4 Humorous ambiguity – or why humor may engender diverse and contradictory interpretations
	4.1 Introductory remarks
	4.2 On humor and social discrimination
	4.3 The co-existence of racist and antiracist discourse
	4.4 The genre of satirical news
	4.5 Data description
	4.6 Data analysis
		4.6.1 Explicitly denigrating racists
		4.6.2 Mocking those trivializing migrants’ lives
		4.6.3 Targeting those who act for the benefit of migrants
	4.7 Discussion
	4.8 Summary
Chapter 5 Evaluation and intertextuality in humorous discourse – or how speakers create social groups through humor
	5.1 Introductory remarks
	5.2 The evaluative/critical dimension of humor
	5.3 Intertextuality and humor
	5.4 The data of the study
	5.5 Data analysis
		5.5.1 Serious critical posts
		5.5.2 Humorous critical verbal posts
		5.5.3 Humorous critical memes
	5.6 Discussion
	5.7 Summary
Chapter 6 Humor and critical literacy – or what and how we can learn about humor from its sociopragmatic analysis
	6.1 Introductory remarks
	6.2 Why teach about humor?
	6.3 What is critical literacy?
	6.4 Why teach about the sociopragmatics of humor within a critical literacy framework?
	6.5 Designing critical literacy courses on humor
	6.6 A critical literacy approach to pandemic memes: Setting the agenda
	6.7 Humor and memes during the COVID-19 pandemic
	6.8 Classical art memes
	6.9 The aims and data of the analysis
	6.10 Data analysis
		6.10.1 AF3/Text
			6.10.1.1 Recontextualized portraits
			6.10.1.2 Recontextualized interactions
			6.10.1.3 Recontextualized paintings through meme producers’ commentary
			6.10.1.4 Compositions including recontextualized paintings
				6.10.1.4.1 Combinations of different paintings
				6.10.1.4.2 Compositions made of the same painting
				6.10.1.4.3 Compositions of paintings and contemporary photos
			6.10.1.5 Summarizing the analysis in AF3/Text terms
		6.10.2 AF2/Genre
			6.10.2.1 The sociopragmatic functions of pandemic memes
				6.10.2.1.1 Pandemic memes as sociopolitical criticism
				6.10.2.1.2 Pandemic memes as coping and bonding mechanisms
				6.10.2.1.3 In between criticism and coping/bonding: Pandemic memes about the ‘new normal’
			6.10.2.2 Generic hybridization in pandemic memes
			6.10.2.3 Summarizing the analysis in AF2/Genre terms
		6.10.3 The analysis in AF1/Sociocultural Assumptions terms
	6.11 Scrutinizing pandemic memes in class
		6.11.1 Students’ collection of humorous data
		6.11.2 Teachers’ familiarity with humor theory
		6.11.3 Critical readings of humorous discourse
			AF3/Text
			AF2/Genre
		6.11.4 Debating diverse interpretations of humorous discourse
		6.11.5 A comparative perspective – humorous vs. non-humorous discourse
		6.11.6 Sharing perspectives in new texts
	6.12 Summary
Chapter 7 Conclusions
References
Name index
Subject index