engleski

Blurred lines or Word crimes? Frame shifting and the play element in the opus of "Weird Al" Yankovic

The paper starts from novel suggestions in figurative language research, which, unlike the conceptual metaphor theory and other approaches, shift attention to the element of language play as an important motivating factor in (figurative) language use. The latter is defined as involving "both exploitation and distortion of every feature of language, including phonology, lexis and grammar" (Ritchie and Dyhouse 2008:91). The element of play is seen as inverting the usual relationship of language and reality (cf. Cook 2000). The elements of puns, rhyme and rhythm require that words be chosen not so much for their meaning, as for their formal qualities. The latter "empty metaphors" (Ritchie and Dyhouse 2008) may be related to intended meanings, but also independent from them and driven primarily by their playfulness and the sense of pleasure it brings to the interlocutors. The paper suggests that such approach is particularly well-suited for analysis of comedy and satire, seen as countercultures with specific social goals (cf. McKeague 2016), crucially involving humour and irony. The latter, previously suggested to rely on cognitive mechanisms such as frame shifting (Coulson 2001), depend on a subversive relation between the initial and alternative frames, which adds to both cognitive and social meaning. The mechanisms, effects and functions characterizing the play approach to figurative language are tested by analysing the opus of "Weird Al" Yankovic, a performer renowned for his parodies of popular songs, consisting of the original song's music, with a separate, often unrelated set of amusing lyrics. The titles of 66 song parodies from 14 albums are compared to the originals, and their text (and available videos) subjected to linguistic and content analysis (mini-case studies) to test a number of hypotheses suggested by Ritchie and Dyhouse (2008) on the nature and role of language play in (figurative) language. Different types of word play utilized by Yankovic in his song titles (e.g. content manipulation often dependent on rhyme (Like a Surgeon vs, Like a Virgin, Living on the Edge vs. Living in the Fridge, Another One Rides the Bus vs. Another One Bites the Dust, My Bologna vs. My Sharona) or meter are argued to help induce a frame shift vouching for the comedic effect of the songs. The "empty metaphors" created in this way not only hint at the new, often completely incongruent frame, further developed through the song lyrics which are made to fit the melody (cf. Fat vs. Bad), rhyming and the meter pattern of the original, but are hypothesized to perform a number of extra functions. The latter are suggested to include "cementing amicable relationships", i.e. serving group cohesion between the fans (and the artist), which in turn derives from pattern completion as a test of skills, both driven and resulting from the pleasure the audience gets from participating in "getting" the (intertextual) reference. The latter is also argued to have a doubly subversive effect with respect to accepted social norms and expectations (Ritchie 2005), as evident from Yankovic's preferred themes, viz. advocating non-conformity and mocking the elite (McKeague 2018).

igra riječima ; uokviravanje ; pomicanje okvira ; humor ; parodija

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