Naslov
The case for a metonymic basis of pragmatic inferencing: Evidence from jokes and funny anecdotes

Autori
Barcelona, Antonio

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, znanstveni

Knjiga
Metonymy and Pragmatic Inferencing

Urednik/ci
Panther, Klaus-Uwe ; Thornburg, Linda L.

Izdavač
John Benjamins Publishing

Grad
Amsterdam : Philadelphia

Godina
2003

Raspon stranica
81-102

ISBN
90 272 5355 2

Ključne riječi
metonymy, inference, cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, cognitive processes, humour

Sažetak
Barcelona, presents four case studies of the humorous mechanisms of jokes and anecdotes. The interpretation of these genres requires - as has been pointed out by a number of humor theorists like Attardo (1990) and Raskin (1985) - complex inferential work on the part of the hearer. Barcelona wonders how it is possible that listeners often arrive at the intended humorous reading of a joke or anecdote at "lightning speed." For him, this feat cannot be explained on the basis of Gricean maxims alone (or their variants in the discourse world of humor). Adopting a conception of metonymy that is inspired by Radden and Kövecses (1999), Barcelona proposes that in many if not all cases the inferential work is facilitated by pre-existing metonymic connections in a cognitive frame or domain or by pre-existing metaphorical connections across frames. Metonymies thus help achieve the frame adjustment that is necessary in order to grasp the punch line of a joke or anecdote. Barcelona shows that the value of metonymy for pragmatic inferencing can be appreciated only if one discards the traditional view of conceptual metonymy as a purely referential phenomenon. As to the question whether pragmatic inferencing can be reduced entirely to metonymic reasoning, Barcelona is not willing to commit himself to a wholly affirmative answer, but he certainly thinks that metonymically based inferencing plays an essential role in utterance interpretation.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija

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