Open    Access



Analysis of English Humor in Two Broke Girls from the Perspective of Cooperative Principle



Author(s)

DU Feng-shuang

Full-Text PDF XML     767 Views

DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2021.05.005

School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China

Humor, as a language art, is considered to be an indispensable form of communication in our daily life. This paper, from the perspective of cooperative principle, takes 8 humorous conversations from the popular sitcom Two Broke Girls as analytical materials to analyze English humor. The humorous effects produced by violating the maxim of quantity, quality, relation and manner in Two Broke Girls are the concrete embodiment of conversational implicature in English humor. The most important part of this paper is the detailed analyses of many examples, which is helpful to the study of the cultural differences between Chinese humor and English humor. Moreover, linking sitcoms to pragmatics can deepen interlocuters’ understanding of cooperative principle and the speaker’s implication. As an interdisciplinary subject, therefore, not only can pragmatics be combined with sitcoms, but also applies to other fields. It is hoped that this paper can make future researchers realize the importance of context and delve into other areas from the perspective of cooperative principle.

humor, cooperative principle, conversational implicature, Two Broke Girls

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, May 2021, Vol. 11, No. 5, 298-303