A Contrastive Analysis Of Humor In Friends And The Big Bang Theory Under The Theoretical Framework Of Grice’s Cooperative Principle

The present research is a tentative exploration into the verbal humor examplesin two situation comedies Friends and The Big Bang Theory within the frameworkof Grice’s Cooperative Principle (CP). It does a comparison of the two comediesand discovers the pivotal role of CP in the achievement of verbal humor.The present thesis takes the violation of CP’s maxims theory as its theoreticalfoundation. It takes the two sitcoms as its study material. Firstly, a quantitivestudy is made based on the chosen verbal humor samples from one season of eachsitcom respectively. The verbal humors are classified into four kinds according towhich specific maxims they violate. An analysis on which one of the four maximsis the most effective in its sitcom is made, and the similarities and differences ofthe two sitcoms on the distribution of humorous utterances are clarified. Then aqualitative study is made on these similarities and differences. A set of analysisand comparisons are made on several representative samples under the theoreticalframework of CP, in the aim of revealing the significance of CP violation in theprocess of humor engendering. At last, the author elaborates how this research canbenefit English learners on further understanding and enjoying the two sitcoms;and how this research on different kinds of verbal humors may accomplish to thecharacterizing of people in literature works and daily conversation skills.