Research On The Humor Of Zhao Benshan's Short Comedies From The Perspective Of Frame-Shifting Theory

Humor is an inseparable element in our daily life. It reduces psychological pressure and maintains a harmonious relationship in social interaction. Meanwhile, Humor is also a ubiquitous and complicated linguistic phenomenon which attracts increasing attention from linguistic researchers at home and abroad. Furthermore, the analysis of humor will help to enhance the appreciative level and ability to various humor cases. Therefore, it is significant and valuable to analyze and discover the operational mechanism of humor from various perspectives.Nowadays, Zhao Benshan proves to be one of the most popular comedians in the Chinese entertainment circle. The humorous language in his short comedies proves to be a typical case for humor research. In addition, Frame-Shifting Theory is a relatively newly-developed theory which explores humor from the cognitive perspective. In light of this, the author aims at conducting a concrete research on the humor of Zhao Benshan's short comedies from the perspective of Frame-Shifting Theory. Specifically speaking, this thesis attempts to analyze the internal cognitive mechanism of Zhao Benshan's short comedies and to illustrate the Frame-Shifting processes in the interpretation of the short comedies. This study is of great significance both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, based on a critical review of the previous studies, the interpretation of the humor of Zhao Benshan's short comedies is helpful to the application and development of Frame-Shifting Theory. Practically, the application of the Frame-Shifting Theory to Zhao Benshan's short comedies will also deepen one's comprehension and appreciation of various humor cases.This thesis consists of five interlinked chapters as a whole.Chapter One makes a brief introduction to the background, purpose, significance, methodology of the study as well as the organization of the thesis.Chapter Two is literature review which offers an overview of the survey of humor including the definitions, functions and classifications. Furthermore, the author offers some major approaches to the humor analysis of Zhao Benshan's short comedies from the perspectives of Cooperative Principle, Relevance Theory and other approaches respectively. Finally, this chapter provides the previous research on Frames and Frame-Shifting Theory. Based on the literature review from the three aspects mentioned above, the author points out that the interpretation of Zhao Benshan's humor from the perspective of Frame-Shifting Theory is a tentative approach in this thesis.Chapter Three concerns the theoretical framework for further analysis of Zhao Benshan's short comedies in the following chapter. It mainly discusses Frames and Frame Theory as the theoretical background of Frame-Shifting Theory as well as detailed interpretation of Frame-Shifting Theory in the process of humor analysis. The Frame-Shifting analysis of humor cases will be discussed in terms of disjunctors and connectors, typical situations, default values, reinterpretation, goal presupposition and nonconventional meaning respectively. This chapter lays a theoretical foundation for the detailed analysis in the fourth chapter.Chapter Four serves as the main body of the thesis. It focuses on the application of Frame-Shifting Theory to the analysis of the humor of Zhao Benshan's short comedies in terms of the six perspectives of Frame-Shifting approach mentioned above. Typical examples are classified and analyzed to interpret the operational mechanism of humor according to the six perspectives.Chapter Five is the conclusion in which the author summarizes the main findings, points out the limitations and puts forward some suggestions for further research.