Humor In Hyperbole And Parody: A Contrastive Analysis

As a language phenomenon, humor plays an important role in communication. The study on humor has become an independent field of research. With the development of human society and science of humanity, the research on humor has been expanded to numerous fields including rhetoric.Rhetoric devices, an essential component of rhetoric, are language forms that are typically regarded as methods to achieve special effects that transcend literal meaning in specific language contexts. Humor language is usually expressions full of interest and charm through the adjustment of rhetoric devices. Many English and Chinese rhetoric devices become effective vehicles of humorous expressions, most of which share many common grounds. However, English and Chinese belong to different language families, and great disparity exists in word formation, sentence structure and word order. Therefore, there must be discrepancy in rhetoric devices for the purpose of humor. Besides, different cultural backgrounds, social customs and habits affect one's use of techniques to achieve humor. Considering the differences and similarities in some rhetoric devices in English and Chinese, it is necessary to conduct a Contrastive analysis in order to gain a deeper insight into the subject.For the reasons mentioned above, the present thesis has made an attempt exploration on the contrast of hyperbole and parody for the effect of humor in English and Chinese. As rhetoric devices usually employed in humor language, hyperbole and parody in the two languages bear both differences and similarities. Based on Carle James' Contrastive Analysis (CA) (James, 1980), the author will make a Contrastive analysis from the perspective of definition, classification, language pattern and cultural implication. The thesis addressed the following issues, namely, 1) the role of rhetoric devices in the production of humor; 2) the similarities and differences of hyperbole and parody in English and Chinese; 3) the language and cultural roots for these disparities so as to improve hearers' or readers' competence for the appreciation of humor.The study reveals thatA. Rhetoric device plays a significant role in the production of humor. Humor is full of interest and charm through the employment of rhetoric devices.B. As a rhetoric device in English and Chinese, hyperbole has the same essence in the two languages: to exaggerate or overstate something in order to achieve the effect of humor. The classification of hyperbole in the two languages share similarities, while each has its particular types as well. Hyperbole in advance and hyperbole with prepositional and noun phrases are peculiar to Chinese and English respectively.C. Parody in English and Chinese is the same language creation form. It is a rhetoric device that creates a temporary speech by imitating some existing language forms in order to reach some rhetoric effects, including humor. Because of the difference in language pattern, parody words are more frequently employed in Chinese. D. Humor language has close relationship with its culture. It is necessary for the reader or hearer to understand the cultural implication underlying humor language.The significance of this thesis consists in the contrast of hyperbole and parodyfor humorous expression in English and Chinese in order to improve readers'competence of humor appreciation.