A Systemic Functional Study Of Humor From The Perspective Of Register Theory

Humor enriches our life to a great extent. It has rich content and a wide application range. People have done many studies on this peculiar phenomenon in different fields. Scholars have various viewpoints on humor. However, they cannot agree on it.This dissertation mainly adopts the method of qualitative analysis. According to studying the internal varieties of the three variables (field, tenor and mode) of Register Theory in Systemic Functional Linguistics, the dissertation conducts a study of humorous discourse in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and tries to find the reasons for the generation of humor.Firstly, this study defines humor and classifies it into three types based on the previous studies, and then discusses the situation of studies on humor in different fields; secondly, this study describes and analyzes the representative humorous discourse selected from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the three variables of Register Theory, and then discusses the generation and applications of humor.The major findings of this dissertation indicate that it has both theoretical and practical significance. Firstly, this dissertation discusses the applications of Register Theory by analyzing humorous discourse in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which reflects the real life in America. Therefore, the dissertation is close to life and easy to understand. Secondly, this dissertation conducts a study of humor based on Register Theory, which expands the applications of Register Theory and provides a new way to explain and appreciate humor, so it will become an efficient way for discourse analysis in functional linguistics. Thirdly, this dissertation gives enlightenment to English learners who want to improve their abilities in understanding and applying English humor.