A Study Of British Verbal Humor In Downton Abbey Under The Relevance Theory

In recent years, along with the rapid development of information technology and the popularity of Internet, a large number of overseas TV plays appear in domestic media. British TV series is one of the most popular ones. Through its unique cultural atmosphere and British humor, British TV series gets the interests and favorites of the mass. Downton Abbey is one of the most popular British TV series in recent 10 years. Since its first show in 2010, it has attracted more than 1200 audiences in England. At the same time, it is acclaimed around the world. Someone even says that Downton Abbey is the gift from the god. There are complex plots and well-developed characters, and also ubiquitous British humor. It not only provides audiences with enjoyment and the appreciation of beauty but also attracts many domestic experts and scholars’attention. Many linguists take the conversation in the TV series as new language materials to analyze some linguistic phenomena within it.As a special language phenomenon, humor widely exists everywhere. It is charming, full of wisdom, and has special pragmatic effects in interpersonal communication. Humor can reduce pressure, regulate interpersonal relationship and improve the life quality. Meanwhile, as a form of expression, there are different humorous ways in various regions. The Great Britain has a long cultural history and special geographical location. Therefore, it develops a unique British humor which is different from other countries. This thesis aims at taking the British verbal humor in Downton Abbey as language materials and attempts at an analysis of humorous dialogues in the light of Relevance Theory.The study of verbal humor began in the era of Ancient Greece when people studied humor from the perspective of anthropology, psychology, physiology and sociology. Later, people began to shift their attention to the field of linguistics. At first, researchers mainly studied humor in the area of semantics, rhetoric and syntax, and later the study entered into the area of Deixis, Cooperative Principle, Politeness Principle, speech act theory in pragmatics and Relevance Theory in cognitive linguistics. Relevance Theory is one of the most influential theories in modern linguistic world. The theory is proposed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in 1986. Relevance Theory provides us a new angle to study humor which is different from other theories of studying humor. This thesis chooses Relevance Theory as the theoretical basis. Based on some important concepts in Relevance Theory, such as Ostensive-Inferential Model, the maximal relevance and the optimal relevance, context effects and cognitive context, this thesis will make an empirical analysis and explore the production mechanism and the process of cognitive comprehension of British verbal humor by combining the British verbal humor appearing in the TV series Downton Abbey. In addition, in the perspective of Relevance Theory, this thesis will further explain the rhetorical methods and unique features of British verbal humor in Downton Abbey. All in all, this thesis will help us deeply appreciate the charming of the British verbal humor and improve our ability of understanding British verbal humor and applying verbal humor. Also, it aims at making a little contribution to the study of humor.