Interpretation Of Chinese Verbal Humors From The Perspective Of The Theory Of Conversational Implicature

Humor permeates all aspects of life. It has drawn more and more researchers’ attention in various fields, such as philosophy, anthropology, aesthetics, biology and so forth. Since the 1980 s, with the development of linguistics, linguists have began to study verbal humors widely.This study is a case analysis of verbal humors in the novel Fortress Besieged(FB)from the perspective of the Theory of Conversational Implicature(TCI). The previous studies on FB from the perspective of the TCI have mainly focused on analyzing the conversations or studying translation strategies. Although verbal humor was involved, it failed to become the main part of these studies. Therefore, FB is chosen as the data source in this study. It aims to answer the following two research questions: firstly, what are the major ways to produce verbal humors in FB from the perspective of the TCI? Secondly,how to interpret the generative mechanism of verbal humors in FB from the perspective of the TCI?Both quantitative and qualitative analysis are employed in this study. According to Suls’ s incongruity resolution model(1972), the author selects verbal humors and counts the total number of verbal humors in this novel. Those selected verbal humors are classified into five groups on the basis of the TCI, namely, flouting quantity maxim,flouting the quality maxim, flouting the relation maxim, flouting the manner maxim and flouting more than one maxim simultaneously, and the number and ratio of verbal humors in each group are calculated and analyzed respectively. Some typical examples are selected to present a more detailed analysis under the TCL in order to answer the research questions.The study has two findings: firstly, it fully testifies the explanatory power of the TCI to generative mechanism of verbal humors in FB. Conversational implicatures, which come from speakers’ deliberate violation of the maxims of Cooperative Principle, make what hearers expect conflict with speakers intend. It is this conflict that inspires hearers to find a way to resolve the incongruity. In a word, conversational implicatures not onlyproduce incongruity, but also provide a way to resolve it. Secondly, the result of each group’s proportion of the selected verbal humors in this novel shows that verbal humors are mainly produced by flouting the quality maxim, and then flouting the manner maxim and flouting more than one maxim simultaneously. Since flouting more than one maxim to produce verbal humors is quite universal in the novel FB,the author treats this group as important as other four groups. Thirdly, the author finds out that the Incongruity and the TCI can be closely connected. Conversational implicatures are the bridge between the Incongruity and the TCI. In other words, conversational implicatures can be used to define the concept of incongruity, as well as to resolve the incongruity.The study has both theoretical implications and practical applications. Firstly, by selecting the Chinese literary work as research data and grouping data according to the TCI,the study, to some extent, enriches the range of verbal humors research. Secondly, the study promotes readers’ ability to appreciate verbal humors. Native readers and foreign language readers have similarities in appreciating verbal humors — the process to find a way to resolve the incongruity. Therefore, this study inspires the teaching and learning of verbal humors.