Communicative and Linguistic Characteristics of the Comic Discourse (on the Material of English-Language Belles-Lettres Works)

Blynova, Iryna

doi:10.11114/smc.v10i3.5827

SMC

2022

DOI: 10.11114/smc.v10i3.5827

|View full text |Cite

Communicative and Linguistic Characteristics of the Comic Discourse (on the Material of English-Language Belles-Lettres Works)

Iryna Blynova¹

Abstract: The article deals with the investigation of the communicative and linguistic features of the comic discourse on the basis of the English-language fictional works by M. Spark, R. Dahl, K. Vonnegut Jr, I. Shaw, R. Carver and K. Barry. The author represents the description of a comic discourse in terms of Linguistic Pragmatics. Extra-linguistic components of the literary text creating and actualizing, which include pragmatic characteristics, social and cultural factors, psychological peculiarities, cognitive comp… Show more

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2023

Publication Types

Select...

Article2

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent2

Authors

Journals

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…2021); study the communicative and linguistic characteristics of the comic category functioning, its black-humour type in particular (Blynova, 2022); consider black humour patterns that emphasize the theme of death (Khraban, 2021); characterize the elements of black humour in the works of postmodernism (Nalini, 2016); reveal the cognitive and emotional aspects of the black humour perception (Willinger et al, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Black Humour in a Fairy Tale: Verbalization of the Concept Death

Blynova

2023

ctld

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The paper deals with the study of the influence of black humour elements on R. Dahl’s story “Pig”, qualified by us as a fairy tale genre. The purpose of the research is to describe the verbalization of the author’s individual concept DEATH as a key component for revealing the black-humorous tonality of the story. The model of fairy tale discourse has been specified, which presupposes the use of the initial formula, verbal elements, and patterned compositional structure. The peculiarities of R. Dahl’s creative method (reflected in the fairy tale), whose poetics is characterized by a vivid black-humorous component, have been considered. An interpretation of the lexeme ‘death’ in modern lexicographic sources of the English and Ukrainian languages has been provided. A conceptual model based on the arrangement of frames and slots has been introduced. The functioning of the concept DEATH in the author’s individual worldview has been analysed. In the short story “Pig” the writer draws the reader’s attention to the black-humorous macabre element, i. e. death, which is described tragicomically in the author’s and character’s speech with the help of linguistic means to indicate the hero’s enthusiastic and exciting mood and the entertaining tone of the story. Metaphors, contrast, irony, hyperbolization, and allusion occupy the leading place among them. The lexeme ‘death’ belongs to the author’s favourite word that appears as a literary concept. The expansion of the content potential of the specified word occurs due to numerous repetitions and its use in different contexts. The linguistic representation of the concept is given in the form of building a lexical and semantic field consisting of four frames (‘cessation of existence, the life of the organism, the end’, ‘reflection of a person’s value’, ‘eating habits of meat-eaters’, ‘a process that equalizes people and animals’) and corresponding slots. Contextual analysis and a figurative approach give reasons to claim that the literary text organizes a system of meanings of the lexeme ‘death’ in a different way. Its figurative meanings as of a symbol of transition to another world and eternal spiritual life, as well as of the personification of evil, generated by people, occupy the first (main) position in the hierarchy of dictionary definitions, thereby expanding its metaphorical meaning.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Black Humour in a Fairy Tale: Verbalization of the Concept Death

Blynova

2023

ctld

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Black Humour: Origin Description and an Attempt of Identification

Blynova¹

2023

ANUSP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The article deals with the study of such black humour aspects as the history of its appearance and attempt of distinguishing among the other types of the comic category, namely humour, irony, satire, and sarcasm. The material of the study is the works of small forms, the authentic story “Pig” in particular, by Roald Dahl (1916–1990), the most prominent representative of the English-language literature of the 20th century. The aim of the article is to describe the methodology suggested by the author for identifying black humour from the material of a literary prose text. Achieving the overall goal presupposes the solution of the following objectives. Thus, the history of development and the tradition of theoretical understanding of the “black humour” term have been traced. An interpretation of the specified term based on native and foreign interpretive sources has been provided and the leading criteria for its differentiation among the varieties of the comic category have been identified. The author considers the peculiarities of R. Dahl’s creative method, whose poetics is characterised by a clearly expressed black-humorous component. The article also specifies the algorithm for identifying black humour in prose works, which involves the use of three groups of analysis methods (linguistic, semasiological and communicative). Using the example of an English-language story, the author proves the expediency of applying the following components of linguistic methods, namely: definition of the unit of study, characterisation of the context, analysis of language units. The following methods and techniques were used to achieve the general aim of the research, such as: observation method, compositional analysis, contextual analysis, and semantic-stylistic analysis. We interpret black humour as one of the varieties of a comic category; as humour with an admixture of cynicism, the comic effect of which consists in mocking ‘gloomy’, macabre topics; as an ironic-bitter smile of a person about his / her miserable situation in the real world. It is proved that the unit of research of black humour is a complex syntactic whole, which in the compositional and thematic substance contains all the necessary structural elements – the beginning, the development, and the ending. The means of connection are repetitions of lexical units within two consecutive phrases, anaphoric clarifying phrase, anaphoric pronoun, parallelism. An important feature of grammatical organisation is the agreement (in a broad sense) of verb tense forms, which leads to the creation of a common tense perspective of the narrative. Modal verbs, particles, adverbs, and special intonation are used as means of expressing subjective modality. A typical feature of the question-answer complex is the use of elliptical sentences. An analysis of language units at different levels determines the emphasis on the macabre element – death that is tragicomically considered in the story. The compositional and speech means of organising black humour is based on opposition, antonymy of lexical units, contrast. The functioning of hyperbole, verbal and situational irony, and paradox are frequent at the lexical and semantic level. Typical means at the syntactic level are overinterrogations and explanations based on repetitions with an evaluation of what was heard. This evaluation is expressed by declarative, exclamatory or interrogative sentences. The graphic emphasis, which is created by means of italics, focuses on the meanings emphasised by interrogative words, auxiliary and notional verbs. Paralinguistic means help to reveal the protagonist’s emotions and thoughts. The perspective of the study presupposes a description of semasiological and communicative methods as components of the algorithm, which, together with linguistic methods, allows a more complete understanding of the explication of black humour in a literary prose work.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Communicative and Linguistic Characteristics of the Comic Discourse (on the Material of English-Language Belles-Lettres Works)

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

Black Humour in a Fairy Tale: Verbalization of the Concept Death

Black Humour in a Fairy Tale: Verbalization of the Concept Death

Black Humour: Origin Description and an Attempt of Identification

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About