FLOUTING AND VIOLATING THE CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS TO
CREATE HUMOROUS SITUATIONS IN AN AMERICAN SITCOM
ENTITLED F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
CHAPTER 1
INTROUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
It is generally acknowledged that the principal use of language is to
communicate. However, language can also be used for a humorous purpose.
David Crystal states “We love to play with language, and we enjoy it when
other people play with language. And we’re playful in hundreds of different
ways. Every area of language that we’ve discussed in this book can be used
for fun, …” (195). One way to play with language is through humor.
According to Dictionary.com, “[humor is] a comic, absurd, or incongruous
quality causing amusement”. By having this quality that amuses, humor can
create humorous situations.
How humor can produce humorous situations can be clarified by
examining these three theories of humor; “humor theories can be classified
into three neatly identifiable groups:incongruity, superiority, and relief
theories” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). These theories state that
humorous situations can arise when people laugh at others’ misfortune (the
superiority theory), there is an unexpected or inappropriate situation occurred
abruptly (the incongruity theory), and something prohibited or taboo is
broken (the relief theory). All of those situations often happen when someone
fails to observe Paul Grice’s conversational maxim. According to Jenny
Thomas, “Grice was well aware, however, that there are very many occasions
when people fail to observe the maxims. There are five ways of failing to
observe a maxim” (64). They are (a) flouting, (b) violating, (c) infringing, (d)
opting out, and (f) suspending. For example:
Driver
: Did you just finish working?
Passenger : Yes.
Driver
: Where do you work?
Passenger : I work in X (a factory).
Driver
: No kidding? I used to work there. Do you know Mr. Y?
Passenger : Of course, in fact, I just met him the other day.
Driver
: What?? He just died a few days ago.
The passenger suffers from Cutis Laxa, a disease that makes him look
older than his actual age (18 years old). Therefore, the driver thought the
passenger was a middle-aged man. On the other hand, the passenger is tired
of clarifying to strangers that he is just 18 years old. He looks that old
because of the disease he has. Hence, he decides to violate the maxim of
quantity by not telling the truth. However, the lie eventually leads him into an
unexpected or inappropriate situation that may make people laugh (the
incongruity theory). At the same time, people may also find this funny
because the passenger is used as a form of attack (the superiority theory).
People laugh at the passenger because he has to deal with an awkward
moment. This form of example is commonplace in daily conversations.
In addition to daily life conversation, humorous situation can also be found
in a sitcom. According to The American Heritage Dictionary, “[A sitcom is] a
humorous radio or television series featuring the reactions of a regular cast of
characters to unusual situations, such as misunderstandings or embarrassing
coincidences”. The misunderstanding or embarrassing parts in a sitcom are
taken from people’s daily activity. Irina Wamsler states “The scripts of
comedies imitate real life and fulfill the audience’s needs in everyday lives.
That means people like to relax while watching other people’s daily lives
including love, friendship, or working life”. Therefore, a sitcom is a
television series depicts people’s live to make the audience laugh by creating
unusual situations.
One of the most popular sitcom is FRIENDS. It is a ten-season American
comedy created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman that aired on NBC from
September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004. The series has received plenty of
awards, namely six Primetime Emmy Awards from a total of sixty-two
nominations. Friends won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series for its
eighth season at the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2002. `
Based on the explanation above, the writer is inquisitive about how
flouting and violating Grice’s conversational maxims can create humor,
particularly in a sitcom. As a result, the author would like to conduct research
entitled “Flouting and Violating the Conversational Maxims to Create
Humorous Situations in An American Sitcom Entitled F.R.I.E.N.D.S.”
1.2 Problem Statements
a. What conversational maxims are flouted and violated in the sitcom to
create humorous situations?
b. How could flouting and violating the conversational maxims create
hilarious situations?
1.3 Objective of Study
a. To determine what conversational maxims are flouted and violated in the
sitcom to create hilarious situations?
b. To ascertain how flouting and violating the conversational maxims could
create humorous situations?
1.4 Scope of Study
The focus of this study is on flouting and violating of the conversational
maxims that create humor in FRIENDS. The data is also taken solely from
episode 1 – 10 in the first season of the sitcom. There are 33 data found.
1.5 Significance of Study
The writer wishes that this research can improve the writer's understanding
about flouting and violating of the conversational maxims. Moreover, the
writer also expects that this study will help people grasp humor in the
perspective of pragmatics. Additionally, this study is designed to serve as a
resource for students who are interested in doing research with a similar topic.
1.6 Theoretical Approach
The writer uses three key theories in conducting this research. The theories
are used to assist the reader analyse the data. Those three main theories are
the cooperative principle, flouting & violating of the conversational maxims,
and the theories of humor.
The CP is a guideline to help people understand an implied meaning of an
utterance by assuming that the converser is observing the maxims. There are
four maxims in the cooperative principle. “In 'Logic and conversation' Grice
proposed four maxims, the maxims of Quantity, Quality, Relation and
Manner, . . .” (Thomas 63).
The maxim of quality – giving enough information
The maxim of quantity – telling the truth
The maxim of relevance – being relevant
The maxim of manner – being unambiguous and orderly
The second theory is the flouting and violating of the conversational
maxims. Flouting a maxim is “When speakers appear not to follow the
maxims but expect hearers to appreciate the meaning implied, . . ., we say that
they are ‘flouting’ the maxims” (Joan Cutting 37). In other words, speakers
purposely fail to observe a maxim by hoping that his/her hearer would
understand what s/he is really trying to say. On the other hand, “A speaker
can be said to violate a maxim when they know that the hearers will not know
the truth and will only understand the surface meaning of the words” (Cutting
40). Hence, someone is violating a maxim when s/he intentionally fails to
observe a maxim to tell a lie.
The last theory is the theory of humor. There are three theories of humor
the writer uses. The first theory is the theory if superiority. To put simply, the
theory of superiority happens when the one laughing is in a superior position,
whereas the person being laughed at is in a lesser position (undervalued or
degraded). The next one is the theory of incongruity. “The incongruity theory
focuses on the element of surprise. This accounts for the most obvious feature
of much humour: an ambiguity, or double meaning, which deliberately
misleads the audience, followed by a punchline” (Ross 7). Basically, one
reason people find something funny is because they are faced with a
completely unexpected or inappropriate situation suddenly. The last theory is
the psychic release theory of humour. Ross says “The psychic release theory
of humour explains the triggering of laughter by the sense of release from a
threat being overcome—such as a reduction of fears about death and sex”
(Ross 61). This theory explains that laughter may come when something
prohibited and taboo is broken. There is tension, confined within ourself,
released when we utter something taboo and forbidden in the society. This
tension released helps laughter happen.
1.7 Method of Research
The writer uses the descriptive qualitative method. The first step the writer
does in conducting this research is watching the sitcom; FRIENDS. It aims to
find the data from the dialogues. The second step is recording the data found
in the sitcom. Afterwards, the next process is analysing the data using the
theories. The final step is making a conclusion. From the analysis, the writer
draws a conclusion. The conclusion answers the problem statements of this
research.
1.8 Thesis Organization
In writing this research, the writer divides it into five chapters, they are as
follows.
The first chapter discusses about the introduction of this study. It consist
of background of the study, problems statement, objective of study, scope of
study, significance of study, theoretical approach, method of research, and
thesis organization.
Chapter 2 is about the underlying theories used in this research. They are
used to help the writer analyze the data. The theories used are Grice’s
conversational maxims, flouting and violating of the conversational maxims,
and theories of humor.
Next, chapter 3 is about research methodology. It explains data collecting,
sample data, and data analysis.
Chapter 4 is research findings and discussion. It consists of the writer
analysis of the dialogue that created humorous situations by flouting and
violating the conversational maxims.
The last chapter is chapter 5. It consists of the writer’s conclusion of the
study.
REFERENCES
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/humor/.
Irina Wamsler. “History and Characteristics of US-Sitcoms.” GRIN,
https://www.grin.com/document/284775.
“Humor Definition & Meaning.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com,
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/humor.
Thomas, Jenny. Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics.
Routledge, 2013.
Company, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. “The American Heritage
Dictionary Entry.” American Heritage Dictionary Entry:
www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?id=S5474200.
Ross, Alison. The Language of Humour. Routledge, 2005.
Crystal, David. A Little Book of Language. University of NSW Press, 2010.