Original scientific paper

On politicians in big women’s sunglasses driving buses with their feet in mouths: Late-night political humour and conceptual integration theory

Nihada Delibegović Džanić orcid.org/0000-0002-8241-6338 ; University of Tuzla
Sanja Berberović ; University of Tuzla

Abstract

The paper focuses on political jokes from late-night shows, which contain modified
idiomatic expressions. The aim of the present paper is to show that conceptual
integration theory, proposed by Fauconnier and Turner (1998, 2002), can explain
the construction of meaning in political jokes on these types of shows. In
conceptual integration, the meaning of a joke involves the construction of a
blended space in which two worlds, usually opposing, ‘clash’, which results in an
incongruity. The incongruity in the blended space produces humorous effects.
Apart from the fact that conceptual integration theory can explain the creation of
humor and its meaning, it can also reveal why humor is an effective means of criticizing
political reality.

Keywords

conceptual integration theory; humor; late-night political jokes; incongruity

Hrčak ID:

62938

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/62938

Publication date:

15.12.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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