Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Taboo: Interaction and Creativity in Humour.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Linguistics
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Humor is a complex cognitive and social phenomenon.
• Existing theories often overlook the role of reasoning principles (topoi) in humor.
• The dynamic nature of information exchange in dialogue is crucial for understanding humor.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel framework for understanding humor based on the juxtaposition of topoi.
• To investigate the role of interaction and information state updates in humor creation and interpretation.
• To analyze the application of this framework to various forms of humor, including pandemic-related jokes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of humorous discourse, including jokes from social media and joke books.
• Application of principles from incremental dialogue analysis.
• Examination of humor through the lens of four topos categories: old, new, borrowed, and taboo.

Main Results:

• Humorous effect is frequently generated by juxtaposing different topoi.
• A shift in the interpreter's information state, incorporating a second topos, is essential for humor.
• Interaction is fundamental for both the creation and interpretation of humor.

Conclusions:

• The topos juxtaposition framework offers a robust explanation for humor mechanisms.
• This approach highlights the importance of cognitive and social interaction in humor.
• The framework effectively accounts for humor derived from novel situations, such as the coronavirus pandemic.