• DOI:10.1515/humr.1991.4.1.61
• Corpus ID: 143907462

On the structure of punchlines

@inproceedings{Hetzron1991OnTS,
  title={On the structure of punchlines},
  author={Robert Hetzron},
  year={1991}
}

• R. Hetzron
• Published 1991
• Education

Jokes are to be viewed äs pieces of oral literature. They should not be analyzed only in terms of the reaction of people to them. Their infernal structure is a legitimate topicfor research. Here (i) they arefirst divided according to their structure, whether they consist of onet two, or more "pulses." Then (H) the punchlines are subjected to afeature-analysis, what logical devices are used to make them soundfunny. Great tragedy is more emotional, and consequently less intellectual, than great humour. Quoted, out of context, from Mikes (1954: 12). The scope of the inquiry: jokes In this study I mainly examine jokes9 thus excluding quips, paradoxes, parodies, saures, and other manifestations of humor. This is not to be construed äs an assumption that these do not operate along the same line äs jokes. This remains to be seen. Jokes are almost exclusively used for methodological reasons: a fairly homogeneous corpus should serve äs the input of a consistent study. Extensions, comparisons with other classes of humor should be set aside for a later stage. However, I may quote quips and riddles occasionally when they illustrate a point I want to make more concisely, hence more efficiently than the longer and more elaborately structured jokes. Another important reservation: puns are excluded. It is not that I do not like puns — quite the contrary. But puns have their own rules which have to be dealt with separately, äs did Freud in bis famous 1905 monograph. Humor 4-1 (1991), 61-108. 0933-1719/91/0004-0061 $2.00 © Walter de Gruyter