Humor in spontaneous media speech in 2017–2022: Language models and pragmatic effects

Abstract

The work is devoted to the study of modern mechanisms for creating a joke in spontaneous, natural, unprepared Russian speech. One of the objectives of the study was to identify the most common language models for creating the funny in spontaneous dialogic media speech. Seven video programs (in the genre of interviews, podcasts, entertainment shows) on YouTube video channels were considered — from 2017 to 2022. These are programs that position themselves as entertainment content: “Evening Urgant”, “Comedy Club”, “Seryozha and Microphone”, “Night Story”. The analysis made it possible to identify 104 dialogic unities containing humorous statements, which were then carefully studied from the semantic, pragmatic and structural points of view. The pragmatic perlocutionary effects of these speech acts are described separately. Of particular interest were such remarks-reactions of the speakers, which are born “here and now”, spontaneously, are not prepared jokes, but a lively and quick response to the words of the interlocutor. The study of the material showed that the main source of humor in spontaneous dialogue are tropes, the main ones being allusion, allegory and hyperbole. Means of polysemy and cases of violation of style (low burlesque) are also frequent. In addition, significant indicators are in repetitions that perform an auxiliary function. The main pragmatic perlocutionary effect in media speech can be considered the joy of recognizing a new meaning, a new look at familiar phenomena. The creative manifestations of the person creating a humorous statement include “a sense of success, triumph”, “the pleasure of the creator who created a unique product”. A joke in a dialogue can perform the function of “preventing the opponent’s aggressive behavior”. The request of the viewer, who massively watches such programs, suggests that this content reduces the level of their life stress, anxiety, tension from the challenges of the real world.