Laughter and non-humorous situations in TV documentaries

C 2018

Laughter and non-humorous situations in TV documentaries

CHOVANEC, Jan

Basic information

Original name

Laughter and non-humorous situations in TV documentaries

Name in Czech

Smích a nehumorné situace v televizních dokumentárních pořadech

Authors

CHOVANEC, Jan

Edition

1. vyd. Amsterdam and Philadelphia, The Dynamics of Interactional Humor : Creating and negotiating humor in everyday encounters, p. 155-179, 25 pp. Topics in Humor Research 7, 2018

Publisher

John Benjamins

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Kapitola resp. kapitoly v odborné knize

Field of Study

60203 Linguistics

Country of publisher

Netherlands

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Publication form

printed version "print"

References:

URL

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

ISBN

978-90-272-0000-6

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/thr.7.07cho

Keywords (in Czech)

humor; pragmatika; analýza diskurzu; konverzační analýza; smích; dokumentární pořad; footing; Goffman

Keywords in English

humour; pragmatics; discourse analysis; conversation analysis; laughter; laughable; TV documentary; footing; Goffman

Abstract

V originále

This paper explores the role of laughter in broadcast TV documentary programs. Although the primary design of many TV documentaries is to attend to the smooth transmission of information to the audience, some program formats include components of seemingly unscripted interpersonal interaction between the participants. In these interactions, we frequently find situations that evoke the participants’ laughter, even though they are not designed as humorous and may not contain any evident intentional humor. Based on data obtained from a recent British documentary series, this paper documents how laughter emerges within interactions between the presenter and other interlocutors in order to deal with situations of personal failure and success arising from joint collaborative effort. The paper argues that laughter indexes extreme emotional reactions, thus being indicative of an underlying incongruity between the participants’ expectations and the actual state. Moreover its presence in the program attests to the hybrid nature of modern documentary formats by actually priming the audience’s positive reception and enjoyment of the broadcast.

Links

MUNI/A/1003/2017, interní kód MU

Name: Profilace výzkumných zaměření v anglofonní lingvistické a literární vědě III (Acronym: PROVYZAN III)

Investor: Masaryk University, Category A

Citovat

CHOVANEC, Jan. Laughter and non-humorous situations in TV documentaries. In Tsakona, Villy and Jan Chovanec. The Dynamics of Interactional Humor : Creating and negotiating humor in everyday encounters. 1st ed. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018, p. 155-179. Topics in Humor Research 7. ISBN 978-90-272-0000-6. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1075/thr.7.07cho.

@inbook{1353937,
   author = {Chovanec, Jan},
   address = {Amsterdam and Philadelphia},
   booktitle = {The Dynamics of Interactional Humor : Creating and negotiating humor in everyday encounters},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/thr.7.07cho},
   edition = {1.},
   editor = {Tsakona, Villy and Jan Chovanec},
   keywords = {humour; pragmatics; discourse analysis; conversation analysis; laughter; laughable; TV documentary; footing; Goffman},
   howpublished = {tištěná verze "print"},
   language = {eng},
   location = {Amsterdam and Philadelphia},
   isbn = {978-90-272-0000-6},
   pages = {155-179},
   publisher = {John Benjamins},
   title = {Laughter and non-humorous situations in TV documentaries},
   url = {https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/thr.7.07cho/details},
   year = {2018}
}

TY  - CHAP
ID  - 1353937
AU  - Chovanec, Jan
PY  - 2018
TI  - Laughter and non-humorous situations in TV documentaries
VL  - Topics in Humor Research 7
PB  - John Benjamins
CY  - Amsterdam and Philadelphia
SN  - 9789027200006
KW  - humour
KW  - pragmatics
KW  - discourse analysis
KW  - conversation analysis
KW  - laughter
KW  - laughable
KW  - TV documentary
KW  - footing
KW  - Goffman
UR  - https://benjamins.com/#catalog/books/thr.7.07cho/details
N2  - This paper explores the role of laughter in broadcast TV documentary programs. Although the primary design of many TV documentaries is to attend to the smooth transmission of information to the audience, some program formats include components of seemingly unscripted interpersonal interaction between the participants. In these interactions, we frequently find situations that evoke the participants’ laughter, even though they are not designed as humorous and may not contain any evident intentional humor. Based on data obtained from a recent British documentary series, this paper documents how laughter emerges within interactions between the presenter and other interlocutors in order to deal with situations of personal failure and success arising from joint collaborative effort. The paper argues that laughter indexes extreme emotional reactions, thus being indicative of an underlying incongruity between the participants’ expectations and the actual state. Moreover its presence in the program attests to the hybrid nature of modern documentary formats by actually priming the audience’s positive reception and enjoyment of the broadcast.
ER  -

CHOVANEC, Jan. Laughter and non-humorous situations in TV documentaries. In Tsakona, Villy and Jan Chovanec. \textit{The Dynamics of Interactional Humor : Creating and negotiating humor in everyday encounters}. 1st ed. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018, p.~155-179. Topics in Humor Research 7. ISBN~978-90-272-0000-6. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1075/thr.7.07cho.

Detailed Information on Publication Record