The intertwining of referents in recategorizations in jokes: What is the role of referential chains?

Authors

  • Janaica Gomes Matos UESPI/UFC
  • Mariza Angélica Paiva Brito UNILAB (Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira)
  • Mônica Magalhães Cavalcante UFC (Universidade Federal do Ceará)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the issue of referentiation based on the following question: What is the role of referential chains in the recategorization of the referent, as the trigger for the humor in jokes? The issue will be critically discussed based on the theoretical and empirical findings of the following research: Lima (2003), Leite (2007), Cavalcante (2011, 2012), Custódio Filho (2012) and Cavalcante et al. (2014). The reflections will focus on the semantic and on the social cognitive criteria of the recategorizations in referential chains, be they explicitly performed by noun phrases, or not, in triggering laughter in written jokes. The analyzed texts were taken from two publications in journals that address exclusively the jokes. It is concluded that the intertwining of objects, or the relation between them, although forming very short chains in this genre, trigger the production of the meaning of the joke.

Keywords: referential chains, recategorization, genre joke.

Author Biographies

Janaica Gomes Matos, UESPI/UFC

Professora do Curso de Letra da UESPI. Doutoranda do Programa de Pòs-Graduação em Linguística da UFC. Bolsista CAPES/FAPEPI.

Mariza Angélica Paiva Brito, UNILAB (Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira)

Professora do Curso de Letras da Unilab. Vice-líder do Protexto - Grupo de Pesquisa em Linguística da UFC.

Mônica Magalhães Cavalcante, UFC (Universidade Federal do Ceará)

Professora do Departamento de Letras Vernáculas da UFC. Líder do Protexto - Grupo de Pesquisa em Linguística da UFC.

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Published

2016-12-13

How to Cite

Matos, J. G., Brito, M. A. P., & Cavalcante, M. M. (2016). The intertwining of referents in recategorizations in jokes: What is the role of referential chains?. Calidoscópio, 14(3), 499–508. Retrieved from https://www.revistas.unisinos.br/index.php/calidoscopio/article/view/cld.2016.143.13

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2016): September/December

Section

Articles

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