VIOLATION OF CONVERSATIONAL MAXIMS AND COOPERATION - THE CASE OF JOKES

The article deals with the paradox of the communicative nature of jokes, which are defined as a type of text that violates the principle of cooperation. The consequences of violating the cooperative principle (breakdown of communication) are examined. The paper argues against the application of the mention theory to the violation of conversational maxims in jokes, in an attempt to explain away the paradox. While the non-bona-fide mode of communication accounts for the survival of the communicative exchange, the article will then show that non-cooperative texts such as jokes convey information through their presuppositional basis, rather than their illocutionary value, through metamessages and suppressions of the violation. Finally it will show how speakers exploit the non-cooperative nature of humor for other communicative purposes.