合作原则的违反与公益广告幽默效果的产生.doc

浅析合作原则的违反与公益广告幽默效果的产生The Humorous Effect in Public Service Advertisement Based on the Violation of Cooperative Principle Abstract: In the late 20th century Grice proposes Cooperative Principle consisting of the maxim of quantity, the maxim of quality, the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner. The present study is a pragmatic analysis of humour in public service advertisement based on Grices Cooperative Principle. It is designed to illustrate that public service advertisement deliberately violates CP with the purpose of creating humour and transferring the ad theme effectively.Key words: Cooperative Principle; humour; public service advertisement摘要: 著名的语言学家Grice提出的会话合作原则包含“量的准则”“质的准则”“关系准则”和“方式准则”四个方面的内容。本文利用合作原则对公益广告中的幽默效果进行语用学分析。试图说明公益广告有意识地违悖合作原则，以取得幽默的语言效果、实现公益广告的宣传目的。关键字：合作原则；幽默；公益广告Introduction Hang Guowen points out, Public service advertisement, which is designed to serve the public instead of making a profit, is also called public advertisement or service advertisement(309). A successful advertisement needs to conform to the AIDA regulations proposed by E. S. Lewis, which means Attention, Interest, Desire and Action (qtd. in Sun Liang 264). Obviously, this standard is also applicable to public service advertisement. In order to achieve AIDA, advertisers tend to regard creating humour as a useful medium in their ad originality. Cooperative Principle, which consists of four maxims - the maxim of quantity, the maxim of quality, the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner, is firstly introduced by Grice in the late 20th century. Sometimes people flout these maxims for the needs of communication, in that case the conversational implicature generates In recent years, many domestic and foreign scholars have paid much attention to humour, and they also have made significant contribution to it. Cooperative Principle is regarded as a guide to do research on conversation. However, there have been comparatively few researches relevant to the humorous effect in public service advertisement based on Cooperative Principle. Therefore, the paper aims to enrich researches on humour in PSA from the perspective of violating Cooperative Principle. This study is helpful for further understanding Cooperative Principle and fully enjoying humour in public service advertisement. Chapter One Cooperative Principle and Humour in PSA Grice believed that in order to achieve the purpose of mutual understanding, there exist agreement and cooperation between speakers and hearers(Levinson 274). Grice breaks this principle down into four basic maxims which go toward making a speakers contribution to the conversation “cooperative”: 1. The maxim of quantity: a. Make your contribution to the conversation as informative as necessary; b. Do not make your contribution to the conversation more informative thannecessary 2. The maxim of quality: a. Do not say what you believe to be false; b. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence 3. The maxim of relation: Be relevant ( say things related to the current topic of the conversation) 4. The maxim of manner: a. Avoid obscurity of expression; b.Avoid ambiguity; c. Be brief ( avoid unnecessary prolixity) ; d. Be orderly Grice assumes that in conversation the participants will cooperate with each other when making their contributions. In reality, however, there are some circumstances where speakers may not follow the expectations of the Cooperative Principle. Sometimes people flout these maxims for the needs of communication, which generates the conversational implicature Humour, an indispensable part of culture and language, plays a significant role in peoples daily life. Peter Berger says, There is no escaping from humour and there is no subject, whether it be sex, marriage, politics, religion, work, sports - you name it - that has not been ridiculed, joked about .(43). Public service advertisement is based on the reality and designed to promote beneficial but solemn social values. It focuses not on the product but on the responsibility of arousing the solemn affection of human being, though human emotions are quite complex. It is more likely to bring about a striking effect on the solemn issue by making use of humour. Berger asserts that breaking Cooperative Principle is sometimes necessary for speakers to achieve the effect of humour (74). Therefore, it is believed that the violation of Cooperative Principle has played a significant role in creating the humourous effect in public service advertisement. The humour produced by the violation not only conforms to the AIDA regulations but also generates beneficial social effect in a harmonious way. Chapter Two Humour in PSA Based on the Violation of CP As stated above, when people flout any maxim of Cooperative Principle in communication, the conversational implicature generatesHumour can be regarded as one kind of conversational implicature. In this chapter, several instances will be shown to illustrate how humour appears in PSA when the the principle is violated.2.1 Humour caused by the violation of the maxim of quantity The violation of the maxim of quantity means the advertiser provides either more or less information to the audience. In that case, the space for imagination is offered to the audience and the implicit meaning is caught by them. Example1: Those who throw object at the alligator will be expected to a. Retrieve the object. b. Exit the zoo. This is a warning beside the alligator pond in a zoo, which doesnt directly warn the visitors against throwing object at the alligator. Instead, it gives more information by finishing the choice test: a. bring back the object-so dangerous that no one dares to; b. leave the zoo - both embarrassing and boring. Therefore, by violating the maxim of quantity, the effect of warning could be achieved in such a peaceful way. Example 2: 高空抛物，砸在地上一个坑，砸在头上 This is a PSA about social morality which lacks enough information as to the result, whereas it offers wide space for the audience to consider the consequence of throwing down things from above and then get the essence of the utterance.2.2 Humour caused by the violation of the maxim of quality The maxim of quality needs speakers to say neither what you believe to be false nor what you lack adequate evidence. Usually, public service advertisement makes use of hyperbole, irony and personification to arouse the publics attention in order to convey implicit information. Hyperbole, irony and personification undoubtedly violate the maxim of quality. The humour caused by the three rhetorical devices will be proved in the following part.Example 3: Please dont throw cigarette ends on the floor. The cockroaches are getting cancer. It is known to all that cockroaches have extremely good vitality and it is impossible for the species to get cancer. Therefore, this ad exaggerates deliberately the harm of the cigarette - despite of good vitality, due to the cigarette, even the cockroach will be afflicted with cancer. Through hyperbole, this PSA produces a profound impression on the audience.Example 4: If people keep telling you to quit smoking cigarettes, dont listen theyre probably trying to trick you into living. This ad skillfully violates the the maxim of quality by using irony, humorously trying to persuade the public into giving up smoking. In this instance, at a pleasant atmosphere, the public are more willing to reconsider the potential disadvantage of smoking. As a result, it is useful to achieve better effect in PSA by creating humour with the medium of irony than stating some obvious fact directly .Example 5: 你的香烟，我的石油，注定我们不能相爱吸烟者禁入. We subconsciously believe that all substances are alive. Personification is attributing human characteristics and emotions to all the substances on earth. PSA often seeks to appeal to the audience by using personification, and then gives prominence to the theme of ad. Example 5 uses personification to give life to cigarette and petroleum in order to transfer the message: if oil comes across cigarette, the consequence will be fateful. 2.3 Humour caused by the violation of the maxim of relation The maxim of relation holds that speakers should say things related to the current topic of conversation. The violation of the maxim in PSA seems to make an ad irrelevant to the theme, however, it does enrich the content of the ad and does deepen the audiences impression on an ad. Here is a public service ad concerning about the care of teeth.Example 6: 十四是十四，四十是四十，十四不是四十，四十不是十四. You may feel puzzled over the tongue twister at the sight of Example 6. If you keep on to look at the smaller words in parentheses (How would you read it without teeth?) below the tongue twister, the meaning will suddenly dawn upon you. This ad violates the maxim of relation by design, first quoting a familiar tongue twister and then showing the theme indirectly. The irrelevance of the tongue twister not only creates humour in this ad but also effectively shows the importance of teeth caring. 2.4 Humour caused by the violation of the maxim of manner The maxim of manner equals to the avoidance of ambiguity and unnecessary prolixity. At times certain ads make a play on words and make the meaning rather vague but quite humourous in deep meaning. Example 7: 我是生命，请足下留情。 Like Example 7, some ads existing puns; in that circumstance, the maxim of manner is obviously violated. Here 足下 can be regarded to have two meaning: the place under feet and the honorary title for you. Therefore, 足下 is a fun violating the maxim of manner in the ad. On one hand, it avoids preaching directly; on the other hand, it educates people by a mild manner.Example 8: 当你想丢点什么时, 请想想，千万不要丢脸。 This is a sign on dustbin. Here 脸 is polysemous, which can be regarded as a part of the body and can also be understood as dignity. To some degree, 脸 makes the utterance ambiguous but humourous. Through the violation of the maxim of manner, it is more possible to persuade the public to protect the environment voluntarily. Conclusion What is humour? Humour is mankind s greatest blessing. Aristotle believes that it gives us the magic power to pl