The Stylistics of Humour

Presenting a new way of understanding verbal humour, this book draws on contemporary theories of language and mind, to explore and explain how the language of humour works both in a text and in a reader.

Through investigation of carefully considered examples, this book proposes a new model that situates the cognitive phenomenon of humour within its social context and in relation to the affective response it produces. Examples range from Jane Austen to Damon Runyon, and include writers of comic fiction, such as P. G. Wodehouse, E. F. Benson, Tom Holt, Nina Stibbe, Katherine Heiny, Lissa Evans, as well as works of non-fiction. Through these discussions, the book analyses how humour leads to amusement and the ways in which it can be used as a social and cultural force in political and ideological settings. By offering a practical way of analysing and understanding the construction and effects of humour it also provides a greater appreciation of this powerful and complex mode of discourse.

Alice Haines is a Lecturer in English Language at the University of Derby, UK.