The article introduces the primary and secondary functions of the anti-value concept of insincerity in the comic discourse of English culture. The anti-value concept of insincerity is considered as a complex concept. The author performed a cognitive and axiological analyses of the primary and secondary functions of this concept within comic discourse. The analysis featured 50 episodes of stand-up comedy, 40 episodes of various sketchcoms, and 500 episodes of various sitcoms. Insincerity proved to be a complex humorous concept actualized through primary and secondary functions. The primary function of the concept is realized through obvious lies or hypocrisy. In its secondary function, the concept of insincerity is actualized in making fun of various anti-values, e.g., greed, cowardice, cruelty, lust, etc. In modern English culture, insincerity is a positive means of ridiculing other anti-values. In such cases, stupidity of the deceived one is usually ridiculed, and insincerity becomes a sign of smartness or cunning.
The article describes the anti-value concept of gluttony in the humorous discourse of English-language stand-up and situation comedies. The main humorous characteristics of this concept are identified and analyzed. An axiological approach is used for constructing a humorous conceptual framework, because humor is one of the most important tools for forming values and anti-values of a certain culture. The ridiculed characteristics of gluttony are divided into the following two groups: those of process and result. The main characteristics of the process include improper eating of edible items and eating of inedible items. Improper eating of edible items is usually ridiculed through eating excessive amounts of food, eating food under inappropriate conditions, eating incompatible items. Eating of inedible items is mostly ridiculed through eating life-threatening objects, eating something unfit to eat, and eating excrements or other human waste products. The main ridiculed characteristics of the result include gaining excess weight, addiction to a certain food, illness/death of a person. This work also performs a detailed analysis of the anti-value concept of gluttony for the first time. The main linguistic means of representing the anti-value concept of gluttony in stand-up comedies and sitcoms are revealed. This article makes a significant contribution to constructing an axiological humorous framework of the concept, because gluttony is one of the basic anti-values in humorous discourse.
The article introduced the anti-value concept of cowardice in the humorous discourse of Anglo-Saxon linguistic culture. This concept is one of the main anti-values of modern Anglo-Saxon linguistic culture; however, it received very little scientific attention. Based on cognitive and axiological analyses, the author identified and analyzed the main characteristics of cowardice in humorous discourse. The analysis involved 50 episodes of stand-up specials and 500 episodes of various sitcoms. The key features of the anti-value concept of cowardice included fear, the level of danger, and the importance of overcoming danger. Other important characteristics of cowardice included immoral actions, avoiding danger, inaction, loss of control over one’s bodily functions, and unreasonable behavior. The fear of death / injury / social disapproval proved to be the main reasons for cowardice. The author also analyzed the gender aspect of the concept. Cowardice appeared to be a typical male feature because humor is often derived from breaking the gender stereotype "a man is stronger / braver than a woman".
The present work explores the humorous objectification of anti-values in "Chewed up" by Louis CK. The author identifies the following main anti-values which are actualized in this work: stupidity, gluttony, lust, cowardice and uselessness. In addition, the author also highlights the main characteristics of the ridiculed concepts. Gluttony is ridiculed mainly through the result that gluttony leads to: the acquisition of excess weight. Lust in the present work is ridiculed through processes tabooed by society, such as sex with animals and sex with children. Furthermore, stupidity is ridiculed through ignorance of obvious things. Uselessness is ridiculed through the incompetence of representatives of certain professions. Cowardice is ridiculed through various types of fear, such as fear of the wife and fear of the state.
The article examines various emotional reactions of the audience of English-language stand-up comedies both to values and anti-values that are actualized in the text, and to comic statements of a speaker. The purpose of the study is to identify the main emotional reactions of the audience while watching stand-up comedies, classifying these reactions and determining their compatibility. The corpus of the study comprises recordings and scripts of 50 English-language stand-up specials. The study is based on auditory fixation of audience reactions while watching stand-up comedies to comic and non-comic statements. Such emotional reactions of the audience as laughter, applause, emotional approval, and emotional disapproval have been identified and analyzed. Taking into account the degree of laughter intensity, the structural arrangement of comic fragments and their significance, three types of laughter are distinguished: warming-up, main, and follow-up. Applause is found to be the reaction to actualizing values while the corresponding value is either realized during joke creation or is actualized in the corresponding statement. In addition, it has been determined that an emotional approval may only accompany applause. The disapproval of the audience is associated with the actualization of a certain anti-value. It has also been found that an emotional disapproval of some viewers in most cases is accompanied by the laughter of other viewers. Moreover, in certain cases such laughter may be accompanied by applause. The difference in perceiving such jokes is explained by two main factors: 1) different attitudes of viewers towards the corresponding phenomenon; 2) different focus of the audience.
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