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In this article we explore the interrelationship of humor and conflict. We focus first on contexts where humor provides a constructive means of attenuating conflict and ending disagreements in conversation. Then we turn to conflict talk as a source of humor. We identify three characteristic strategies for constructing humor around patterns of conflict talk, both in everyday conversation and in professionally scripted dialogue. The momentum and coherence of argument structure tends toward automatization even in everyday talk, and this property lends itself especially well to the creation of humorous dialogue. We show both how humor can mitigate conflict, and how conflict talk can be funny.

Based on an audience-centered model of television discourse, we show that verbal interaction is one of the principal means of characterization in film. One of the linguistic phenomena screenwriters exploit and manipulate to develop their characters is verbal humor. For instance, the ways in which interactants on screen produce and respond to jokes is critical in their characterization. We look at an episode of the US American sitcom Ally McBeal, in which two women tell dirty jokes. We show that although the structure of both jokes as well as their respective performance equally meet the demands of good (tellings of) jokes, the screenplay is constructed in such a way that one of them fails to elicit laughter. This is achieved through creating expectations in the viewer prior to the telling of the jokes and through having the women frame their jokes dierently. This research has implications for the study of both gender and humor in conversation, for even though we look at constructed dialogue, it yields insight into underlying knowledge about real conversation.

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In this article I explore how the authenticity of the argument in the final section of Ian McEwan’s novella On Chesil Beach is achieved by exploiting the underlying mechanisms of real-life conflict talk. The momentum and coherence of argument structure tends toward automatization in the sense that once a conflict sequence is in progress, disagreement prompts (and makes structurally expectable) further disagreement in the subsequent turns, lending arguments a self-perpetuating quality, and this property lends itself well to the creation of confrontational dialogue in fiction. I first trace the trajectory of Edward and Florence’s argument, showing how the structure of conflict talk apparently leads them along — independent of what their original intentions might have been. I also look at the various kinds of oppositional moves that are employed in the course of the dispute, showing that the argumentative techniques deployed by the characters bear a close resemblance to those found in authentic conflict talk and thus contribute to the realistic texture of the interaction as well as its intensity. Finally, I examine the characters’ various attempts at attenuating and terminating the confrontation and defusing the tension and consider why they fail. It appears that the heatedness of the argument and the significance of its topic have an important influence on the effectiveness of attempts at terminating the dispute, on the efficacy of humour and on the trajectory of the interaction.

Carlo Marassi desde muito cedo conviveu com a Odontologia, por meio de sua mãe, Dra. Zelna Marassi, alguém que, com certeza, muito o ensinou sobre o que é ser apaixonado pela profissão. Após cursar a graduação na Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, partiu para São Paulo para se especializar em Ortodontia na USP-Bauru, sempre se destacando por seu desempenho diferenciado. Logo após terminar sua pós-graduação, lecionou por 15 anos na Unigranrio. Em 2011, fundou a empresa Marassi Treinamentos, onde oferece cursos avançados para os colegas ortodontistas. No campo editorial, atuou como editor-chefe na Revista Clínica de Ortodontia Dental Press e hoje é editor emérito da mesma revista. Ao longo dos anos, tornou-se importante referência no uso dos mini-implantes, assunto que teve oportunidade de apresentar em inúmeros cursos nacionais e internacionais. Suas aulas são sempre impecáveis, precisas, ricas em conteúdo e embaladas em um enorme didatismo, que o transformou em um dos maiores palestrantes do país. A mais recente paixão tem sido a Ortodontia Digital, desenvolvendo fluxos de trabalho com scanners intrabucais e impressoras 3D. Muito interessado em tecnologia, é a ele que recorro quando quero saber de algum novo equipamento ou qualquer gadget que eu esteja precisando. Ao lado da esposa Patrícia, companheira de toda uma vida e competente colega de profissão, trabalha também em uma moderna clínica odontológica no Rio de Janeiro, em uma rara conjunção de um grande clínico e um brilhante professor. Pai carinhoso e dedicado de Hugo e Nicolle, forma essa linda família, que adora esquiar pelos quatro cantos do mundo. Na entrevista a seguir, os leitores terão a oportunidade de conhecer um pouco mais sobre a experiência e conceitos desse mestre. Para mim, Dr. Carlo Marassi é sinônimo de gentileza, capricho, talento, determinação e, sobretudo, é capaz de nos inspirar a fazer uma Ortodontia cada vez melhor. José Augusto Mendes Miguel (coordenador da entrevista)

This paper addresses the issue of farm programs and their impact on United States exports. It suggests an alternative policy to deal with the problems of low prices, surpluses, excessive supports and augmented competition abroad. The authors depict the current situation in the U.S. farm economy first by reviewing the farm programs from the inception to the present time, their impact on supply and demand for farm products at home and abroad, and the competitive reactions from other countries, especially the European Community. The authors then introduce a policy of international cooperation in farm trade that emphasizes a free market system and focuses on issues of contention among U.S. trade partners. Using U.S. farm policy in general, the paper advocates general cooperation with other countries on the international front and an integrated policy‐making process in the domestic economy that articulates the government trade policy with a single strong voice.