Catalan political humor: criticism and self-criticism

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Issue date
2014Suggested citation
Serés Seuma, Teresa;
Viana, Amadeu;
.
(2014)
.
Catalan political humor: criticism and self-criticism.
Israeli Journal for Humor Research, 2014, núm. 5, p. 121-143.
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/59937.
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The aim of this paper is to describe how Catalan humor works in the context of
political TV satire, where everyday references mutate in order to show hidden
meanings and parallel purposes. Using mainly pragmatic and discourse analysis as
tools, we will try to decipher conversational exchanges that create hilarity and
promote political critique. Tokens of linguistic (or verbal) humor as well as referential
(or situational) humor will be analyzed, trying to show the range of their social and
political implications. Our major tenet is that political satire operates as a two-sided
process: on one side, it promotes communication within a specific social network, on
the other, it affords criticism and self-criticism to emerge, which serve also as a useful
evaluation of everyday public themes.