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Programme: accepted abstracts

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Abstract ID: 443

Part of Session 168: Sociolinguistics of revolution in world’s capital cities (Other abstracts in this session)

Functions of humor in Greek political discourse: The case of hooded individuals

Authors: Georgalidou, Marianthi
Submitted by: Georgalidou, Marianthi (University of the Aegean, Greece)

The present study investigates functions of humor in the discourse of Greek politicians. The data under examination come from press conferences, media interviews and the official proceedings of parliamentary sittings during a period of riots in December 2008. The theoretical issues that are addressed concern the structures and functions of humor in political discourse. In accordance with numerous studies highlighting aspects of political and parliamentary discourse that concern the rhetoric of political combat (Mulkay 1988, Morreall 2005, Hobbs 2007, Tsakona and Popa 2011), humor, metaphor and irony are shown to be powerful weapons in the discourse of political adversaries. Also, the role of the media in the formation of dialogical networks as well as parameters of audience design (Leudar and Nekvapil 1998, Fetzer and Weizman 2006) that are connected to the publicization of political discourse are highlighted for their impact on the linguistic choices of politicians.  In the present study, the analysis of an extensive dialogical network that was initiated by the statement of the leader of Greek Communist Party as to the caressing of the ears of the hooded in the media reveals various aspects of the organization of rival political discourse. Firstly, we will show how media contribute to the transformation of a specific wording into a “sound bite” that is being repeated in the discourse of politicians of all political parties both inside and outside the parliament. Secondly, the switching to the humorous mode, albeit in an aggressive and derogatory manner, the adoption or the rejection of the metaphor of the caressing of the ears,and the different meanings attributed to the term hooded will be shown to contribute to the construction of various alignments that, in cases, can be considered incompatible with one’s declared political ideology, but still form part of a highly competitive parliamentary system such as the Greek. Last, we will show how the symbiotic relations among media and parliamentary institutions contribute to the formation of hybrid discourse modes that lead to the conversationalization and de-ideologisation of political discourse.    

   

References

Fetzer, A. & Weizman, E. 2006. “Political discourse as mediated and public discourse”. Journal of Pragmatics 38: 143-153.

Georgalidou, M. 2011. ““Stop caressing the ears of the hooded”: Political humor in times of conflict”. In Studies in Political Humor, V. Tsakona & D. Popa (eds.), 83-108.Amsterdam/ Philadlphia: John Benjamins.

Hobbs, P. 2007. “Lawyers’ use of humor as persuation”. Humor 20 (2): 123-156.

Leudar, I. & Nekvapil, J. 1998. “On the emergence of political identity in the Czech mass media : the case of the Democratic Party of  Sudetenland”. Czech Sociological Review 6: 43-58.

Morreall, J. (2005). Humor and the conduct of politics. In Beyond the Joke. The Limits of Humor, S. Lockyer and M. Pickering (eds.), 63-78. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Mulkay, M. (1988). On Humor. Its Nature and its Place in Modern Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Tsakona, V. & Popa, D. (eds). 2011. Studies in Political Humor. Amsterdam/ Philadlphia: John Benjamins.