ABSTRACT
An important aspect of the quality of Sterne's Tristram Shandy is the novel's constant consciousness of the reader and its pervasive use of a conversational style. One could argue that humour is in Tristram Shandy the result of characterisation, situation, and incident, but a close look at the text makes it quite clear that all these aspects are dependent on the specific way in which they are produced and mediated by language and style. If Tristram Shandy is an ingenious self-performance of a 'fellow of infinite jest' before an audience of congenial readers, this performance is enacted by a superior craftsman, whose medium is essentially constituted by style and syntax. The dialogical parenthesis has the function to prevent Tristram from pronouncing a word referring to sexual intercourse. A humorous effect may be derived from the technique of inserting a digression in the form of a parenthesis right in the middle of a sentence which may be resumed.
