ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine the ways in which the analysis of verbal humour can play a part in the broader study of language and power. A number of the cases the authors examined in the Strand can be located on the web, and stories and incidents involving humour and its sometimes controversial or legal outcome break regularly in the media. The appropriateness condition for humour is strongly integrated with social and cultural context, and changes in this external social environment will impact heavily on what a particular community deems ‘appropriate’ for humour. A feature of incongruous or ‘spoof’ texts is that they violate the validity claim of sincerity. Another important validity claim is ‘appropriateness’, which also acts as an important constraint on the way interpret humour, especially humour that is considered ‘taboo’ or ‘red-flagged’.
