Humor y desautomatización fraseológica: un acercamiento lingüístico desde la Teoría General del Humor Verbal y el enfoque cognitivo

Abstract

This paper aims to address the role of phraseological de-automatization in the generation of humor. Specifically, we will study the use of modified phraseological units (MPU) and their cognitive implications in humorous monologues. We can distinguish two main types of variation in relation to phraseological units (PUs): the institutionalized variants –coded in the linguistic system– and the occasional modifications –produced voluntarily by the speakers in pursuit of a certain goal. This last group, which is the object of our analysis, constitutes the most unstable and creative parcel of phraseological variability. Modifications are the result of the creative potential of PUs and the intentionality of their author, and among their various purposes is that of generating humorous effects. These modifications can be classified into two types: 1. formal modifications; and 2. semanticcontextual and pragmatic modifications (Mena Martínez 2002).
In the humorous monologue, phraseology acts as a fundamental indicator for the achievement of laughter by means of, among other aspects, the affectation of different pragmatic principles (fundamentally those related with manner and informativity), as explained in the revision that Ruiz Gurillo (2012) has developed of the GTVH. Likewise, since both, phraseology and humor, have a solid cognitive base, in order to carry out a rigorous analysis of them it is convenient to take into account several cognitive postulates (embodiment, frame semantics, construction grammar, mental spaces, conceptual integration). Thus, this study aims to show how different elements participate in the deautomatization of PUs, as well as the changes they imply, considering these modifications as a linguistic correlation of certain cognitive structures and operations.