Page 2 - The Language of Humour

The Language of Humour
This accessible satellite textbook in the Routledge INTERTEXT series
is unique in offering students hands-on, practical experience of textual
analysis focused on the language of humour. Written in a clear,
userfriendly style by a practising teacher, it combines practical activities
with texts, followed by commentaries to show how messages are
constructed from language and suggestions for further activities. It can
be used individually or in conjunction with the series core textbook,
Working with Texts: A core book for language analysis.
Aimed at A-Level and beginning undergraduate students, The
Language of Humour:

• examines the ways that humour is created in both spoken and written
language;
• explores the relationship between humour and social attitudes; the
status of the targets of humour, the joke tellers and the audience;
• focuses on the social aspects of humour, and asks what it contributes
to current debates on ‘political correctness’ and censorship;
• analyses a rich variety of humorous text examples, from the classics
of Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde to the contemporary sketches of
French and Saunders, Eddie Izzard, Victoria Wood, Reeves and
Mortimer, the cartoons of Gary Larson, and the sitcom Friends.

Alison Ross is a visiting lecturer at Leeds University and Sheffield
Hallam University. She is a senior examiner and moderator for the
NEAB English Language A Level.