The Use of Humour to Deal with Uncomfortable Moments in Interaction: A Cross-Cultural Approach

Humour is almost certainly a universal concept, but as speakers of different languages, we perceive and use it differently, given that we all see the world in a different way. We can use humour purely to entertain people, but it also has important relational and interactional functions, such as reinforcing solidarity, challenging power dynamics and/or undertaking face management work. Depending on the kind of uncomfortable moment encountered, speakers can resort to humour targeting either themselves, the other or an absent third party. For example, humour can be used to threaten another person’s face, be used in self-defence to a face-threat or repair a face-threat to another person. In other words, we use humour to create and/or to deal with awkward/uncomfortable moments in interaction. Previous research into the conversational humour of French and Australian English speakers has shown that Australians show a preference for mock aggressive recipient-oriented humour, whereas French speakers prefer to reinforce complicity at the expense of an absent third party. This study will use a four-dimensional model for the cross-cultural analysis of humour to examine some specific instances of uncomfortable moments in interaction. First, we will show that what might be considered uncomfortable in one language-culture is not necessarily perceived as such in the other. Second, we will illustrate how humour is used by both French and Australians to deal with these uncomfortable moments. We will demonstrate how similar functions of humour are very likely to be found in both languages and cultures, but that there are conventions and preferences for why and how these are combined into specific instances of conversational humour.