Violating Grice’s Maxims in Algerian Jokes and Caricatures: A Pragmatic Study.

Abstract

The present study is an examination of the Algerian jokes within the field of pragmatics. The aim of this study is to (1) explore the way Algerian jokes and caricatures violate the Grican maxims, (2) determine the most violated maxim, and (3) identify the conversational implicatures that these Algerian jokes and caricatures are implicitly communicated. To this end, 20 Algerian jokes and 18 Algerian caricatures which were elicited from facbook were analyzed in relation to Grice’s conversational maxims and conversational implicatures. The results of the study revealed that the maxim of quality is the most violated one, in Algerian jokes, followed by the maxim of relevance, then the maxim of quantity, and finally the maxim of manner. Concerning the Algerian caricatures, the findings indicated that the maxim of relevance is the most violated one followed by the maxim of quality, then the maxim of quantity, and finally the maxim of manner. The results were also demonstrated that violating the maxims in the Algerian jokes and caricatures brings about humorous effect and creates conversational implicatures to criticize gently Algerian social and cultural issues such as poverty, high cost of living, low pay problem, men’s stereotypes about women, Algerian mentality, traffic problem, and unprofessional doctors. This study ends with some recommendations