ABSTRACT
Cendra, Anastasia Nelladia. (2016). A Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Humour is a complex phenomenon. Because of it, studies of humour are still low, although actually studies of humour are needed. Despite its complexity, humour is a common phenomenon in everyday life, becoming the vehicle for mass entertainment that has many types. One of them is in the form verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Related to verbal humour, a theory of verbal humour called General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH) is known, making it captivating to conduct a linguistic research on verbal humour. Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi linguistically using GTVH.
The study was a qualitative study. The data of the study was gathered by employing document or content analysis. The main instrument used in this research was human instrument. In answering the first research question, the verbal humour categorization proposed by Shade (1996) was employed, whereas the second was answered by utilizing GTVH proposed by Attardo (1994).
The research resulted in several findings. There were 67 verbal humours collected in BBC Radio Drama Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi that fell into 9 out of the 12 categories. The most frequent verbal humour was satire (29.9%), followed by irony (22.4%), wit (19.4%), sarcasm (16.4%), joke (6.0%), and pun, riddle, farce, and tall tale with 1.5% for each. The verbal humour found was analysed linguistically by utilizing the six Knowledge Resources (KRs) of the GTVH: Script Opposition (SO), Logical Mechanism (LM), Situation (SI), Target (TA), Narrative Strategy (NS), and Language (LA). The analysis was done in a hierarchical way following the hierarchal order of the six KRs to investigate the verbal humour starting from its core element.
ABSTRAK
Cendra, Anastasia Nelladia. (2016). A Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, JPBS, FKIP, Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma. Humor merupakan fenomena yang kompleks. Oleh karena itu, penelitian tentang humor masih rendah, walaupun sebenarnya sangat dibutuhkan. Meskipun kompleks, humor adalah fenomena umum dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, terutama dalam dunia hiburan yang beraneka ragam. Salah satunya adalah humor verbal yang terdapat pada BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Terkait dengan humor verbal, diketahui General Theory of Verbal Humour (GVTH) yang menarik penelitian linguistik mengenai humor verbal.
Peneitian berjudul A Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi ini bermaksud untuk menganalisis humor verbal. Tujuan pertama penelitian ini adalah untuk megetahui tipe humor verbal di BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Sedangkan tujuan kedua adalah untuk menganalisis humor verbal yang terdapat di BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi secara linguistik menggunakan GTVH.
Penelitian kualitatif ini menggunakan analisis dokumen untuk keperluan pegumpulan data. Instrumen utama penelitian ini adalah instrument manusia. Dalam menjawab pertanyaan pertama, kategorisasi humor verbal menurut Shade (1994) digunakan. Sedangakan pertanyaan kedua dijawab dengan menggunakan GTVH oleh Attardo (1994).
Penelitian ini menghasilkan beberapa temuan. Ditemukan 67 humor verbal dalam BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi yang tergolong dalam 9 kategori. Humor verbal yang paling banyak adalah satire (29.9%), diikuti irony (22,4%), wit (19,4%), sarcasm (16,4%), joke (6,0%), dan pun, riddle, farce, serta tall tale dengan masing-masing 1,5%. Humor verbal dianalisis secara linguistik dengan menggunakan enam Knowledge Resources (KRs) dari GTVH: Script Opposition (SO), Logical Mechanism (LM), Situation (SI), Target (TA), Narrative Strategy (NS), dan Language (LA). Analisis ini dilakukan secara berurutan, mengikuti hirarki enam KRs untuk mengamati humor verbal mulai dari elemen intinya.
A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF VERBAL HUMOUR
FOUND IN BBC RADIO DRAMA SERIES
CABIN PRESSURE: ABU DHABI
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Anastasia Nelladia Cendra Student Number: 121214010
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF VERBAL HUMOUR
FOUND IN BBC RADIO DRAMA SERIES
CABIN PRESSURE: ABU DHABI
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Anastasia Nelladia Cendra Student Number: 121214010
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
vi ABSTRACT
Cendra, Anastasia Nelladia. (2016). A Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Humour is a complex phenomenon. Because of it, studies of humour are still low, although actually studies of humour are needed. Despite its complexity, humour is a common phenomenon in everyday life, becoming the vehicle for mass entertainment that has many types. One of them is in the form verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Related to verbal humour, a theory of verbal humour called General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH) is known, making it captivating to conduct a linguistic research on verbal humour. Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi linguistically using GTVH.
The study was a qualitative study. The data of the study was gathered by employing document or content analysis. The main instrument used in this research was human instrument. In answering the first research question, the verbal humour categorization proposed by Shade (1996) was employed, whereas the second was answered by utilizing GTVH proposed by Attardo (1994).
The research resulted in several findings. There were 67 verbal humours collected in BBC Radio Drama Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi that fell into 9 out of the 12 categories. The most frequent verbal humour was satire (29.9%), followed by irony (22.4%), wit (19.4%), sarcasm (16.4%), joke (6.0%), and pun, riddle, farce, and tall tale with 1.5% for each. The verbal humour found was analysed linguistically by utilizing the six Knowledge Resources (KRs) of the GTVH: Script Opposition (SO), Logical Mechanism (LM), Situation (SI), Target (TA), Narrative Strategy (NS), and Language (LA). The analysis was done in a hierarchical way following the hierarchal order of the six KRs to investigate the verbal humour starting from its core element.
vii ABSTRAK
Cendra, Anastasia Nelladia. (2016). A Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, JPBS, FKIP, Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma. Humor merupakan fenomena yang kompleks. Oleh karena itu, penelitian tentang humor masih rendah, walaupun sebenarnya sangat dibutuhkan. Meskipun kompleks, humor adalah fenomena umum dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, terutama dalam dunia hiburan yang beraneka ragam. Salah satunya adalah humor verbal yang terdapat pada BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Terkait dengan humor verbal, diketahui General Theory of Verbal Humour (GVTH) yang menarik penelitian linguistik mengenai humor verbal.
Peneitian berjudul A Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi ini bermaksud untuk menganalisis humor verbal. Tujuan pertama penelitian ini adalah untuk megetahui tipe humor verbal di BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Sedangkan tujuan kedua adalah untuk menganalisis humor verbal yang terdapat di BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi secara linguistik menggunakan GTVH.
Penelitian kualitatif ini menggunakan analisis dokumen untuk keperluan pegumpulan data. Instrumen utama penelitian ini adalah instrument manusia. Dalam menjawab pertanyaan pertama, kategorisasi humor verbal menurut Shade (1994) digunakan. Sedangakan pertanyaan kedua dijawab dengan menggunakan GTVH oleh Attardo (1994).
Penelitian ini menghasilkan beberapa temuan. Ditemukan 67 humor verbal dalam BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi yang tergolong dalam 9 kategori. Humor verbal yang paling banyak adalah satire (29.9%), diikuti irony (22,4%), wit (19,4%), sarcasm (16,4%), joke (6,0%), dan pun, riddle, farce, serta tall tale dengan masing-masing 1,5%. Humor verbal dianalisis secara linguistik dengan menggunakan enam Knowledge Resources (KRs) dari GTVH: Script Opposition (SO), Logical Mechanism (LM), Situation (SI), Target (TA), Narrative Strategy (NS), dan Language (LA). Analisis ini dilakukan secara berurutan, mengikuti hirarki enam KRs untuk mengamati humor verbal mulai dari elemen intinya.
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Jesus Christ for His joyful blessings every single day of my life, especially on the days I write this thesis. I thank him for allowing me finish this thesis by providing me comfortable setting in my life to write. He is always with me through my ups and downs.
Secondly, I would like to thank Drs. Y.B. Gunawan, M.A. for all the suggestions, guidance, and advice he has kindly given to me. I thank him for the word of motivation to write, and for reminding me to write everyday regularly. Also, I thank him for every sincere smile that is always able to calm me down on the time of difficulties. In addition, I would also express my appreciation to Truly Almendo Pasaribu, S.S., M.A. for the guidance, suggestions, books and the paper for my analysis. Without her, my thesis would take much more time to finish.
I would also thank parents; my father, Agustinus Budi Utama, and my mother, Christiana Sri Nuning Lestari. I thank them for giving me freedom to do what I want and for believing that I will do my best within this decision. I thank them for letting me study here, PBI Sanata Dharma, in the first place although it is so costly. I thank them for the support and encouragement I get every day, especially during this thesis writing. I just do not know how much I owe them, now.
ix
to scare away the stress and burden. I would also like to thank my beastie, Esthi, for the time we spend doing this thesis together. I enjoy the last 10 years of friendship with her. I would also express my appreciation to Hari, my tree, for reminding me to write by asking my progress over and over and for lending me his ears when the need arises and for everything we do in between. Also, I would like to thank Wening for introducing me to Cabin Pressure in the first place. Without her, this research might not be this research.
Finally, I would like to thank all my friends and PBI colleagues, my brothers and sisters batch 2012 for the great adventure we had in this amazing and extraordinary study program. I thank them for all the beautiful memory that will never subside, hopefully. May God bless them all.
x
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
STATEMENT OF WORK‟S ORIGINALITY ... iv
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... v
ABSTRACT ... vi
ABSTRAK ... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... x
LIST OF TABLES ... xiii
LIST OF FIGURES ... xiv
LIST OF APPPENDICES ... xv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Research Background ... 1
B. Research Problems ... 5
C. Problem Limitation ... 5
D. Research Objectives ... 6
E. Research Benefits ... 6
F. Definition of Terms ... 8
CHAPTER II. REVEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 12
A. Theoretical Description ... 12
1. Verbal Humour and Its Types ... 12
a. Pun ... 14
b. Riddle ... 14
c. Joke ... 15
d. Satire ... 17
e. Limerick ... 18
f. Parody ... 19
g. Anecdote ... 20
xi
i. Irony ... 21
j. Sarcasm ... 21
k. Tall Tale ... 22
l. Wit ... 23
2. General Theory of Verbal Humour ... 23
a. Language (LA)... 24
c. Target (TA) ... 24
d. Situation (SI) ... 24
e. Logical Mechanism (LM) ... 25
f. Script Opposition (SO) ... 26
3. Radio Drama ... 29
4. Reviews of Related Research ... 30
B. Theoretical Framework ... 31
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ... 34
A. Research Method ... 34
B. Research Object ... 35
C. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique... 35
D. Data Analysis Technique ... 36
E. Research Procedures ... 39
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ... 41
A. Types of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi ... 41
1. Pun ... 42
2. Riddle ... 43
3. Joke ... 44
4. Satire ... 45
5. Farce ... 46
6. Irony ... 47
7. Sarcasm ... 48
8. Tall Tale ... 49
xii
B. Linguistic Analysis of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series
Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi ... 51
1. Pun Analysis ... 52
2. Riddle Analysis ... 53
3. Joke Analysis ... 54
4. Satire Analysis ... 55
5. Farce Analysis ... 57
6. Irony Analysis ... 58
7. Sarcasm Analysis ... 59
8. Tall Tale Analysis ... 60
9. Wit Analysis ... 61
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 64
A. Conclusions ... 64
B. Recommendations ... 65
REFERENCES ... 66
xiii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 Verbal Humour Sample ... 38
3.2 Analysis of Verbal Humour ... 38
4.1 Verbal Humour Sample: Pun ... 42
4.2 Verbal Humour Sample: Riddle ... 43
4.3 Verbal Humour Sample: Joke ... 44
4.4 Verbal Humour Sample: Satire ... 45
4.5 Verbal Humour Sample: Farce ... 46
4.6 Verbal Humour Sample: Irony ... 47
4.7 Verbal Humour Sample: Sarcasm ... 48
4.8 Verbal Humour Sample: Tall Tale ... 49
4.9 Verbal Humour Sample: Wit ... 50
4.10 Pun Analysis ... 52
4.11 Riddle Analysis ... 53
4.12 Joke Analysis ... 54
4.13 Satire Analysis ... 56
4.14 Farce Analysis ... 57
4.15 Irony Analysis ... 58
4.16 Sarcasm Analysis ... 59
4.17 Tall Tale Analysis ... 60
xiv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2.1 Hierarchical Organization of KRs ... 28 2.1 The Theoretical Framework ... 33 4.1 Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure:
xv
LIST OF APPPENDICES
Page APPENDIX A
Complete Verbal Humour List ... 68 APPENDIX B
Complete List of Joke ... 75 APPENDIX C
Complete List of Satire ... 76 APPENDIX D
Complete List of Irony ... 78 APPENDIX E
Complete List of Sarcasm ... 80 APPENDIX F
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The first chapter provides the introduction to the study. It presents the research background, research problems, problem limitation, research objectives, research benefits and the definition of terms. In the research background, the researcher elaborates the reasons for selecting the chosen topic. The research problems present the research questions. The research objectives explain the aim of the research in relation to the research problem. The Research benefits describe the advantages of conducting this research. The definition of terms elaborates the key terms used in the research.
A. Research Background
Human beings always communicate, either to exchange information or to maintain social relationship. Raskin (1985) introduces two modes of communication: bona fide and non-bona fide mode of communication. The former refers to the referential communication. It is the type of communication which is serious because it functions to convey information. In contrast, the latter does not refer to exchanging information; its purpose is to elicit some laughter from the hearer. This mode of communication refers to humour.
something belongs to humour or not. However, in general, humour refers to anything that is funny (Jay, 2003, p. 306). Either intended or not intended, if something creates amusement, smile or even laughter, it belongs to humour.
Indeed, with that definition of humour in mind, it cannot be denied that humour still becomes one of the complex areas to study. As suggested by Lew (1996) humour becomes a very mysterious phenomenon as there is no exact recipe to create a funny story or a joke that elicits laughter from the hearer (p. 5). There is no rule for one to create such an amusing story or joke that will make anyone, without any exception, laugh or smile when hearing it.
Besides, not many people are interested in conducting studies of humour as it is believed that the study of humour would make it no longer funny. According to E.B. White, analysing humour is like dissecting a frog; only few people are interested and the frog dies of it (as cited in Goebel, 2011, p. 1). It is to say the more one tries to explain or analyse how humour works, the less funny the humour becomes, which makes people reluctant to do it. The popular poet W.H. Aden is also in the same light by stating that a study of humour will kill it (as cited in Lew, 1996, p.6).
Despite its complexity, humour plays an important part in our life. Ross (1998) points out how humour plays a vital role in society. In the television world, many sitcoms and comedy shows are shown. He also states that humorous books were usually in best seller list. Many comedians are also well known of their comedy. In the same light is Spanakaki (2007), who states that humour becomes an essential part in human everyday communication as well as a vital aspect in a huge number of literary works in general (para.1). Humour becomes the vehicle for mass entertainment as much work of art such as movies, comics, plays, and dramas is based on humour. In short, humour simply cannot be separated from our lives.
There are many types of humour that we can find in our daily life, starting from seeing a person fall on banana peel until the more complex ones we see within Shakespearean comedy. Shade (1996) provides a beneficial categorization of humour into four major classes: figural, verbal, visual, and auditory humour (p.2). Figural humour as found in comics, caricatures, movies and so on is the type of humour that involves the use of drawing in conveying the humour. Verbal humour like puns, riddles, anecdote and the like depends on the use of language to deliver the humour. Visual humour such as clowning and impersonation uses visual cues to produce the humour. Auditory humour which includes impressions, noises, and sounds involves the use of auditory cues.
In today‟s world, much work on entertainment is also based on humour;
small airplane company, MJN air. The conversations happens in the episode are mostly between a captain, a first officer, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and his son, who is a steward on the airline.
The work of entertainment in the form of humorous radio drama entitled Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi belongs to verbal humour as the spoken words on radio are not supported by visual aid – although it cannot be denied that there also a little auditory humour included in between. Without seeing the actual setting or the characters fully dressed playing the scene of the script, the funny atmosphere is still strongly felt by the live audience attending the recording. The script-reading done by the voice actors can really evoke the laughter of the audience.
Speaking of verbal humour, there is a widely known linguistic theory of verbal humour proposed by Attardo in 1994, General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH). The theory is claimed to be able to, principally, analyse all kinds of humorous text (Attardo, 1994, p.222). The GTVH is a revision of the previous theory, the Semantic Script Theory of Humour (SSTH) proposed by Raskin in 1979. Generally, GTVH is a broader theory as it focuses on linguistics at large rather than only on semantics as SSTH does. GTVH is a powerful linguistic theory that allows researchers to conduct an analysis of verbal humour linguistically.
captivating to try to find out how to analyse verbal humour linguistically to find out what elements constitute the verbal humour.
This research is aimed to deeply analyse the verbal humour within BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. It aims at observing the verbal humour found within the object. It is to categorize them into some types and then analyse them linguistically using General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH).
B. Research Problems
The focus of this research is on the verbal humour found within BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. In the research, two problems are formulated as follows.
1. Which types of verbal humour are found in the BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi?
2. How is the verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi analysed linguistically using General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH)?
C. Problem Limitation
The study focuses on the verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure in Series 1 episode 1, Abu Dhabi. Series 1 episode 1 is chosen among any other episodes under the consideration that the characteristics of the characters in the story are not too dominant as they are still developing and, thus, the analysis of the language of humour will be more feasible.
types of verbal humour and analysed linguistically using General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH). In answering research question number one, the researcher will use the whole transcript of BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. However, in answering research question number two, the researcher chooses to limit the analysis by only collecting one sample of verbal humour for every type because of the sheer size if all are analysed.
D. Research Objectives
The objectives in this research are:
1. To find out which types of verbal humour are found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi.
2. To find out how the verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi is analysed linguistically using General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH).
E. Research Benefits
The researcher hopes that this study will:
1. Provide readers with some valuable information about verbal humour in everyday conversation.
2. Help readers to appreciate humour more.
The researcher hopes that the reader, after reading this study, would understand that humour is a complex phenomenon which needs to be appreciated more as it is not easy to be funny. Other than just simply enjoying humour, the researcher hopes that the reader would comprehend the complexity and the effort comedians put behind what is considered as funny. By doing so, the researcher hopes that the readers would see humour differently and be grateful for its existence.
3. Motivate more researchers to conduct a study of humour, as the topic is still fairly new and uncommon.
As mentioned in the background, not many people are interested in conducting studies of humour. The researcher hopes that by conducting this research, the interest to conduct other research on the same topics will be increased. This research hopefully could be the trigger to motivate more researchers to conduct more researches of humour.
4. Aid further studies of humour.
5. Provide teachers with valuable information about various type of humour to be practiced in class.
Besides providing broader knowledge about verbal humour, especially its types, the researcher hopes that this research might inspire language teachers to practice using humour in their classrooms in order to make the class livelier. In addition, the researcher hopes that, after understanding the types of humour, teachers will be wiser in using verbal humour in the classroom: which types of humour are appropriate to be used in classrooms.
F. Definition of Terms
Brief definitions of important terms used within this research are discussed as follows.
1. Humour
The word humour is originally derived from Latin word umor. Initially, the word refers to the four types of „moisture‟ or „fluid‟ existed in a human body: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. These four types of fluids will be
responsible in determining a person‟s character. Furthermore, a person is
considered in „good humour‟ and healthy state if these four humours are upheld in
balance. (Lew, 1996, p.10; Shade, 1996, p.9; Suhadi, 1989, p.16)
is because some people might say that something is funny while something else is not. In addition, smile or laughter does not necessarily become an indicator if someone finds something funny, as they also become an indicator of embarrassment. However, in general, as Jay (2003) suggests, humour refers to anything that is funny, either intended or not intended (p.306).
2. Verbal Humour
Shade (1996) has provided a beneficial categorization of humour, namely figural humour, visual humour, auditory humour, and verbal humour (p.2). Verbal humour, which becomes the focus of this study, is defined as a form of humour that involves the use of language (Shade, 1996, p.14). In other word, the humour that belongs to verbal humour relies only on the language, not pictures, sounds, or others, used within the humour in its humour production. In this research, verbal humour can be found within the script or the dialogue uttered by the voice actors. Using verbal language, the voice actors are able to elicit the laughter of the live audience.
3. Radio Drama
Radio drama belongs to one of types of drama which is broadcasted through radio medium. The word drama itself derives from the Greek word dran
which means “to do” that refers to the story performed by actors in film,
According to Fossard (1996), there are three types of radio drama: independent, serial, and series. The independent radio drama broadcast a full story at a time, in one broadcast. The serial radio drama, which can be likened as a novel, is an on-going story which continues from one open-ended episode to the next ones. The last type, which becomes the object of this study, is a collection of independent dramas which uses the same main characters in each of the episodes. Within the series type or radio drama, a term called sit-com or situation comedy is popular. It refers to the series of radio drama which are funny, or at least, have a happy ending (p. 38).
4. Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi
Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi is the object of this research. It is the title of the first episode of the first series of radio situation comedy drama series broadcasted by BBC Radio 4. Set in airplane and airport environment, the episode tells about the oddball crews of the only airplane of an airline business named MJN Air. Starred by four main characters, the pilot, the co-pilot, the steward, and the CEO, the episode proves to be funny as it is able to elicit laughter from the live audience during the recording.
This twenty eight-minute-long episode starts when Carolyn, the CEO, forbids Martin to divert and spend unnecessary money as he has flown a very expensive flight to Bristol prior the flight before. When flying to Abu Dhabi,
Douglas notices that a client‟s cat left in the unheated hold, leaving Martin
but save from Carolyn‟s anger. Meanwhile, Arthur tries to learn how aeroplanes
12 CHAPTER II
REVEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
There are two sections within this chapter, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework. The theoretical description provides theories employed in supporting the study. This study applies the theory of verbal humour and its types, General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH), and theory of radio drama. How those theories are applied to the study is discussed in the later section, the theoretical framework.
A. Theoretical Description
The theoretical description provides the theory of verbal humour and types of verbal humour, General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH), and theory of radio drama. In addition, several related studies are also reviewed in the section of review of related studies.
1. Verbal Humour and Its Types
because of it. There are also some situations when people laugh at seeing something humorous but some others may not even smile on it and claim that it is not funny. Furthermore, he adds that smiling and laughter do not necessarily indicate that something is humorous; they may become an indicator of fear or embarrassment (p.1). However, apart from these exceptions, he agrees that humour can be defined as something that is funny, that is able to make someone smile or laugh.
There are many types of humour. Shade (1996) has suggested four forms of humour, namely figural humour, visual humour, auditory humour and verbal humour (p.2). Figural humour relies on the use of drawing in conveying the humour. Visual humour such as clowning and impersonation uses visual cues to produce humour. Auditory humour involves the use of auditory cues. Verbal humour, which becomes the focus of this study, depends on the use of language to create the humour; it uses language in its humour production.
Verbal humour is humour that relies on the use of language to create the funny effect – not pictures, cartoons, sound, etc. According to Shade (1994), verbal humour often relies on incongruity implemented through contradiction, understatement, exaggeration, surprise or reversal which is carried out by language medium (p.14). Any kind of humour that is conveyed in language medium, not in other medium, belongs to verbal humour.
he divides it into 12 types of humour. Following are the quick elaboration for each type.
a. Pun
Pun uses the humorous use of words. It is the form of humour that relies on a play of word to suggest a different meaning and application. Sometimes pun uses words that have same – or similar sound – but have different meaning. The
following is the example of pun which is taken from the famous Shakespeare‟s
play, Richard III.
Richard: Now is the winter of our discontent,
made glorious summer by this sun of York (p.9)
These are the first two lines of Richard III play script that is uttered by the character of Richard. These lines tells about how the sun of York that has been awaited for some time has come to give a warms summer and blow away the cold and bad winter from York. However, because of the fact that the word sun is pronounced the same with the word son and that King Richard III is the son of the Duke of York, these lines become funny.
b. Riddle
Riddle is usually presented in the form of question and answer format. It is presented in the form of a puzzling fact. Riddles are used to mislead trick and amuse the listener. The following example is taken from Collis (1996).
Q: If six children and two dogs were under just one umbrella, how come none of them got wet?
The example of riddle above is funny as the answer of the question asked is, somehow, unexpected. This riddle is meant to mislead the hearer to think that the umbrella is so big that it is able to cover all six children and two dogs without getting them wet. The answer, however, is that all six children and two dogs do not get wet mainly because it is not raining.
c. Joke
Joke refers to anything that is said to provoke laughter which involves any or all of the following: multiple meaning of words, idiom and metaphors; ambiguity; incongruity; sudden change of perspective (Shade, 1994, p.3). If it is noticed deeper, there are several different types of jokes:
1) Phonological Joke, a joke that is based on the phonological structure of words. It means that the sound of the word used takes the responsibly of the humour production. Shade (1996) provides one example of phonological joke:
Rebecca : What is this? Waiter : It‟s bean soup.
Rebecca : I don‟t care what it‟s been. What is it now?
As the word bean and been is pronounced the same, these two words create a misunderstanding between Rebecca and the waiter. This misunderstanding becomes a hilarious source of laughter.
written by W.C Fields is taken to illustrate the definition better (as cited by Ross, 1998, p.7)
„Do you believe in clubs for young people?‟
„Only when kindness fails.‟
The word clubs here has double meaning. It is reasonable to comprehend the word clubs in the sense of leisure groups or an organization of a number of people who have the same interest, who have a meeting regularly. However, the punch-line shows that the word clubs refers to a heavy stick that is used as a weapon. This multiple meaning, thus, becomes the trigger of the laughter.
3) Surface Structure Joke, a joke that is based on the alternative grouping of words. The way one‟s grouping the words used can make an ambiguity, which later will provoke a funny effect. The physical spaces that exist between words can be blurred in order to provide ambiguity. Following is the example from Ross (1998).
The pen is mightier than the penis (p.13)
The shows the ambiguity and humorous effect crated by the alternative grouping of words: pen is and penis. The two alternatives of word grouping create different interpretation.
created by certain words or phrases. The following example is taken from Ross (1998).
My parents are stuck at Waterloo Station. There‟s been a bomb
scare.‟
„Are they safe?‟
„No, bombs are really dangerous. (p.25)
As observed, the example of a deep structure joke above shows that the word they can be referred to two alternatives: to the parents and to the bombs. The second speaker actually wants to ask about the first speaker‟s
parents‟ condition but the answer he gets is related to the
dangerous-and-not-safe bombs. The example is funny because the ambiguity created by this two alternative interpretations.
5) Metalinguistic Joke, a joke that is focussed on the language form. Instead of the language meaning, a metalinguistic joke relies on the language form used within the joke. Following is the example taken from Ross (1998).
Why does Edward Woodward have 4 D‟s in his name? Because if he didn‟t he‟d be called E-war Woo-war-. (p.3)
The example above shows how the language form can be used in humour production. Instead of using thought interpretation, the language form, in this case is spelling, is used to create funny effect.
d. Satire
(p.2). It uses exaggeration, distortion, and understatement as its techniques. The example below is taken from Shade (1998).
An old lady was sent on a 10-day cruise paid for by her son. She wrote to complain: The food on this ship is absolutely awful. And such small portions! (p.4)
The example of a satire above shows how an old lady gives criticism about the food she gets on the cruise program. She feels that the food is really awful. In the end she shouts and such small portions to add her criticism. This last line, somehow, is funny and may provoke laughter.
e. Limerick
It is a five-lined nonsense verse. The writing of limerick type of humour is, thus, bent to rules of writing limerick: The first two lines rhyme with each other, the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other and the fifth line rhymes with lines the first two lines (aa,bb,a). Mullins (2010) mentions that limerick is not limited by subject matters which allows a limitless „nonsense‟ possibility which creates humorous retort (p.14). The following example is taken from Mullins (2010).
A chef spent too long in the sun All the time he was having fun; But the daylight soon closed, And the sunburn exposed,
He was well and truly well-done. (p 19)
well-done, which usually refers to the way steaks cooked all the way through, is chosen to describe how dark his skin colour now is.
f. Parody
Parody refers to an imitation of poem, song, story or movie, where the style is the same but the theme is different ludicrously. Cambridge for Advanced Learners Dictionary 8th Edition describes parody as writing, music, art, speech, etc. which intentionally copies the style of someone famous or copies a particular situation, making the features or qualities of the original more noticeable in a way that is humorous. Here is the partial lyric of a very famous music parody performed by Eddie King and Tyler Marshal entitled Stars Wars that I Used to Know to imitate Gotye‟s Somebody that I Used to Know that has been viewed by more than 18 million times on the youtube.com.
The parody version:
No you didn't have to make them blow
Have your friends direct your movies and they'll turn out better. You think that you don't need them though
What happened to the Star Wars that I used to know
The original version:
You didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
then declares that she becomes somebody he used to know. In the other hand, the parody version ludicrously tells about how the character singing is disappointed
by today‟s Star Wars movie; he misses the Star Wars he used to know. The
ludicrous imitation found in the parody here becomes the source of laughter.
g. Anecdote
Anecdote is an oral account of real of fictional event, usually biographical. It involves the elaboration or embellishment of a story. It is a short funny story. The following is an example of an anecdote written by Mello (1982) entitled Searching in the Wrong Place.
A neighbour found Nasruddin on hands and knees.
“What are you searching for Mullah?” “My key.”
Both men got on their knees to search. After a while the neighbour
says, “Where did you lose it?”
“At home.”
“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”
“Because it’s brighter here.”
The anecdote tells about Nasruddin Mullah who is searching for his key he lost at home somewhere outside the house only because it is brighter there. This story has a non-sense element that is able to make the reader smile or laugh.
h. Farce
Farce is a form of humour that is marked by boisterous humour. A farce often makes fun of a certain event. The following example is taken from the dialogue, or monologue, of Uber Dork, an economics teacher in the movie entitled Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an
Great Depression. Passed the… Anyone? Anyone? A tariff bill. The Holly-Smoot Tariff Act. Which… Anyone? Raised or lowered? Raised… tariffs in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today, we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before?
The example set in classroom tells about Uber Dork that is delivering a lecture to his class. However, he seems talking by himself as no one responds to
his speech at all, even when he asks, “Anyone?” and such to the class, no student
gives response. This ludicrous and weird situation is able to provoke laughter from the audience.
i. Irony
Irony refers to the speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of literal meaning. It is the contradiction between what is said and what is done, what is expected and what happens. Shade (1996) provides one example of irony, as follows:
“An example of irony is when a severe snow storm forces you to cancel your planned ski vacation!” (p.5)
It is ironic that a ski vacation is cancelled because of the snow – although it is a snow storm. There is a discrepancy between what is expected and what really happens, which creates a humorous result.
j. Sarcasm
Sarcasm uses taunt, scoffing jibe or veiled sneer in evoking laughter. It is
different to irony as sarcasm is sharper and may hurt other‟s feeling. Cambridge
remark to hurt someone‟s feeling or to give criticism which carries the opposite meaning of what is said in humorous way. The following example of sarcasm is taken from Cambridge for Advanced Learners Dictionary 3rd Edition.
“You have been working hard", he said with heavy sarcasm, as he looked at the empty page.
As observed, the word working hard contrasts the word empty page. The speaker actually intends to give insult on how awful the addressee‟s work is by saying exactly the opposite meaning of what he says.
k. Tall Tale
Tall tale relies on the exaggeration used in telling most facts and events surrounding the characters, setting, and plots in the story. It ranges from the absurd to impossible. Following is the partial example of a tall tale of an American folklore entitled Paul Bunyan taken from Core Knowledge Language Arts (2007).
Even as a baby, Paul Bunyan was mighty big. How big? Well, he was so big that his parents had to use a covered wagon for his cradle.
As you might imagine, young Paul Bunyan had a big appetite. He gobbled up five barrels of porridge a day, and his parents had to milk four dozen cows every morning and evening just to keep his baby bottle filled. (p.72)
l. Wit
The success of the wit depends on the ingenuity in connecting amusingly incongruous ideas. It is often spontaneous. It results in quick, “out of the cuff” statements. Shade (1996) provides an example related to this matter.
Judge : Order. Oder in the courtroom.
Lawyer : Okay. I guess I‟ll have a cheeseburger.(p.6)
In the example, the lawyer spontaneously order a cheeseburger inside of the courtroom soon as the Judge says, “Order. Oder in the courtroom”. Ordering a cheeseburger here is resulted from the misinterpretation – probably deliberately – of the word order in the context of the courtroom.
To conclude, according to Shade (1996), verbal humour is categorized into 12 different types. They are pun, riddle, joke, satire, limerick, parody, anecdote, farce, irony, sarcasm, tall tale, and wit. Each type has its own unique feature that differs itself from other category.
2. General Theory of Verbal Humour
Attardo (1994) suggests a theory to deeply analyse humour linguistically, namely General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH). The theory he proposed is the revision of the prior theory he proposed with Raskin in 1971, the SSTH, which is able to analyse humour semantically.
reversed hierarchical order, Language (LA), Narrative Strategy (NS), Target (TA), Situation (SI), Logical Mechanism (LM), and Script Opposition (SO). Followings are the explanation of each.
a. Language (LA)
The first type of KR contains all necessary information for the verbalization of humour. This KR deals with the wording of the humour text as well as the placement of the functional elements that constitute it. LA KR also deals with the punch line positioning.
b. Narrative Strategy (NS)
Narrative strategy deals with which narrative organisation the humour will be put at. Attardo (1994) mentions that any humour has to be placed within a form of narrative organisation. For instance, it has to be placed in the form of conversation, narrative, or question-and-answer dialog.
c. Target (TA)
The TA KR deals with the target of the humour, known as the “butt” of the humour. The TA provides names of the groups or individual where the humour is targeted to. However, if the humour is not necessarily intended to ridicule someone or some group, this TA KR has an empty value.
d. Situation (SI)
Humour must take place in a certain situation. Attardo (1994) says that
humour. Although all humour happens to have a situation, some of them sometimes ignore it.
e. Logical Mechanism (LM)
The next KR that should be paid attention to deals with Logical Mechanism (LM), which is a more abstract parameter. It refers to the way the humour script is put together. It is responsible to how humour will be generated to meet the need of laughter. Furthermore, Eyre (2014) defines LM as the certain dynamic used to opposing the script that will provide resolution element of the SO (p.15).
Pasaribu and Kadarisman (2015) suggested ten types of Logical Mechanism. It ranges from simple one until more complex ones; from smaller linguistic unit into bigger ones. They are twisting prepositions, twisting homonymy, twisting idiomatic expressions, twisting figurative language, absurd neologism, absurd interpretation, false analogy, fallacious reasoning, word repetition, and insult or put-down humour (p.3).
reason behind an argument. Word repetition is an LM that uses repetition of words to show contrast in order to make attractive expressions. The last one, put-down or insult deals with humour that is constructed mainly by insult.
To better illustrate what is meant by LM, following is an example taken from Pasaribu and Kadarisman (2015) of a verbal humour that uses twisting preposition as its LM.
One golfer tells another, “Hey, guess what! I got a set of gold
clubs for my wife!”
The other replies, “Great trade!” (p.5)
The example of the verbal humour above initially tells about a golfer that got a set of gold club for his wife. With that set-up sentence, the listeners are expected to believe that the golfer means to give his wife a set of gold clubs as a prize. However, in the end, as the punch line, another golfer replies with “Great
trade!”, providing an unexpected conclusion that the first golfer exchanges his wife for a set of gold clubs. The verbal humour means presents an ambiguity between giving vs. exchanging (will be further discussed in the following section). In order to wrap the ambiguity and to produce a humorous situation, the humour chooses to use twisting preposition as its LM. The humour exploits the preposition for as its meaning can be twisted to generate the verbal humour with the ambiguity; it can be understood as intended to give to (give) as well as in order to get/achieve something else (exchange).
f. Script Opposition (SO)
the most abstract parameter. Attardo (1994) proposes that any humorous text presents an SO (p.226). That is to say, SO is very essential to every text considered as funny.
Attardo (1994) mentions three classes of script oppositions: actual vs. non-actual, normal vs. abnormal, and possible vs. impossible. All this SOs are based on a basic opposition between real and unreal situation in the texts (p.204). Raskin (1985) also list five the most common SOs: good vs. bad, life vs. death, obscene vs. non-obscene, money vs. no-money, and high vs. low stature (as cited in Attardo, 1994, p.204). As these SOs are still basic, there is also a possibility to have other types of SO.
To fully understand what SO is, the same example of verbal humour taken from Pasaribu and Kadarisman (2015) from the previous section is reproduced and discussed more here.
One golfer tells another, “Hey, guess what! I got a set of gold
clubs for my wife!”
The other replies, “Great trade!” (p.5)
Initially, the sample of verbal humour above tells the listener that one golfer gets a set of gold clubs for his wife. The listeners are led to assume that the golfer has a present to give to his wife in the form of a set of gold clubs. However, in the end of the verbal humour, another golfer assumes that the first golfer exchanges or trades his wife in order for a set of gold clubs by replying “Great
trade!”, creating a humorous atmosphere.
wife!”, can be interpreted in two different ways; there is two scripts that fits
perfectly to that sentence: giving and exchanging. This is what is meant by an SO in a verbal humour. The verbal humour above means to oppose those two different scripts, giving vs. exchanging, becoming the basic where the verbal humour is generated.
As mentioned before, these six KRs are presented hierarchical way, where Script Opposition sits in the highest rank. Figure 2.1 (as cited in Attardo, 1994, p.227) illustrates a clearer the hierarchical organization of the KRs.
SO
LM
SI
TA
NS
LA
Figure 2.1 Hierarchical Organization of the KRs
This hierarchy of KRs is arranged based on their strength. As suggested by
Attardo (1994), “Parameters determine the parameters below themselves and
determined by those above themselves” (p.227). It means that the determination
3. Radio Drama
A radio drama is a story or a drama performed by actors through radio medium. It recounts a series of events and tells about relationship between the characters through radio. Since it is a form of a drama, radio dramas possesses the characteristic of a drama. Radio dramas involves character, plot, setting and theme like other form of dramas do (Fossard, 1996, p. 33).
As a radio drama is broadcasted through a radio medium, which means it is not supported by visual aids, ear becomes the only sense that works on receiving the information or the story. This becomes one absolute limitation of a drama conveyed through a radio medium. Fossard (1996) mentions that the whole experience of radio is perceived by the ear alone, which is in contrast if it is compared to the multisensory perception of everyday life (p.7).
To overcome this undeniable limitation, the dialogue within radio drama should fulfil some characteristics as it holds the key in delivering the story to the audience. A good radio drama should have a convincing dialogue uttered by the characters. Fossard (1996) mentions some guidelines to be noticed in writing the dialogues within a radio drama. He mentions that the dialogue within a radio drama should be fully scripted and natural, suits the character and the actions,
names the characters‟ name often, and avoids soliloquy (p. 103).
drama series is a compilation of radio dramas which has the same main characters in each episode. Each story in a drama series is completed in one program. Extra characters may appear and disappear throughout the stories, but the major character stay the same. A serial radio drama tells about one big story that continues from one broadcast to another; each episode in serial is open-ended (Fossard, 1996, p.38).
In radio drama series, there is a popular term called “sit com” or situation comedy. It refers to the type of radio drama that is intended to amuse the audience or the listeners. It is a type of radio drama that is funny or, at least, has a happy ending. Sit-coms often use exaggerated or far-fetched plots (Fossard, 1996, p. 38).
4. Reviews of Related Research
A number of studies of humour have been conducted. This section will elaborate briefly some of the researches that have been done prior before this study. There are two studies that will be reviewed briefly here.
The research done by Magnota and Strohl is somehow related to the study the writer is conducting now, although not directly. A linguistic analysis of humor: A look at Seinfeld investigates humour based on the incongruity theory which is very similar to what is called as script opposition – one of the six KRs in this research. Generally, incongruity theory basically explains that a humour can be funny because there is an incongruity created – the discrepancy between what is heard and what is expected to be heard – within the humorous text (Shade, 1994, p.10). Similarly, script opposition is defined as the opposition of two scripts, such as real vs. unreal.
Another study is conducted by Baskara in 2013. In his research entitled An Analysis on the Verbal Humour and the Consistency of the Indonesian Subtitle in Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, he observes the verbal humour found within the object and categorize them into several categories. Furthermore, he tries to investigate how well the dialogue within the movie is translated into Indonesian language. The study results that 57 out of 64 verbal humours within the object is consistently translated into Indonesian language. The research conducted by Baskara is related to this study, especially in the first part, as he analyses and observes the verbal humour and categorizes them into several categories.
B. Theoretical Framework
Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. The second question is how to analyse linguistically the verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi using General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH).
Three theories which are directly connected to the research problems have been presented in the previous part. The first one is the theory of verbal humour and its type. It defines what verbal humour is: humour that is expressed verbally, using language as its means, and deals with the categorization of the verbal humour. As elaborated, verbal humour falls into 12 different categories: pun, riddle, joke, satire, limerick, parody, anecdote, farce, irony, sarcasm, tall tale, and wit. The characteristic and the example of each category have been elaborated in the previous part. The next theory deals with General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH). This theory explains about humour that can be viewed linguistically using six-hierarchical organization of the Knowledge Resources (KRs), which are Language (LA), Narrative Strategy (NS), Target (TA), Situation (SI), Logical Mechanism (LM), and Script Opposition (SO). The last theory describes about the characteristic of the good dialogue in radio drama.
After all verbal humour within the object collected, the researcher will utilize the theory about the types of verbal humour as a tool to categorize the verbal humour found within the transcript. Having understood each type of the verbal humour, the researcher will categorize all verbal humour into 12 categories: pun, riddle, joke, satire, limerick, parody, anecdote, farce, irony, sarcasm, tall tale, and wit. This is done in order to fully answer the first research question.
Meanwhile, the General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH) is employed to solve the second research question. As the second research problem deals with the linguistic analysis of verbal humour, the GTVH will be very beneficial to help the researcher. By giving attention to every KR in GTVH, the researcher will be able to analyse the verbal humour linguistically found within the object.
This entire framework is constructed within the context of radio drama, its types and its characteristic, as the object of the research is radio drama. Figure 2.2 is the diagram of the framework to illustrate it better.
34 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter provides the elaboration of methodology used to collect the data for the research. There are five sections within this chapter. They are Research Method, Research Object, Instruments and Data Gathering, Data Analysis Technique, and Research Procedures. The following is the elaboration of each section.
A. Research Method
This research is a qualitative research. The required data is gathered through document or content analysis. Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen, and Razavieh (2010) mention that document and content analysis is a type of qualitative technique which analyses and interprets the recorded material to learn about human behaviour. The material for the analysis can be in the form of public records, textbooks, letters, films, tapes, diaries, themes, reports, or other documents like webpages, speeches, TV programs, or many others (p. 29). Like the other document or content analysis research, this research begins with questions that can be answered by studying available documents.
carefully in order to find verbal humour within it and categorize the verbal humour into some types. The researcher also uses many other documents as the secondary sources such as books, journals, and articles in order to conduct a deeper analysis.
B. Research Object
The object of this study is the BBC Radio Comedy Series, Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi, written by John Finnemore and produced and directed by David Tyler. It is a part of a radio drama series broadcasted by BCC Radio 4, which has 26 episodes categorized into four series with about 30 minute running time for each. Abu Dhabi is the first episode of the first series which is aired in 2008 for the very first time.
The episode starts when the CEO of MJN Air, Carolyn, prohibit her pilots, Douglas and Martin, to divert their airplane as it would costs a lot of money.
Carolyn‟s decision is a result of the fact that the both pilots have flown a very
expensive flight to Bristol before. While flying to Abu Dhabi, Douglas realises
that the client‟s cat left in the unheated hold, making Martin confused if they have
to divert to save the cat or to let the cat freeze to death. In the meantime, Arthur attempts to find out how aeroplanes fly.
C. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique
human instrument in data collection and analysing the data. The role of the researcher in this study is to collect the verbal humour within the object of the study, identify the types of verbal humour found, categorize them into some classes, and analyse them linguistically using GTVH.
The data for this study is gathered by employing document and artefacts data collection technique. Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen, and Razavieh (2010) mention that researchers may employ this document and artefacts data collection technique in order to understand phenomena under study. The term document includes a wide range of written, physical and visual materials, whereas artefacts refer to audio and video recordings, photographs, games, artwork, or other items (p. 442). This research, however, will focus more on the written documents, specifically the transcript of the first episode of Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. Employing this technique, the researcher collects the data of verbal humour manually from the transcript, which later, to be analysed using related theories.
D. Data Analysis Technique
As the researcher wants to observe verbal humour, in selecting what material that should be included in the analysis, radio drama becomes the choice of the researcher. Radio drama fits perfectly to this matter as the story and the humour presented are not aided by visual aid, making it easier to analyse the language used in its humour production. As many radio dramas are found now and then, the researcher thinks that it is better to focus one particular radio which is popular in this modern era. The researcher then chooses radio drama series which is based on comedy broadcasted by BBC Radio 4 entitled Cabin Pressure.
The second step to take in conducting document or content analysis is selecting units of analysis. Among the 26 episodes of Cabin Pressure, the researcher selects the first episode of the first series, Abu Dhabi, as the unit of analysis. The researcher uses the whole episode of Abu Dhabi to answer research question number one. However, as analysing verbal humour within the episodes of BBC Radio Drama Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi is too wide, the researcher limits the study into some samples of the verbal humour in answering research question number two.
The next step taken deals with developing coding categories. In this step, the researcher employs the categorization of verbal humour proposed by Shade (1996) to help the coding process. The coding categories will help the researcher to categorize the findings into some categories: pun, riddle, joke, satire, limerick, parody, anecdote, farce, irony, sarcasm, tall tale, and wit.
coding categories, the researcher categorizes verbal humour found into some categories using table 3.1. The coding step should be conducted very carefully because the coding is conducted manually without the help of a machine.
Table 3.1 Verbal Humour Sample
No Minute in Radio
Drama Dialogue
1. 2.
Table 3.1 is utilized to help the researcher categorize all verbal humour found within the object. Minute in Radio Drama conveys the information of when the verbal humour is presented in the recording. Dialogue part provides the transcript of the verbal humour found.
After categorizing the findings, the researcher comes to the analysing and interpreting the results. In this step, the researcher utilizes General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH) proposed by Attardo (1994) as the tool. The researcher intends to analyse the humour found within the transcript using Table 3.2.
Table 3.2 Analysis of Verbal Humour
Number of Verbal Humour: Minute in Radio Drama: Dialogue:
KR
SO LM
SI TA NS LA
the dialogues containing verbal humour appear in the radio drama. Meanwhile, the rest six rows are responsible of showing the Knowledge Resources proposed by Attardo: SO (Script Opposition), LM (Logical Mechanism), SI (Situation), TA (Target), NS (Narrative Strategy), and LA (Language). The researcher utilizes this table to analyse and interpret the verbal humour found within the radio drama.
E. Research Procedures
These are the procedures taken in this research:
1. Listening to BBC Radio Drama Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi without reading the transcript.
The researcher listened to BBC Radio Drama Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi without reading the transcript. This step was done in order to feel the humorous situation in the radio drama to the fullest. It was also taken to make the researcher familiar with the situation built on the radio drama as well as familiarize the
researcher‟s ears to the voice of the characters playing within the sitcom.
2. Listening to BBC Radio Drama Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi with the transcript.
3. Collecting the verbal humour found within the transcript.
Using and comprehending the theory of verbal humour, the researcher collected the verbally-expressed humour within the transcript of the first episode of series of BBC Radio Drama Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. The researcher used the whole transcript. The researcher highlighted the conversation containing any type of verbal humour to be analysed later.
4. Classifying the verbal humour found within the radio drama.
The verbal humour collected from the transcripts was classified using the categorization of verbal humour proposed by Shade (1996). The verbal humour found within the transcript was classified into 12 categories based on their form. The categorization was to be presented in the form of table and chart.
5. Analysing the verbal humour found.
The verbal humour collected from the transcripts was to be analysed linguistically. The researcher employed the theory of verbal humour proposed by Attardo (1994), General Theory of Verbal Humour with its knowledge resources (KRs). In order to do this analysis, the researcher utilized table 3.2 which has been presented. In addition, the analysis was done under supervision of some experts.
41 CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter elaborates the finding of the research along with the discussion. There are two parts of this chapter as there are also two research questions in this research. The first part discusses the types of verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi, whereas the second part provides the linguistic analysis of the verbal humour found.
A. Types of Verbal Humour Found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi
This part is to answer the first research question which is to point out the types of verbal humour found in BBC Radio Drama Series Cabin Pressure: Abu Dhabi. The categorization of the verbal humour is based on Shade (1996) categorization of verbal humour. They are pun, riddle, joke, satire, limerick, parody, anecdote, farce, irony, sarcasm, tall tale, and wit.
