ABSTRACT
Skripsi ini menyajikan analisis pelanggaran prinsip Grice yang dilakukan sejumlah penutur dalam serial komedi Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Analisis tersebut mencakup jenis-jenis maksim yang dilanggar oleh penutur dalam serial komedi tersebut, implikatur dari kata-kata yang menunjukkan pelanggaran prinsip Grice, serta bagaimana pelanggaran prinsip tersebut dapat menimbulkan efek humor.
Dalam menganalisis data yang dikumpulkan dari serial komedi tersebut, saya menggunakan teori pelanggaran prinsip-prinsip maksim Grice (the Gricean
non-observance of maxims) dari buku karangan Jenny Thomas yang berjudul
Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics, dan untuk menganalisis
efek humor yang ditimbulkan dari pelanggaran prinsip maksim tersebut saya menggunakan tiga teori humor: the Superiority Theory, the Incongruity Theory, dan Raskin’s Theory of Scriptal Ambiguity.
Salah satu hasil analisis yang saya peroleh menunjukkan bahwa jenis pelanggaran prinsip maksim yang paling banyak ditemukan adalah flouting of
maxims, sementara pelanggaran yang lain adalah infringing of a maxim dan
suspending a maxim. Teori humor yang paling banyak muncul dalam data yang
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ii
ABSTRACT ... iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Background of the Study ... 1
Statement of the Problem ... 4
Purpose of the Study ... 4
Method of Research ... 4
Organization of the Thesis ... 5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE NON-OBSERVANCE OF THE GRICEAN MAXIMS THAT LEADS TO HUMOR IN THE SITCOM FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR ... 20
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSIONS ... 55
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 60
APPENDIX
look at you. Turn around! (Will turns around) The last time we saw you, you were this funny little boy, now look at you. Oh my goodness you are a man! Will: That was the plan. (turns back to Uncle Phil) Dad, I need three hundred dollars.
Uncle Phil: That‟s a lot of money,
Hillary. What for?
Hillary: (sighs and drops all of her
shopping bags) I need a
new hat.
Aunt Vivian: Philip, we're so proud of you.
Uncle Phil: The community leaders are
recognizing me for helping our brothers and sisters on the streets.
Will: The only time you're on the streets is when you're waiting for the valet to bring your car around. Uncle Phil: Is that so, son? Let me tell
you something. The '63 March on Washington, I was there. The „65
demonstrations at Selma, I was there.The „65 Watts Riots, l was there, too. Will: Seems to me every place
you go, trouble follows
Ambiguity
4 Will: Carlton, all I have to do is walk in a mall, and I get any girl I want.
It's the law of nature. It's
called “the Survival of the
Handsomest.”
Carlton: Will, I don't even have to step into the mall. Girls surround me in the parking lot and rip the doors off my car.
Will: Would you like to put your money where your mouth is?
Carlton: A betting man.
Will: I bet you that I get a date and you don't.
to be the master when it till your mom gets here. Will: Yeah. Thanks a lot for
flying her out, Aunt Viv. Aunt Vivian: We had to convince her to
7 Aunt Vivian: Gee…when Janice describe
him, she didn‟t mention that he was…tall. Not that I have any problem with
people who are…tall. Lester: My cousin used to date a Answer me this if you will.
Will: I‟m Will, Oprah, I can
answer it.
Oprah: (to Will) Come here. (Will approaches Oprah) I‟m the one with the
microphone, and you can‟t
answer a question until I ask the question. Do you
understand how it works? Will: You ask then I answer, it Danny : Danny Mitchell.
will be showing up any
It‟s Mr. Scott Burton.
Hillary: (panics) Oh, the mole man!
Ashley: Not really.
Uncle Phil: What‟s the matter, honey? Ashley: Did you ever have one of
those days when you just
don‟t feel pretty?
Geoffrey: No.
Ashley: I don‟t know what to do.
Robert‟s due here at 8 and I can‟t do anything with
my hair, nothing looks good on me and I feel fat. Uncle Phil: Oh, Ashley, you look
adorable.
Ashley: Oh, that‟s real comforting coming from my father.
That‟s it. I‟m not going.
Hillary: Ashley, wait. Look, your
date won‟t be here for another hour. Let‟s go upstairs and I‟ll give you
some Hillary Banks beauty tips. Trust me, I know
exactly what you‟re
feeling.
Ashley: You mean, you‟ve had nights where you felt fat and ugly?
Hillary: Okay, so I don’t know exactly what you feel.
Flouting the out (hands Hillary a trash
Flouting the maxim of
The
bag)
Hillary: Out where?!
Ashley: To the trash cans. You know those things you hit every time you back out
Carlton: Thank you, Geoffrey. Geoffrey: A statement from the Bank
of Bel-Air for Miss Ashley (hands a letter to Ashley), and a plain brown package
for me…
Carlton: Bank of Bel-Air?! (suspicious)
Ashley: Yeah…well, bye! Will: See you later, Ash! Carlton: Something‟s afoot.
Will: And something’s a foot
the face, Will slowly staggers and falls on the floor. Lisa performs martial arts and knock the big guy down) self-defences. Did I do
something wrong? 15 Ashley: Guys, we have to do
something about dad. We have to try to discourage his whole early retirement thing.
Carlton: I thought you are all for it. Ashley: I was, but I‟ve been
thinking. If dad has more
time around the house, I‟m the one who‟s going to
spend most of his time with.
Carlton: why you? Ashley: I‟m his favorite. Hillary: His favorite what?
Ashley: His favorite child. I‟m his little girl. I thought it was obvious.
Carlton: Whoa, think again, little sister. You are not that favorite.
Hillary: That‟s right, Ashley. I am. Carlton: You?! Bbbfff…
Hillary: Hey, it‟s a known fact that the oldest is always the favorite. Mom and dad got it right at the first time. Ashley: Then why did they keep
what…me and Lisa finally set the date…we‟re getting
married in September! Ashley: (excited) Oh, great!! (Ashley and Will hug each other)
Will: Hey, listen. I‟ve bought the ring too.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
In daily conversation, people do not always say what they mean directly. Sometimes, they say less or more than they actually mean or they even utter something that is totally irrelevant to what they actually want to say. If this situation occurs, it is possible that the hearer(s) will misunderstand the message
sent by the speaker because the speaker’s utterance is not presented in explicit
language. For example, while having a long conversation, one says, ”It’s eleven
o’clock” to his friend to imply that the time has been late and it is time to end the conversation. In this example, the hearers will have to infer what the speaker means in saying the utterance. In linguistics, the speaker’s meaning is studied in
Pragmatics, which is “the study of how more gets communicated than is said …”
To avoid the hearers’ misunderstanding of the speaker’s implicature, Grice suggests Cooperative Principles, which state that speakers “make [their] contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which [they] are engaged” (Thomas 62). When a speaker fails to conform to these Cooperative Principles, his/her utterance will not be considered informative, truthful, relevant, and brief (Thomas 63). Therefore, he/she can be said to have performed non-observance of the Gricean maxims (Thomas 64). These maxims will be discussed further in the next chapter of this thesis.
Utterances that show non-observance of the Gricean maxims may lead to different results, such as puzzlement, annoyance, misunderstanding or humor. In relation to the speakers’ language in a sitcom (situation comedy), which is “A humorous radio or television series featuring the reactions of a regular cast of characters to unusual situations, such as misunderstandings or embarrassing coincidences” (“What Is A Sitcom?”), the speakers’ non-observance of Gricean maxims frequently leads to humor. Basically, humor in a sitcom is an important element to produce laughter.
The title of my thesis is “Non-Observance of the Gricean Maxims that Leads to Humor in the Sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” I choose this topic for
humorous atmosphere. I choose this particular TV show as my data source because the utterances of the characters in this sitcom often fail to observe the maxims and their utterances produce implicatures that can lead to the emergence of humor.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is a famous sitcom in 1990s era in the USA. It is
proven with a number of awards that this sitcom won, which is an indicator that this sitcom is a favorite show for the viewers in the USA at that time. Moreover,
the sitcom “had been nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards for best performance by an actor in a TV series in comedy/musical in 1993 and 1994, and won 13 awards from 21 nominations” (Internet Movie Database). This fact proves that the sitcom is well appreciated. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which aired from 1990 until 1996, is a story about a 17-year-old young man from Philadelphia named William Smith, played by the famous Hollywood actor Will Smith, who moves in with his wealthy relatives, The Banks, in a luxurious residential, in Bel-Air, California, Los Angeles.
(709 words)
Statement of the Problem
Based on the topic I choose, the problem of my study is formulated as follows:
1. What types of non-observance of the Gricean maxims can be found in the utterances of the characters in the sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?
2. What is the implicature of each of those utterances?
3. How does each of the non-observance of the maxims in the utterances lead to the emergence of humor?
Purpose of the Study
In this thesis, I would like to analyze
1. the types of non-observance of the Gricean maxims found in the utterances of the characters in the sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
2. the implicature of each of those utterances.
3. the way each of the non-observance of the maxims in the utterances lead to the emergence of humor.
Method of Research
This study has been conducted in several steps. First, after choosing a particular topic, I did a search in the library and on the Internet to find relevant theories for my analysis. Second, after I watched the sitcom Fresh Prince of
theory of non-observance of Gricean maxims. The analysis was conducted to reveal the types of the maxims that are being non-observed in the analyzed utterances, the implicature of each of the utterances, and the humorous effects of the non-observance of the maxims in the utterances. Finally, I wrote the research report.
Organization of the Thesis
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Source:
Jensen, Shelley, dir. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. NBC Production, 1990. DVD.
References:
“Afoot.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
Cook, Guy. Language Play, Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.
“Foot.” Entry 5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
McGhee, Paul E. and Jeffrey H. Goldstein. Handbook of Humor Research. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1983. Print
“Mole.” Entry 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
“On.” Entry 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
Thomas, Jenny. Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics. London and New York: Longman Group Limited, 1995. Print.
“Spot.” Entry 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
Yule, George. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Group, 1996. Print.
Electronic Publications:
Dornerus, Emma, Paper. “Breaking Maxims in Conversation.” 2005. Web. 17 August 2011.
Internet Movie Database. Imdb.com, inc, n.d. Web. 25 May 2011.
“Monro‟s„Theories of Humor.‟” n.d.. 1 June 2012.
Smuts, Aaron. “Superiority Theory.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p..
20 April 2006. Web. 3 May 2012.
“Syntax”. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC, 2012. Web. 22 March 2012. “What Is A Sitcom?” The British Comedy Guide. British Comedy Guide. 1
