The Flouted maxims that create the funniness in 'Extravaganza'

Kusumawati, Christina Dewi (2006) The Flouted maxims that create the funniness in 'Extravaganza'. Bachelor thesis, Petra Christian University.

Abstract

In conducting conversation, people share information with others. There are many theories that can be obeyed in order to achieve smooth conversation. One of them is the theory of Cooperative Principle that was proposed by Grice (1975). The participants of the conversation are expected to follow four conversational maxims to complete the effective use of Cooperative Principle, which are Maxim of Quantity, Maxim of Quality, Maxim of Relevance, and Maxim of Manner. These conversational maxims are essential for the participants to avoid miscommunication. However, in some occasions, people flout the maxims. Instead of causing miscommunication, the flouting of conversational maxim can create the humorous effect in comedy show. Therefore, the writer is curious to investigate the flouting of maxims that creates funniness. She uses Extravaganza as the source of data because it is one of the most famous programs of comedian group in Indonesia nowadays. She would like to know what maxims are flouted and which maxim is flouted the most frequently in order to create the funniness in this show. She limits her study on two episodes of Extravaganza, which were broadcasted on 18 and 25 February 2006. She uses Grice?s theory of Cooperative Principle in analyzing the data. She finds that the characters in these two episodes of Extravaganza mostly flouted the Maxim of Relevance by giving irrelevant contribution. Instead of causing miscommunication, the flouting of conversational maxims can be used as the strategy to produce humorous effect.

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