Decoding a joke from discourse semantic perspective

Abstract

Our 2013 paper, entitled Discourse Analysis – Application to Analyzing a Joke [7], introduced relevant theories on Discourse Analysis, focusing on register. Later, the approach continues to be clarified in another paper Relevance of Discourse [9]. We realized promising results from decoding a text using discourse analysis theories, as various semantic strata of discourse can be intersectionally explored along with the development of the theories.
In that line, this paper continues exploring another joke named Punctuality at work in more details, considering additional yet crucial factors of relevance and register in correlation with Halliday’s meta-functions, i.e. decoding it from discourse semantic perspective. It is hoped that the usefulness of discourse analysis is reconfirmed, which guides subsequent studies using larger data from different genres.