Meta-communicative signals and Humorous Verbal Interchanges. A Case Study

The aim of this article is to provide a system for analysis of verbal humorous interactions that incorporates both the General Theory of Verbal Humor and the meta-communicative level. The integration will be accomplished using a two-pronged analytical model of humorous interactions. According to the General Theory of Verbal Humor, the first phase will trace the humor in the text with particular attention given to the Script Opposition and to the Logical Mechanism; the second will monitor the meta-communicative level, focusing on meta-communicative signals. Information about the humorous frame constitutes a seventh Knowledge Resource, called Meta-Knowledge Resource. Applying this model to an Italian film starring the comic actor Totò produced two results: 1) the definition of two kinds of humor on- and off-stage depending on the presence of Meta-Knowledge Resource and 2) a description of the “ideal author” postulated by the text. The second result is achieved by an analysis that combines on- and off-stage humor with verbal and referential humor.