Linguistic aspects of tolerance and its implementation in stand-up comedy bachelor’s thesis
Consideration of the relationship between intercultural competence of a person and the use of tolerant language means. Acquaintance with the main linguistic aspects of tolerance and its implementation in the diploma comedy of undergraduate studies.
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| Äàòà äîáàâëåíèÿ | 04.12.2019 |
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After that, Louis C. K. subtly moves on to the topic of racial inequality. He starts with: “I'm a bummer, I shouldn't be. I got a lot going for me: I'm healthy, I'm relatively young, I'm white, which, thank God for that.” In this manner, we can see him acknowledge the superior social position of the white majority by making his claim subjective and using an emotional statement. He then states: “I love being white. Seriously, if you're not white, you're missing out. I'm not saying that white people are better, I'm saying that being white is clearly better.” While using markers of subjectivity, he still tries to justify his position and provide a balanced view with the use of a parallel construction in the last sentence. The last statement analyzed in this section is the following: “How many advantages could a person have? I'm a white man!” With this, Louis shows his knowledge of the privileged position he is in, being both white and a man.
Lastly, he turns to the topic of the relationship of the sexes and qualities attributed to them. The first topic is covered in this sentence: “I have a friend, and he has a lot of young girlfriends. Probably, too young, it's not ok.” This assessment tactic shows his disapproval of the age gap in his friend's relationships. Then, when talking about the differences in raising children, Louis says: “Boys do damage to your house that you can measure in dollars like a hurricane. Girls leave scars in your psyche that you find later.” He tries to add weight to his opinion by giving his view using parallelism, which only confirms the existing gender stereotypes and promotes gender normativity.
The next show we analyze is Louis C. K.'s Stand Up Comedy Central performance in 2016. The first topic of interest here is relationships of people of the same gender. The comedian states that there are people who do not agree with gay marriage and then provides his own viewpoint: “I don't agree with it. I think if people are in love, they should get married.” Again, he uses parallel phrasing to give a balanced position, which is still preceded by a marker of subjectivity. Further on, he talks about the reason why babies cry on planes and explains it by saying that it is due to their not agreeing with gay marriage. He says: “They can't accept that. Cause, you know, they're just being babies.” It is clear that “babies” are a euphemism for opposers of gay marriage. Thus, Louis demonstrates his attitude towards these people and the absurdity of their position. Another observation connected to this topic is: “I'm raising them gay. Most people are raising kids straight, I'm raising mine gay.” Here, the reference to an indefinite subject allows the speaker to soften the negative reaction this joke may receive. He is addressing the gender normativity and some people ignoring the sexual orientation of their children due to their pre-conceived beliefs.
Later, he talks about the problem of racism. Louis provides a quote from Mark Twain: “Mark Twain also said: “There once was a big black guy named nigger Jim.” So, I don't know if 100% of the things he said were perfectly awesome.” Compared to his previous performance, where he justified the use of the “N-word” and protected his right to say it, here he condemns the author for doing so. He then establishes that everyone in the audience agrees on the improper use of this word: “While we're in this area. Now that I know you guys are cool.” This commenting tactic is used to confirm the mutual negative evaluation of the speaker and his listeners towards offensive language units. However, this discussion is followed by some statements which could be considered offensive: “My friend is Greek. He has no dog in the race, he doesn't care either way. He is Greek, Greeks aren't white or black. He just has a big nose and just stands there.” The speaker perpetuates a stereotype of a group that hasn't been harshly discriminated against and, therefore, would not cause a public outrage over the use of that stereotype. Later, we hear the following: “I live in New York City and I feel perfectly safe there. I'm surrounded by murderers, and child molesters, and jews.” By using a parallel construction, Louis C. K. equates a specific ethnic group with dangerous and criminal groups of people.
Furthermore, the American comedian again addresses relationships between men and women. When talking about raising children, especially daughters, he says: “A lot of dads get scared.” This refers to them being worried about their daughters growing up and having sexual experiences. By using an indefinite reference, Louis sets the scene and provides an overview of an actual situation in the current society. He responds to this with: “You don't do anything. You don't have a role in that at all. You're her father.” Thus, he indirectly addresses the power status between fathers and daughters and the fact that the former want to “protect” their children from the world, as if they have the right to direct the life of their daughters. The concluding sentence towards the issues discussed is: “I'm saying this about women, cause I'm a guy. That's just what it's like. I think sexism and racism are very different. To me, racism is just a mistake. It doesn't make any sense. We can just get rid of it. But sexism isn't going anywhere. It's just the way we feel about each other.” We can see the change in the comedian's position regarding racial relationships. However, he shows a personal conviction that sexism can be justified and is deeply rooted in human nature.
The second American comedian is George Carlin. He is often considered an icon in stand-up comedy who helped transform the industry (Time, 2008). Carlin has always demonstrated great interest towards language, its evolution, and the way people use it. He made performances on the use of “bad worse” which led to cancellations of some of his shows and even to his arrest. George Carlin liked making stand-up talks on funny uses of language and criticized the social uses of euphemisms. Two of his shows are of interest in this study: Jammin' in New York, 1992 and It's Bad For Ya, 2008.
In the show Jammin' in New York George Carlin discusses several topics. The first one is war and the USA's participation in different wars. He says: “We like war. We're a war-like people. Cause we're good at it.” This is a generalization about the whole country and the mindset of its citizens. This is followed by: “And it's a good thing we are, cause we're not good at anything else anymore.” Carlin makes a personal assessment of the current state of his nation alluding to economic stagnation and moral degradation. The topic of war is then connected to the topic of toxic masculinity: “Basically, men are killing each other to improve their self-esteem.” Using the word “basically” allows the speaker to reduce the categorical nature of his statement and compress the situation into simple, understandable terms. The next sentences highlight the disappointment the comedian feels towards the military actions of his country and disagreement with its foreign policies: “Seems to me like we are weeks overdue to drop some high explosives on helpless civilians. People who have no argument with us whatsoever.” Then Carlin points out the fact that the concept of war is deeply ingrained into American mentality: “Do you ever notice that about us? We like to declare war on things here in America.” Here he draws the attention of the audience to this fact and distinguishes it as their national quality. The comedian makes another observation related to the same issue: “That's the only metaphor we have in our discourse for solving problems.” From this we can conclude that not only is war itself considered an important aspect of America's policy, but it can also be used to describe their approach to tackling any basic real-life problems.
Furthering his description of the characteristics of American people, Carlin states: “We can't educate our young people, can't give health care to our old people, but we can bomb the shit out of your country, alright.” This is a tactic of weighted position through which he provides arguments from different spheres to prove his belief of the country having wrong priorities. After that, he proceeds to talk about the governmental influence on people and the patriotic feelings that are promoted in citizens from an early age. He believes that people nowadays lack the skill of critical thinking and compares himself with them: “I'm not a very good American, because I like to form my own opinions.” By using indefinite reference, the speaker does not clearly state that Americans are not opposing the state propaganda but points out his own drawback. Carlin further uses a regret tactic when providing commentary on the same topic: “Sad to say, most Americans just roll over on command.” This tactic is used to show disappointment and concern in expressing criticism and pointing out a negative quality. However, he does leave room for interpretation as he says: “I don't get all choked up about yellow ribbons and American flags. I consider them to be symbols, and I leave symbols to the symbol-minded.” This is another argument against the values being pushed by the political elite.
Thus, Carlin flows into the topic of classicism and the social divide in the USA. He states that politicians and the media keep highlighting the differences in American people: “That's the way the ruling class operates in any society. They try to divide the rest of the people.” This categorization makes it clear who is to blame for the clashes between social classes without putting the blame on any specific persons. The following parallel phrasing serves the same purpose: “Anything to keep us fighting with each other, so that they can keep going to the bank.”
The final category of analyzed items in this performance is linguistic units relating to minority groups. The first one addresses a newly introduced politically correct term: “There's a word that's changed - stewardess. First, it was hostess, then stewardess, now, it's flight attendant. You know what I call them? The ladies on the plane.” Although the comedian utilizes the frequently used euphemism, he condemns its use as it is too vague. He blatantly ignores the purpose of using that word by calling these workers “ladies on the plane”. However, he shows greater awareness towards the troubles of ethnic minorities with the following: “We've made them (Indians) just a little difficult to find.” On the one hand, an offensive term “Indians” is utilized instead of the commonly accepted “Native Americans”, Carlin comments on the hardships this people has faced because of American settlers. He uses a correct social euphemism in: “That's our new job in the world - bombing brown people.” The latter is an accepted term for people living in the common area where the countries that America is at war with are situated.
The last show performed by an American comedian is “It's Bad For Ya”. The first category we identify is death and religion. George Carlin asserts: “There are things we say when someone dies, most of us say, a lot of us do, things we say that no one ever questions. They just kind of go unexamined.” When addressing some inconsiderate things people say when someone passes away, he uses certain pronouns which help to authorize the presented point by backing it with common agreement of the society. The comedian links the topic of death to religion by commenting: “There is no “up there”. It's poetic, it's quaint. I guess for superstitious people it provides a little comfort, but it does not exist.” He presents a side he does not personally support but can see the reasoning behind it. The last statement in this category is: “People just refuse to be realistic; they don't like to be realistic.” While in the previous statement he supposes that religion could be a source of comfort for some people, here he contradicts himself by emphasizing their inability to critically assess the situation and not rely on religion to explain some phenomena.
The following section deals with the change in raising methods implemented by modern parents. Carlin summarizes it with: “It's child worship. It's this excessive devotion to children.” These specific lexemes give an insight to his disappointment with this tendency of people overmanaging their children and stripping them of their childhood. He puts an accent on the absurdity of this situation with the argument that children no longer have time to play: “If he (the child) is four years old, he should be home, studying for his kindergarten entrance exams. Do you know about that? Oh, yeah, they have them now.” Here he uses a question to address his audience and confirm mutual bewilderment. Talking about the belief that every child is special, he employs the tactic of weighted position, as he is trying to see the side of the other party: “Let's say it's true, let's grab this proposition. Let's say it's true that somehow every child is special.” He later provides arguments for why he does not believe this to be true and assesses another common modern belief: “Here's another platitude they jam down our throats: children are our future.” Lastly, when complaining about people showing everyone pictures of their children, the comedian says: “I've been appointed by the rest of the group to tell you: we don't care about your children.” This creates a deauthorization effect as he presents himself as someone appointed to express the opinion of the majority.
After that, Carlin makes a transition into touching upon environmental problems. He remarks of the parents who believe that giving birth to children is the greatest possible accomplishment in life: “Polluting the Earth with these creatures who'll have no future.” The slight emotional character of the vocabulary shows personal evaluation. Then follows the estimate: “Have you pictured what this planet is gonna be like in 40-50 years? It's gonna be a big smoking ball of shit.” This graphic description following a rhetorical question relieves him of the responsibility as it makes the listeners make their own evaluations.
The last topic is again connected to the American self-identification. Carlin asserts that the general public believes everything that the powerful elite says, and the former are following classic American doctrines as these have been preached to them from early childhood. He references people who do not have the skill of critical thinking: “Nobody questions things in this country anymore.” Another aspect he discusses is national pride. Trying to reduce the categorical degree of his critique of people who think their ethnic or national group is exceptional, the comedian says: “It's delusional thinking, and Americans are not alone in that delusion.” He ties this last aspect with religion in the statement: “If people say: “God bless America”, it's their business, I don't care.” So, we can see that while he does not agree with the belief in the exceptional position of the USA, George Carlin does not deny the right of other people to do so.
While in all performances American comedians acknowledges the problem of tolerance and politically correct words, it is clear that their position has changed. In the most recent performances, they seem to be more inclined to join the position of those who were the subject of their jokes in the first performances. They establish a mutual understanding with the crowd that saying some words or joking about sensitive topics could be offensive to some groups of people.
5.Analysis of British stand-up performances
The first British comedian whose performances we analyze is Ricky Gervais. He has gained a reputation for being an offensive comedian, pushing the boundaries of comedy, and exploring taboo topics. The comedian himself claims that people should not confuse him with his on-stage persona: he might be joking about sensitive topics, but it does not mean he intends to offend anyone (Vanity Fair, March 6, 2019). Ricky Gervais has also stated that he feels as though people currently are overly judgmental of public personalities who may have said something offensive in the past. This has forced them to pay closer attention to what they put in their content.
First, we will analyze the show “Out of England” which he performed in 2008. The performance starts by Ricky talking about his charity work and interaction with children with terminal illnesses. Then he moves on to a story about his neighbors who have an autistic son. The comedian took him to a casino, expecting him to be good at blackjack, but turned out to be wrong. He says: “He's autistic, but he hasn't got any of that clever shit. I know it's wrong.” While he makes fun of a stereotype about people with autism which he learnt from a movie, he comments on the fact that it is rude in response to the audience's negative reaction. Next, he talks about charities for people dealing with obesity: “I got asked to do a gig for sufferers of obesity. Do you mean fat people?” With the rhetorical question he refers to the euphemism “sufferers of obesity” which, to him, seems to be ridiculous when there are people suffering from serious illnesses like cancer. This is proven further by another rhetorical question: “She went: “Obesity is a disease.” No, it's not, is it?” As this is a performance in the USA, Ricky Gervais states: “We have some fat people in England. But you, like everything else, are the gold medalists of that as well.” The tactic of multiple interpretations is used to appeal to the audience. Even though the statement in itself is negative, it is juxtaposed by the fact that Americans are “gold medalists”. Another illness the comedian discusses is AIDS: “AIDS has gone from strengths to strengths now, it's gone global. I don't think it'll ever take off like Christmas, because it's got a wrong vibe.” Here, the degree of intensity of the problem is highlighted in the first part. In the second part, we see him implement a commenting tactic, helping to make light of a grave situation.
After that, Ricky Gervais mentions holocaust and comments its property of being a comedic topic: “Not the traditional subject for comedy, the old holocaust.” We understand that the comedian deems holocaust very serious but still believes it has some comedic value, as long as it does not aim to offend anyone. After making a joke about Hitler and his reasons for holocaust, he says: “No, don't applaud that, we shouldn't talk about such things.” This is a tactic of forced criticism, however, the sarcastic tone in which it was said shows that the speaker actually believes it to be appropriate enough to be told in front of an audience.
The last phrase from this performance is: “I think we're inundated with politics from an early age. I think everything is charged with politics, and morality, and the way to live.” This way Ricky provides his comment using passive voice. Thus, he means to say that the society is imposing politics on every aspect of people's lives, while they have no power over it. This also relates to the fact that everything that is made public is judged by its norms, and every statement is interpreted as relating to some current issue.
The other performance under analysis is a Netflix special called “Humanity” (2018). At the beginning of the show, Ricky Gervais addresses the backlash he faced after making a joke about a transgender celebrity. He explains: “It (the joke) wasn't transphobic. It was about a trans-person, but the joke had nothing to do with that aspect of her existence.” He shows tolerance of trans-people by using a respectful euphemism, emphasizing the point he makes. Furthermore, he says that those who do not share these beliefs are wrong: “I'm not one of these bigots that think having all that done is science going too far. In fact, I don't think it's going far enough.” In this he uses a tactic of weighted tactic of parallelism while providing a subjective comment.
The British comedian then focuses on criticism he has been receiving for his wealth and privileged position. “I'm not out of touch, but I am spoilt,” - is a parallel construction which is implemented to deny the allegations about Ricky not being able to talk about the problems of the general public. At the same time, he agrees with the statement partially and acknowledges the favorable position he is in right now. He supports that statement with an indefinite reference: “Opportunity and privilege spoils you.” So, according to him, anyone in those circumstances would be subject to the influence. The last item in the topic of social hierarchy is: “Let's stop asking the average person (what they think). They are stupid, the average persons.” This is used when talking about the public vote on Brexit. The speaker uses indefinite reference in relation to people who voted for Great Britain leaving the European Union as he wishes to avoid criticism from them.
One statement that does not fit into a category with any others is about religion, however, it still deserves our attention. The comedian uses a parallel construction: “It's fine to believe in God, and it's fine not to.” He reaffirms his strong belief that no one should impose their religion on others while being an outspoken atheist and frequently involving in religious debate.
The majority of the show was dedicated to discussing the way the world has been reacting to offense in recent years and criticizing humor. A statement that could sum up his position is: “A joke about a bad thing isn't as bad as the bad thing. It's not necessarily condoning the bad thing.” Ricky provides his personal belief with the use of assessment of information. He states the need for the analysis of this phenomenon by saying: “That's the thing about offense: it's about feelings, and feelings are personal.” He judges people for getting offended at his jokes, but only when they can relate to its content. Moreover, he states that people have become more sensitive and attentive: “That's what the world's like. People see something they don't like, and they expect it to stop.” He provides personal assessment of the situation and unites the whole of humanity in this tendency. Then, there is a marker of subjectivity as to the reason of this trend: “The world is getting worse. And I blame the beginning of its demise on social media.” This society opposes his type of humor and his admirers, which makes Ricky Gervais try to protect his point of view: “I've always wanted people to know, they can laugh at bad things without being bad people.” This comment serves to relieve the listeners and assure them that they are not horrible for finding his style of humor amusing. Lastly, he reinforces his point with an indefinite reference: “That's what humor's for. It gets us over bad stuff.”
Another British comedian whose performances we examine is Jimmy Carr. He, as well as the previous comedians, is famous for brutal jokes on sensitive subjects. The comedian has stated that you can joke about any topic, although he has had to make statements in the past apologizing for some of the jokes he made (The Telegraph, March 5, 2017). His style is slightly different from the other comedians analyzed in this paper. Jimmy Carr's performances consist of a number of short jokes and not a discussion of topics with personal anecdotes. The shows we will be analyzing here are “In Concert” (2008) and “Funny Business” (2016).
During his show “In Concert” Jimmy Carr says: “A lot of people think I'm posh. Who here thinks I'm posh? Well, compared to you, yes! But I'm not as posh as people think.” He refers to the reputation he has gained throughout his career and engages his audience to confirm or deny it. Then he tells the following joke: “People often ask me: “What were you like at school?” So, I tell them: “I was a little black girl.” Even though the joke is based on some absurd notion, the comedian uses a common euphemism “black”. He again implements the multiple interpretations tactic by constructing a joke with the use of a lexeme with a wide semantic field: “Someone's written on the gents' wall “White Power”. So, across it I've written “Cillit Bang.” Carr demonstrates his disagreement with the writing on the wall, so, he uses this as an opportunity to make fun of the phrase “White Power” and the notion itself.
A category of jokes which can be clearly defined is based on some of the problems women face. The talk starts with: “A lot of women will stay with their husbands even if they hit them.” The use of “a lot of” illustrates the scale of the problem without having to say an exact number, as this is a widely-known fact. Then, he moves on to the problem of domestic violence in general: “The thing people never say about domestic violence, and it strikes me just as being very obvious, is just how stupid it is.” The comedian indicates his negative relation to this problem and uses lexemes which reprimand those who excuse domestic violence. He shows the ignorance in the country on this issue: “There are places in the country where that is just a joke. I did that joke in Preston; it was like marriage guidance.” Lastly, he reminds the audience of a news story about a man killing a number of women. He provides a personal assessment with the use of expressive language means: “Really morbid story but you, kind of, can't look away.”
Next, come a couple of miscellaneous ideas that still deserve our attention. Talking about a Wall Street financer who donated a large sum of money to charity, Carr says: “He gave away 32 billion dollars to the third world. What an incredible, selfless, wonderful thing to do!” He applies colorful vocabulary to accentuate the quality of the man's deed. Then the comedian talks about police officers and community service officers. He talks to his audience and finds out that there is a community service officer among them, and proceeds to tell his joke: “There are some jokes about coppers coming up. Remember, they don't apply to you, cause you're not a real one.” Copper - is a slang term for a police officer which has a slight negative connotation. By following it with an appeal to the audience member, the comedian attempts to mitigate her reaction and not turn her against him.
The last topic in this show is Paralympics and people with disabilities. The comedian recalls an encounter he had with a Paralympian who told him the meaning behind the word: “It's the parallel to the normal Olympics. Although, we shouldn't say “normal” Olympics.” Thus, he expresses regret at pronouncing a potentially insulting statement. He later explicitly reassures the audience that they are allowed to laugh at a joke about a disabled person: “I can see some of you are shifting uncomfortably there, you're thinking: “Can we laugh at this thing? Let me just reassure you, ladies and gentlemen. During that last bit, no one in a wheelchair has ever walked out.” Here a tactic of relieving responsibility is used.
His next show is the 2016 Netflix comedy special called “Funny business”. The starting point is the topic of sexism and gender stereotypes. The first expression is: “Ladies spend ages getting ready for a night out. Not all of them, obviously.” He says the last part while pointing to a woman in the audience. So, he makes a generalization about all of the people of that gender, but finishes it with a contradiction, although used for a comedic effect. Jimmy Carr again surprises the audience by declaring: “There is one social grouping that annoys me, and it is actually heterosexual men.” The phrasing shocks the listener as the actual group the speaker is talking about is unconventional in this context. It gives them an understanding that while Jimmy Carr is a representative of that group, he can recognize the bad side and is not afraid of talking about it. He then clarifies his point: “The thing that's annoying about straight men - it's all about surface. It's never about her mind.” This is a personal evaluation of a common trait of the gender. After this, he talks about a similar issue: “People often ask why there are not as many female comedians as there are male. I think, it's cause women have the ability to think of something funny and then not say it. Because it might hurt someone's feelings or be inappropriate. Men don't really have that gear.” The comedian justifies the absence of women in comedy not by the fact that they are not as funny as men, but by providing a stereotypical judgement of their mental predispositions. The position of the comedian becomes clear from the following: “When you hear a story about someone being actually sexist, it blows your mind that people could be that ignorant.” He comments on sexism by saying it in a way that confirms the audience would have a similar reaction.
There are some other minorities which become the subject of humor in this show. After telling a joke that did not receive his anticipated reaction, Carr explains a joke to an audience member. He then comments on the quality of his audience: “It's clearly a mixed ability group.” In spite of using a politically correct social euphemism, he implies a negative quality often attributed to people with disabilities. As Jimmy Carr does nor refrain from sensitive topics and saying something rude, he makes a joke about incest. Then, finding someone from the West country, he apologizes: “I didn't mean to ruin your romantic night out with your sister.” This only preserves the stereotype of incestual relationships being spread in that region of the country. Next, he asks the audience who is a Christian among them. After receiving a response, he personally addresses them: “Are you interested in buying some magic beans? I'm only asking you cause you are gullible.” This is used to establish a connection with those people as later he states that he does not judge them for their beliefs.
At the end of the performance he introduces the topic of freedom of speech, political correctness and its effectiveness. He applies the concept to his own comedy: “I try not to censor myself on stage. If I think it's funny, I think you might think it's funny as well. And we'll all have a laugh, release some endorphins, the world would be a slightly better place.” He provides justification for his style of humor by confirming the shared intentions with the audience. At the same time, he shows regret in not being able to tell all the jokes he wishes to: “I wrote a joke recently about the negative stereotypes that still prevail in our society concerning women. I worry about telling that joke. Because I worry, well, if I were to tell that joke, it could be misconstrued as genuine misogyny.” He finishes by a discussion of political correctness in more general terms and not specifically connected to him.
The first proposition he makes is: “Political correctness has changed the world, but I don't mind tackling the tough topics.” He contradicts the positive assessment he makes in the first part by remaining loyal to his previous beliefs. This is reinforced in the next statement: “People that adhere to political correctness are, in my opinion, retarded faggots.” The criticism is confirmed by the pronouncement of two offensive terms which are already going out of use. In the end, he reduces the categorical stance he has on this by saying: “PC thinks it's helping, but I'm not sure political correctness really changes anything.” This could mean that Jimmy Carr wants to maintain his viewpoint but still recognizes the influence political correctness has and is not completely confident in rejecting its ideals.
To sum up, there is a tendency to address the problem of tolerant vocabulary in British stand-up performance. However, both the comedians oppose implementing those words to a degree or giving up the rudeness of their comedic style.
Conclusion
Tolerance is a very complex, vague and contradictory concept. To be tolerant means not only to abandon prejudice and hatred, but something much more difficult: to abandon the desire to eliminate, destroy the "other" opinion, while maintaining those ideas that gave rise to this desire. This expresses the internal paradox of tolerance.
Overcoming the cultural barrier is impossible without a tolerant perception of reality, manifested in a friendly attitude of at least one of the communicants to the other. Tolerant perception in negotiations manifests itself in linguistic tolerance, which is an essential component of the communicative competence. The communicative competence is what helps to achieve a desired result, since very often during the negotiations conflicts arise, due to the fact that the parties are in every possible way defending their positions, trying to force the opponent to make concessions.
Thus, in the modern conditions of globalization, cross-cultural communication becomes not just a necessity, but a lifestyle. The study of the problems of language tolerance is of theoretical and practical importance, since such studies help to improve methods for overcoming verbal aggression and recognize the techniques for effective negotiation.
The peculiarity of the interaction between the comedian and the audience is the need for the artist to keep their attention for a long time, so their speech is saturated with speech signals that help mobilize the attention of the recipient of information. Judging from the findings of our research, we can conclude that comedians often implement techniques for engaging their audience and showing them that this is an interactive experience, e.g. by use of questions or direct conversation.
Moreover, the analysis of American and British stand-up performances of several comedians shows that they are aware that the public demands them to be more tolerant. However, while American comedians actually educate themselves on the topics of injustice and are more conscious of possible spheres that could be considered offensive, the British ones are insisting on their freedom of speech which allows them to use any language units they desire.
Taking into consideration the specific tactics they use, it is clear that stand-up comedians are trying to mediate people's reaction to the content of their shows. The most common tactics applied by them are the non-judgmental and the understatement one. Although the benevolence strategy tactics are present, they are overshadowed by the abundance of the other categories.
Overall, it is fair to conclude that the changes in stand-up comedy can be considered as evidence in the changes in society. Through their observation of society, stand-up comedians show the true values that their society holds. Over the years, people have advanced the topic of tolerance in the public discourse, as well as the realization of tolerance in language itself. This is an indication of an increase in the cultural sensitivity of people and their cross-cultural competence. Additionally, the realization of tolerant language means in stand-up comedy could be used as an attempt to promote a higher level of cross-cultural competence in people in a more subtle and gentle way as compared to normative acts or laws.
References
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