HUMOR IN DISCOURSE: HERR FLICK AND LIEUTENANT GRUBER IN ‘ALLO ‘ALLO

Abstract

Humor in discourse is often characterized by the specific, i.e. humor arises in a particular context. Sitcoms often provide a medium for humor in that the characters act as types through the aid of linguistic tools. In the case of ‘Allo ‘Allo, for instance, the German character of Herr Flick is exemplified by his extensive usage of syntactic features, which are associated with speaker dominance, e.g. frequent use of the imperative, deontically used modal verbs and conciseness of utterance. On the other hand, the character of Lieutenant Gruber is typified by his usage of mitigation speech devices, such as the use of the modal phrase “could/can you” in requests and the avoidance of the imperative and deontically used modal verbs. This study shows how the use or avoidance of five syntactic features contributes to the linguistic personification of the sitcom characters Herr Flick and Lieutenant Gruber in ‘Allo ‘Allo.