PRAGMATIC STRATEGIES OF CREATING A COMIC EFFECT IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE AND KAZAKH-LANGUAGE STAND-UP COMEDY (BASED ON THE PERFORMANCES OF DAVE CHAPPELLE AND TURSYNBEK KABATOV)

Abstract

This article examines the pragmatic strategies used to create a comic effect in English- and Kazakh-language stand-up comedy, drawing on performances by Dave Chappelle and Tursynbek Kabatov. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing scholarly interest in humorous discourse as a distinct type of verbal interaction reflecting social, cultural and cognitive processes. The aim of the research is to reveal the mechanisms of humor generation through the violation of P. Grice’s cooperative maxims (quality, quantity, relevance and manner) the deliberate flouting of which functions as a key mechanism for forming implicatures and stimulating the audience’s cognitive engagement. The empirical basis of the study comprises transcribed and qualitatively analyzed video recordings of stand-up performances.

The findings show that Dave Chappell more frequently employs hyperbole, sarcasm, intertextual allusions and obscene vocabulary to emphasize social and racial contradictions, whereas Tursynbek Kabatov relies on conversational redundancy, pleonasms, thematic shifts and code-mixing, thereby creating an atmosphere of everyday irony and cultural intimacy with the audience. It has been established that intentional violations of the cooperative maxims do not disrupt communication but rather promote the emergence of implicatures that engage listeners in interpretive activity and intensify the comic effect.

The scholarly contribution of this work lies in demonstrating the universality of Grice’s cooperative principles within humorous discourse while identifying nationally specific ways of its violation that shape each comedian’s individual style. The practical significance of the research consists in the potential application of its results to the analysis and teaching of pragmatics, sociolinguistics and intercultural communication. Thus, stand-up comedy appears nor merely as a genre of entertainment discourse, but also as a mean of sociocultural reflection.