The Violation Of Grice’s Cooperative Principles As An Element Of Creating Humor In The Film Deadpool 2

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Background

Cooperating between speakers and hearers in communication is important. Communication can be done well if the speaker and hearer can work together. Grice (1975) describes the principle of cooperation named Grice’s Cooperative Principle and describes it into four maxims, namely maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of relation, and maxim of manner. The maxim of quantity requires speakers to contribute as much or as much as needed by the hearers. The maxim of quality requires the speakers to say the truth. The maxim of reation requires the speakers to make a contribution that is relevant to the issue of conversation. The maxim of manner requires the speaker to speak directly, clearly, unambigiously, and unexcessively.

Although Grice’s Cooperative Principle aim to achieve an understanding of the intentions of speakers well, in practice sometimes violations of the principles of the Cooperation Grice occur. Attardo (1992) states that the occurrence of irregularities has certain implications to be achieved by the speaker. One implication that arises is one of them is humor. The appearance of humor is due to a violation of the maxims of the Cooperative Principle.

Humor is an entertainment facility that is very well liked and enjoyed by the wider community. According to Attardo (1992), humor is something in the form of stimuli, namely actions, writings and forms of words, images that are deliberately created in such a way by speakers that cause humor. A smile or laugh is a physical response to humor. Humor is enjoyed a lot from writing and oral, visual and audio-visual. This study will discuss humor discourse found in audio-visual media, namely film.

The comedy film that will be explored in this research is a film distributed by 20th Century Fox, Deadpool 2. The film is a film adaptation of the Marvel Comics superhero character. The 2018 film was directed by David Leitch. The film is acted by Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Jack Kesy, and others. The film tells the character of Deadpool or Wade Wilson, played by Ryan Reynolds, formed by a team called X-Force to protect a young mutant, played by Julian Dennison, from the time traveler Army, Cable played by Josh Brolin ( Leitch, 2018). This film has an interesting verbal humor to study. Furthermore, the researcher will explain the violations of the Grice’s Cooperative Principle and humor contained in the film Deadpool 2.

Statement of Problem

What violations of Grice’s Cooperative Principles are expressed by the characters of film Deadpool 2 in their dialogues?
How does the violations of Grice’s Cooperative Principles become a forming element of humor in the film Deadpool 2?

Research Objective

To describe the violations of Grice’s Cooperative Principles found in the film Deadpool 2.
To explain the relationship between violation of Grice’s Cooperative Principles and creation of humorous languages in the film Deadpool 2.

Research Significance

This research is expected to enrich research in the field of pragmatics regarding the theory of Grice’s Cooperation Principle. Moreover, this research is expected to be able to help future researchers in conducting pragmatic research on the language of humor using the theory of the Grice‘s Cooperative Principle. In addition, this research is also expected to add to the understanding of the formation of humor language which, if necessary, can be used to convey the language of humor in practical purposes.

Conceptual Framework

Pragmatics

Yule explains that the scope of the pragmatic study consisted of four, namely (1) the study of the speaker’s intention, (2) the study of contextual meaning, (3) the study of how to convey more than what is said, and (4) the study of expression of distance relation. So that it can be concluded from the things above that pragmatics is a study that examines how the speaker regulates what they want to convey to hearer by paying attention to the background of the occurrence of speech (Yule, 2014). The opinions expressed by Yule above are almost in line with other experts, namely Katz who argues that pragmatics is a study that examines the reason of speaker and hearer in composing a speech. Mey argues that pragmatics is a study that examines the use of language that is determined based on its context. Another expert, Levinson, argues that pragmatics is a study of language and context (in Allan & Jaszczolt, 2012). Based on the explanation from several experts above, pragmatic study pays attention to once the background occurs or the context of a speech. Background or context is very important because it gives the meaning and purpose of a speech.

Grice’s Cooperative Principle

Grice suggests that in a conversation speakers and hearers should work together. Therefore, Grice introduces the theory of Cooperative Principles. The Grice’s Cooperative Principle distinguishes four types of maxims, namely the maxim of quantity, the maxim of quality, the maxim of relation, and the maxim of manner. Further explanation of the four maxims presented by Grice is as follows.

Maxim of Quantity

Speech participants are expected to provide the right amount of information, which is to contribute information that is appropriate and does not exceed what is needed (Grice, 1975; Allan & Jaszczolt, 2012; Leech, 2011). The analogy is that there is someone helping me when repairing a car, I hope that someone is no more and no less than needed. If I need four screws, I expect someone to give on demand, four screws, rather than five or six screws (Grice, 1975).

Dina: “When are you going to submit creative writing assignment?”

Dita: “Today at 12 noon.”

Based on the dialogue above, Dina asks about the time of the assignment and Dita, the person who was questioned, replies with “Today at 12 noon”. The answer given by Dita contains information that is appropriate and does not exceed what is asked by Dina. Dita in the dialogue applies the Cooperative Principle by adhering to the maxim of quantity.

Maxim of Quality

Speech participants are expected to be able to contribute correct information, which is to avoid saying something that is not true and something whose proof of truth is less convincing (Grice, 1975; Allan & Jaszczolt, 2012; Leech, 2011). The analogy is that when I am cooking and someone is helping, I do not expect to be given salt if the ingredients needed are sugar and if I need a spoon, what is taken is an original spoon instead of the tricky spoon (Grice 1975).

Teacher: “Albert, mention the official capital city of Mongolia!”

Albert: “Ulan Bator, sir!”

From the dialogue above, a teacher asks the capital city of Mongolia to a student named Albert. Albert replies with “Ulan Bator, sir!” The response given by Albert contains true information and convincing truth because indeed the capital city of Mongolia is currently in Ulan Bator. Albert in the dialogue applies the Cooperative Principle by adhering to the maxim of quality.

Maxim of Relation

Speech participants are expected to provide information that is relevant to the conversation (Grice, 1975; Allan & Jaszczolt, 2012; Leech, 2011). The analogy is that I expect contributions from someone who helps me in accordance with the requirements now according to the steps. If I am mixing ingredients to make cakes, I don’t expect to be given a recipe book or oven glove, even though that is an appropriate contribution to the next step (Grice, 1975).

Oce: “What do you want to do later in Pangandaran?”

Oka: “I want to go to Pasir Putih beach and Cagar Alam.”

From the dialogue above, Oce asks Oka about the planned holiday activities in Pangandaran. Oka replied with “I want to go to Pasir Putih beach and Cagar Alam”. The answer given by Oka contains relevant information because Pasir Putih beach and Cagar Alam are things that are closely related to tourist destinations in Pangandaran. Oka in the dialogue applies the Cooperative Principle by adhering to the maxim of relation.

Maxim of Manner

Speech participants are expected to provide information easily to understand, namely avoiding vague statements, avoiding ambiguous statements, avoiding excessive and unnecessary statements, and trying to speak regularly (Grice, 1975; Allan & Jaszczolt, 2012; Leech, 2011). The analogy is that I expect someone who helps me to do something clear and understandable (Grice, 1975).

Soka: “Assalamualaikum, Sir! I’m Soka. I want to consult about my research proposal topic. Could I meet with you today, Sir?”

Sir Petra: “Yes, you can. Meet me in the lecturer room at 1pm.”

From the dialogue above, Soka wants to meet with his lecturer, Sir Petra, to consult. Sir Petra responds to the student’s request with “Yes. Meet me in the lecturer room at 1pm “. The response given by Sir Petra contains information that was conveyed clearly, concisely, and unambiguously so that it was easy to understand. Sir Petra in the dialogue applies the Cooperative Principle by adhering to the maxim of manner.

Violating the Grice’s Cooperative Principles

Violating the Maxim of Quantity

This maxim states that speakers should provide enough information to hearer. Failure to follow this maxim can cause too much information to be given, which will be considered insignificant or excessive by the hearer or the information provided is less than is needed, so the speaker will appear to be uninformative or competent. The following is an example of dialogue that violates the maxim of quantity.

Susi: “What’s your name?”

Cici: “My name is Cici. My house in Ciamis, precisely in Panjalu. I like to eat pizza. Pizza that has much topping on it. I often eat large sized pizzas up to two servings.”

From the dialogue above, Susi wants to get to know Cici. Susi asks “What’s your name?” And Cici responds by saying a name, then adding it by mentioning hometown and favorite food. It can be seen that Cici’s response violates the maxim of quantity, which is to provide information in excessive amounts.

Violating the Maxim of Quality

This maksim states that speakers should provide truth-based information to hearer. Failure to follow this maxim can cause the information provided to be in the form of news that is incompatible with reality or false news. The following is an example of dialogue that violates quality maxims.

Lecturer: “Andi, who wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice?”

Andi: “Looks like Mary Shelley, Sir.”

From the dialogue above, a lecturer asks a student named Andi about a novelist. The lecturer asks “Andi, who wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice?” and Andi responds by answering “Looks like Mary Shelley, Sir”. Andi does not have enough information about the material question that the correct answer is Jane Austen. It can be seen that Andi’s response violates the quality maxim, which is providing information that is not true or less convincing.

Violating the Maxim of Relation

This maxim states that speakers should include information that is relevant to the topic of conversation. Failure to follow this maxim can cause speaker to say something that has nothing to do with the topic of conversation. The following is an example of dialogue that violates the maxim of relationships.

Mother: “Andre, please open the door!”

Andre: “I’m taking a shower, Mom.”

From the dialogue above, Mother asks Andre to open the door. Andre responds with “I am taking a shower, Mom”. It can be seen that Andre’s response violates the maxim of the relation, namely providing irrelevant information.

Violating the Maxim of Manner

This maxim states that speakers should convey information in a way that is easy to understand. Failure to follow this maxim can cause speaker to say something that seems unclear and difficult to understand. Here is an example of dialogue that violates the maxim of manner.

Anna: “Mother, let’s stop at Indomaret first!”

Mother: “Okay, but don’t buy C-O-C-O!”

From the dialogue above, Anna wants to buy food in a food outlet and asks her mother to stop by first. Responding to her child, Mother responds with the saying “Okay, but don’t buy C-O-C-O!”. It can be seen that the mother’s response violated the maxim of manner, namely conveying information that is unclear and difficult to understand.

Humour

Humor can be said as any form of stimulation that tends to spontaneously provoke laughter or smile. These stimuli can be in the form of actions, writings or forms of speech, images that are deliberately created in such a way by speakers that give rise to humor (Attardo, 1992). It can be concluded that humor is a mental quality of a situation or condition that is related to humor, fun and laughter. Smile or laughter is a physical response to humor.

Attardo (1992) states that “CP-violating texts, and yet they are found to convey information”. It can be said that the emergence of humor can be caused by a violation of the maxims of Cooperative Principle. Despite the violation of the Cooperative Principle, which aims to achieve an understanding of the meaning implied by speakers well, there is still information to be conveyed and understood by listeners.

The current humorous study describes three approaches to humor, namely superiority theory, incongruity theory and relief theory. In general, pragmatic humor explanation fall into the category of incongruity theory, namely humor occurs because of a discrepancy between concepts involved in certain situations and conventional concepts that are thought to be related to the concept. Violation of the conversation principles of Grice is the actions of speakers who are not in accordance with the expected behavior of the hearers..

Research Design

Research Method

In a study, a method is used to solve the problem being studied. Research method is a way that must be done to achieve research objectives. So that it can be said, research methods is very important in a study, because in it found the way in how the object of research would be known and observed so as to produce the right data in accordance with the objectives of the study. This study uses qualitative research method which means that this research is going to explain the object of research in the form of observable written or oral words (Bogdan and Taylor in Moleong 2007, 4). In addition, according to Moleong (2007, 6), qualitative research intends to understand the phenomenon of what is experienced by research objects holistically, and by way of descriptions in the form of words or language, in a specific natural context and by using various natural methods. This is based on the purpose of this study, which is to describe the violation of Grice’s Cooperative Principle expressed by the characters in the comedy action film Deadpool 2, and explain the relationship between the violation of Grice’s Cooperative Principle and the creation of humorous languages.

Sample of Data

(1) Deadpool/Wade Wilson: “Dopinder, it’s me again. Look, a saner man might discourage you from joining the deadly merc business what, with your concave chest and your paper towel tube arms. But you’re an eagle and goddamn it, an eagle’s gotta soar. You gotta grab those dreams, grab those dreams by the dick tip and make it rain!”

Dopinder: “I don’t know what that means.”

Deadpool/Wade Wilson: “Me neither. I’m gonna see you… at the office…” (Leitch, 2018).

(2) Vanessa: “Open yours.”

Deadpool: “All right, all right. Oh… That’s just the most beautiful thing that I’ve… I don’t know what this is.”

Vanessa: “My IUD.”

Deadpool: “A bomb?”

Vanessa: “No, dick for brains. My birth control device” (Leitch, 2018).

(3) Deadpool/Wade Wilson: “Papa, can you hear me? Is it just me, or does Do You Want to Build a Snowman? from Frozen sound suspiciously like Papa, Can You Hear Me? from Yentl. “Papa, can you hear me?” and nobody fucking realizes it.”

Weasel: “Wade, go home. You’ve been here for three days, okay? You smell like sauerkraut left in the warm rain. Like wet garbage in hot urine. You smell like a dog ate kitty litter and farted his way out of the living room. I mean, like Rush Limbaugh’s couch cushions after Shark Week.” (Leitch, 2018).

Source of Data

The data used in this study comes from the film Deadpool 2. The data is verbal language, namely the conversation or dialogue of the film characters. Deadpool 2 is a comedy action film about super hero named Deadpool, a character from Marvel Comics. The 119-minute film was directed by David Leitch. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Jack Kesy, and others. The film tells the character of Deadpool or Wade Wilson, played by Ryan Reynolds, forming a team called X-Force to protect a young mutant boy, Russell, played by Julian Dennison, from the time traveler army, Cable, played by Josh Brolin (Leitch, 2018).

Technique of Collecting Data

The form of data used in this study is oral words or language from the film characters of Deadpool 2. Techniques used in collecting the oral data are listening technique which is then followed by using note-taking technique. With these techniques, the researcher watches the film Deadpool 2 and listens to the dialogues of the film characters repeatedly and, later, records the transcription of the dialogue. This listening technique can be said as well as collecting data through observation. Using the listening technique means that the researcher do not participate in language use activities expressed by the film characters of Deadpool 2 and made use of the language of the film characters without being noticed by themselves. Listening techniques coupled with note-taking technique is a good blend in obtaining research data. By doing note-taking, the collected data is arranged neatly and clearly. In that way, the data can be well understood and ready to go through the data analysis process.

Technique of Analysing Data

After the oral data has been understood through the listening technique and arranged neatly and clearly using note-taking technique, then proceed with analyzing the data. The transcription of the Deadpool 2 film dialogue is then examined to filter out the things needed to achieve the research objectives, namely explaining the connection between the creation of humorous language and violation of Grice’s Cooperative Principle. The data is examined to find the conversations of film characters who violated the Grice’s Cooperative Principle and created humorous languages in accordance with the theoretical foundation described earlier. The data included in the needed criteria for this study, then, are classified using the data classification table. This table is divided into column for number, column for the dialog quotation, column for the violation type of Grice’s Cooperative Principle, and column for explanation. The following below is the form of data classification table.

Deadpool/Wade Wilson: “Dopinder, it’s me again. Look, a saner man might discourage you from joining the deadly merc business what, with your concave chest and your paper towel tube arms. But you’re an eagle and goddamn it, an eagle’s gotta soar. You gotta grab those dreams, grab those dreams by the dick tip and make it rain!”