Get fulltext from our e-platform
The Multimodal Performance of Conversational Humor
This volume is the first monograph exploring the functions of visual cues in humor, advocating for the development of a non-linguocentric theory of humor performance. It analyzes a corpus of dyadic, face-to-face interactions in Spanish and English to study the relationship between humor, smiling, and gaze, and shows how, by focusing on these elements, it is possible to shed light on the “unsaid” of conversations.
In the book, the humorous framing of an utterance is shown to be negotiated and co-constructed dialogically and multimodally, through changes and patterns of smiling synchronicity, smiling intensity, and eye movements. The study also analyzes the multimodal features of failed humor and proposes a new categorization from a dialogic perspective.
Because of its interdisciplinary approach, which includes facial expression analysis and eye tracking, this book is relevant to humor researchers as well as scholars in social and behavioral sciences interested in multimodality and embodied cognition.
In the book, the humorous framing of an utterance is shown to be negotiated and co-constructed dialogically and multimodally, through changes and patterns of smiling synchronicity, smiling intensity, and eye movements. The study also analyzes the multimodal features of failed humor and proposes a new categorization from a dialogic perspective.
Because of its interdisciplinary approach, which includes facial expression analysis and eye tracking, this book is relevant to humor researchers as well as scholars in social and behavioral sciences interested in multimodality and embodied cognition.
[Figurative Thought and Language, 13] 2022. xix, 235 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 31 March 2022
Published online on 31 March 2022
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- List of figures | pp. xi–xiv
- List of tables | pp. xv–xvi
- Preface | pp. xvii–xx
- Chapter 1. Approaching the multimodal study of conversational humor | pp. 1–30
- Chapter 2. Performing conversational humor multimodally – an overview | pp. 31–54
- Chapter 3. Individual smiling behavior | pp. 55–86
- Chapter 4. Smiling patterns and dialogical smiling synergy | pp. 87–114
- Chapter 5. Eye movements | pp. 115–144
- Chapter 6. Failed conversational humor | pp. 145–168
- Chapter 7. Conclusions: Looking backwards and looking forward | pp. 169–184
- References | pp. 185–214
- Appendix A. Research protocol | pp. 215–218
- Appendix B. Individual smiling intensity by Dyad | pp. 219–222
- Appendix C. Demographic questionnaire | pp. 223–224
- Appendix D. Jokes in English and Spanish | pp. 225–226
- Index | pp. 227–235
“This book is an important contribution to studies of humor, eye-tracking, embodied communication, and multimodality in its broadest aspect, filling to some extent the existing gap in these studies and opening the way to new lines of research within the broad field of the relationship between conversation and humor.”
Anastasia Khaylinaa, University of Alicante, in Journal of Pragmatics 203 (2023).
“I would strongly recommend this volume not only to scholars in humour studies, but also to scholars in other fields given the broadening of perspectives it might trigger. It is a very accessible book also to non-experts or students since throughout the book every tackled topic is introduced by a comprehensive and, at the same time, concise and pleasant-to-read review, methodologies are carefully explained and results clearly interpreted. I really enjoyed reading this work and I thank the author for this, since it has already been an incredibly useful resource also for my own work not necessarily related to smiling, gaze or humour.”
Chiara Mazzocconi, Aix-Marseille University, in The European Journal of Humour Research 11 (1).
“Altogether, this book stands out as an insightful academic contribution, combining a solid theoretical foundation with innovative empirical analyses. Its clear and well-structured approach makes it an essential read for researchers interested in humor studies, multimodal discourse and the dynamics of conversational humor.”
Caroline Girardi Ferrari, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Metaphor and the Social World 15:1 (2025).
Cited by (12)
Cited by 12 other publications
Girardi Ferrari, Caroline
2025. Review of Gironzetti (2022): The Multimodal Performance of Conversational Humor. Metaphor and the Social World 15:1 ► pp. 169 ff.
Hugman, Nicholas
2025. The dialectics of interpersonal relating in a sports team. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA)
Tabacaru, Sabina
de Vries, Clarissa, Fien Andries & Katharina Meissl
Hale, Adrian & Dennis Lam
Janssens, Julie, Clarissa De Vries & Geert Brône
Attardo, Salvatore
Ruiz Gurillo, Leonor
Ruiz Gurillo, Leonor
Ruiz-Gurillo, Leonor
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.