Okras and the metapragmatic stereotypes of humour

The study aims at bridging the theoretical and analytical gap between sociocultural approaches to humour and linguistic-pragmatic ones by proposing an expansion of the General Theory of Verbal Humour. It is suggested that the theory could gradually be transformed from a theory of the speaker to a theory of the audience. The present discussion takes into consideration the main analytical tools of the theory, while it emphasises the significance of the sociocultural presuppositions for humour production and interpretation, and of speakers’ ideological assumptions on whether, how, why, when, and to whom a text is funny. The data of the study involve the official and unofficial online responses triggered by a Greek television advertisement which was considered humorous and/or sexist.