【Abstract】The paper analyzes Obama’s speech in White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2016 and illustrates the humor caused by flouts of cooperative principle.

【Key words】humor; flouts of cooperative principle; public speech

I. Introduction

In 1975， Paul Grice fleshed out the Cooperative Principle in four maxims: quantity， quality， relation， and manner. However， deliberate breach of conversational maxims can be seen in many cases. Humor is an expressive form of the production of maxim flouts.

II. Analysis

Example 1: the flout of quantity maxim

But it’s not just Congress. Even some foreign leaders， they’ve been looking ahead， anticipating my departure. Last week， Prince George showed up to our meeting in his bathrobe. That was a slap in the face.

If a prince wore a bathrobe while meeting a president， he was rude and disrespectful. However， what Obama didn’t say is that Prince George was only two years old. He was joking that some foreign leaders wouldn’t take him seriously any longer after his retirement.

Example 2: the flout of quality maxim

As you know， “Spotlight” is a film， a movie about investigative journalists with the resources and the autonomy to chase down the truth and hold the powerful accountable. Best fantasy film since Star Wars.”

“Spotlight” is a biographical film， following the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team， which investigated into child sex abuse in the Boston area by priests. However， Obama regarded it as a fantasy film like Star Wars. Obviously， it’s an irony， flouting the maxim of quality. The implicature should be that the “Spotlight” team’s bravery and sense of responsibility are rare in reality and worth our praise.

Example 3: the flout of relation maxim

Hillary once questioned whether I’d be ready for a 3 a.m. phone call—now I’m awake anyway because I’ve got to go to the bathroom. I’m up.

After raising Hillary’s question， Obama didn’t response it directly. Instead， he mentioned he needs to go to the bathroom. The two sentences seem to be irrelevant. Actually， old people often get up at night to go to the bathroom. Thus， Obama was mocking himself for getting old after 8 years’ administration.

Example 4: the flout of manner maxim

Well， let me conclude tonight on a more serious note. I want to thank the Washington press corps， I want to thank Carol for all that you do…—nah， I’m just kidding! You know I’ve got to talk about Trump! Come on!

Obama started with thanks to the audience， but he suddenly changed the topic into talking about Donald Trump. Although he failed to be orderly， the sudden change surprised the audience and attracted their attention.

Summary

Obama omitted some information (example 1)， but audience can make up the missing ones according to their experience or common knowledge. What’s more， irony， as a way of flouting maxim of quality， was applied (example 2). Audience knew what Obama said was not true. They could detect the humor behind the flouts. As for manner maxim， Obama employed unusual ways to present his ideas (example 3)， which was surprising and amusing.

The analysis has room for further explanation. The example 4 illustrates that “go to the bathroom” is irrelevant to Hilary’s question. However， Hilary’s question can also be interpreted as a lead-in of the humor. Grice didn’t provide an adequate explanation of being relevant， so it’s hard to define whether a humorous utterance in a speech flouts the maxim of relevance in the CP framework.

III. Conclusion

In the CP framework， although Obama flouted maxims， both speaker and hearer were aware of CP. Audience made efforts to detect implicatures in Obama’s speech and Obama presumed that audience would do so. In most cases， humor relies on unstated information. Speakers should leave room for audience to detect.

The limitation of the study is that the maxim of relevance in Grice’s CP is ambiguous. Thus， whether some contents of the speech is relevant remains further explanation with the help of other pragmatic theories.

References：

[1]Alba Juez L.Verbal irony and the Maxims of Grice’s cooperative principle[J].Revista alicantina de estudios ingleses，No.08(Nov.1995);pp.25-30，1995.