Linguistic Theories of Humor, 2nd Edition

4 Resolution in Puns

A large debate in the psychologically-oriented research on humor has centered on the so-called “resolution” of the incongruity encountered in humor. The essence of the issue is summarized effectively in Forabosco (1992): “incongruity” theorists claim that incongruity alone is sufficient to generate humor, whereas the “incongruity-resolution” theorists claim that the incongruity in itself is necessary but not sufficient for the perception of humor, and that in order for humor to be perceived one has to “resolve” the incongruity. The latter position is accepted in this chapter. ¹

The term “resolution” is somewhat unfortunate insofar as it suggests a “dissolution” of the incongruity, its solution into congruous thought processes; ...