Humor and the critique of knowledge: A pragmatic analysis of Cunk on Life (2024) Humor dan kritik ilmu pengetahuan: Analisis pragmatik dalam “Cunk on Life” (2024)
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Abstract
Anchored by a theory of nine types of humor systematically proposed by Morrison (2008), this research aimed at analyzing types and functions of humor in a mockumentary series entitled Cunk on Life (2024). This mockumentary depicted humor as not only an entertainment or amusement medium but also social critics to the knowledge, popular culture, and how societies realize the reality. This research employed the qualitative-descriptive approach. The data were obtained through dialogues transcript and context observation of each scene. The findings pointed out that absurd humor, verbal humor, and incongruity humor were dominantly used in Cunk on Life (2024). They all served to highlight ignorance, unawareness, logical contradictions, and the authority of knowledge and the media. In addition, the findings also revealed four main social functions of humor used in this series and elaborated its implication in EFL classroom. This research contributes to the development of pragmatic linguistics and semiotics studies by expanding the application of Morrison's theory to the mockumentary genre, which has rarely been studied academically.
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Wulan, R., Manar, M., Nugroho, A. R., & Pratama, A. (2026). Humor and the critique of knowledge: A pragmatic analysis of Cunk on Life (2024). Diglosia: Jurnal Kajian Bahasa, Sastra, Dan Pengajarannya, 9(2), 289-302. https://doi.org/10.30872/diglosia.v9i2.1791
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Thuy, P. T., & Thao, L. T. (2022). The contributions of teacher humor in EFL classes in Vietnam: University students’ perspectives. Vision: Journal for Language and Foreign Language Learning, 11(1), 31–50. https://doi.org/10.21580/vjv11i110779
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Alemi, M., Ghanbar, H., & Rezanejad, A. (2021). The integration of verbal humor into EFL classrooms: The issues of appropriateness and relevance in focus. Journal of Language and Education, 7(1), 14–27. https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2021.10861
Ali Fadel, S., & Al-Bargi, A. (2018). The use of humour in EFL classrooms: Comparative conversational analysis case study. Arab World English Journal, 9(2), 262–282. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol9no2.18
Couder, O. (2019). Problem solved? Absurdist humour and incongruity-resolution. Journal of Literary Semantics, 48(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1515/jls-2019-2005
Eviatar, Z., & Just, M. (2006). Brain correlates of discourse processing: An fMRI investigation of irony and metaphor processing. Neuropsychologia, 44(12), 2348–2359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.05.007
Fata, I. A., Komariah, E., & Irfandy, I. (2018). Laugh and learn: Evaluating from students’ perspective of humor used in English class. Al-Ta Lim Journal, 25(2), 117–127. https://doi.org/10.15548/jt.v25i2.425
Fazal, S. (2024). Stereotyping through humour in animated movies: A multimodal analysis. International Journal of Social Science and Entrepreneurship (IJSSE), 4(1), 12–25. https://ijsse.salmaedusociety.com/index.php/ijsse/article/view/258
Grases Colom, G., Trías Alcover, C., Sánchez Curto, C., & Zárate-Osuna, J. (2011). Study of the effect of positive humour as a variable that reduces stress: Relationship of humour with personality and performance variables. Psychology in Spain, 15, 9–21. https://portalinvestigacio.uib.cat/documentos/5fb71be92999522dd20fc0e2
Hariyanto, B. (2022). Analisis wacana humor dalam ceramah Gus Bahaʼ. Dialektika: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Pendidikan, 9(1), 16–36. https://doi.org/10.15408/dialektika.v9i1.25117
Hermintoyo, M. (2011). Aspek bunyi sebagai sarana kreativitas humor. Kajian Sastra, 35(1), 14–27. https://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/kajiansastra/article/view/2898
Honcharuk, S., Levchenko, O., & Tsimokh, N. (2022). Mockumentary genre as a cinematic phenomenon of the postmodern age. Bulletin of Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. Series in Audiovisual Art and Production, 5(2), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.31866/2617-2674.5.2.2022.269523
Köhler, G., & Ruch, W. (1996). Sources of variance in current sense of humor inventories: How much substance, how much method variance? Dalam W. Ruch (Ed.), Measurement of the sense of humor (hlm. 363–397). Mouton de Gruyter.
Krippendorff, K. (2019). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (T. Accomazzo & E. Helton, Eds.; 4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Kuperberg, G. R., McGuire, P. K., Bullmore, E. T., Brammer, M. J., Rabe-Hesketh, S., & Wright, I. C. (2000). Common and distinct neural substrates for pragmatic, semantic, and syntactic processing of spoken sentences: An fMRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12(2), 321–341. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892900562138
Martin, R. A. (2007). The psychology of humor: An integrative approach. Elsevier Academic Press.
Martin, R. A., & Lefcourt, H. M. (1984). Situational humor response questionnaire: Quantitative measure of sense of humor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(1), 145–155. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.47.1.145
Morrison, M. K. (2008). Using humor to maximize learning: The links between positive emotions and education. Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Patrick, C. A. (2024). Humour and linguistic features of African folktales. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 27(2), 245–260. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v27i2.9472
Polimeni, J., & Reiss, J. P. (2006). The first joke: Exploring the evolutionary origins of humor. Evolutionary Psychology, 4(1), 114–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490600400129
Ratnawati, H. D. (2019). Karakteristik tuturan humor. Belajar Bahasa: Jurnal Ilmiah Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia, 4(2), 187–194. https://doi.org/10.32528/BB.V4I2.2557
Rnic, K., Dozois, D. J. A., & Martin, R. A. (2016). Cognitive distortions, humor styles, and depression. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 12(3), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.5964/EJOP.V12I3.1118
Ruch, W. (Ed.). (1998). The sense of humor: Explorations of a personality characteristic. Mouton de Gruyter.
Ruch, W., & Heintz, S. (2017). Humour styles, personality and psychological well-being: What’s humour got to do with it? European Journal of Humour Research, 1(4), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-96340
Sethi, S. (2025). Mockumentary: The new age satire is taking the world by storm. Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL), 13(1), 110–116. http://www.rjelal.com/13.1.25/110-116%20Dr%20Sonika%20Sethi.pdf
Solhi, M., & Elahi Shirvan, M. (2023). Modeling the association between EFL instructors’ foreign language teaching enjoyment and humor styles. Journal of Language and Education, 9(2), 160–173. https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2023.15928
Suaib, E., Rafli, Z., & Muliastuti, L. (2019). Types and functions of Indonesia Lawak Klub in Trans 7. Madah: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, 10(2), 189–202. https://madah.kemendikdasmen.go.id/index.php/madah/article/view/189
Sukardi, M. I., Sumarlam, S., & Marmanto, S. (2019). Upaya membangun humor dalam wacana meme melalui permainan bunyi (kajian semantik). Hasta Wiyata, 2(1), 40–54. https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.hastawiyata.2018.002.01.05
Sund, J., & Paasonen, S. (2021). “We have tiny purses in our vaginas!!! #thanksforthat”: Absurdity as a feminist method of intervention. Qualitative Research Journal, 21(3), 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-09-2020-0108
Thuy, P. T., & Thao, L. T. (2022). The contributions of teacher humor in EFL classes in Vietnam: University students’ perspectives. Vision: Journal for Language and Foreign Language Learning, 11(1), 31–50. https://doi.org/10.21580/vjv11i110779
Wijayanti, L. M. (2022). Wacana stand up comedy sebagai media kritik. Jurnal Onoma: Pendidikan, Bahasa, dan Sastra, 8(1), 22–35. https://e-journal.my.id/onoma/article/view/1720