A Linguistic Study of Humor in Bassem Youssef's “Al Bernameg” & Jon Stewart's “The Daily Show”: A Multi-Modal Integrated Approach

Abstract

The study sets to discover the linguistic tools used by people to exaggerate the defects of their society, to criticize them, and to influence people's attitudes with the intention of social reform. The two political shows that are selected to be the core of this study are: The Daily Show of Jon Stewart and Al-Bernameg of Bassem Youssef. The reason for the selection of these two shows is that they have similar ideas, with some variations in the tools used by each. One of the important aims of this study is to reveal that the use of non-verbal communicative modes is essential and sometimes more significant than words in conveying humor and satire. Youssef and Stewart rely on non-verbal modes such as gestures; gazes, proxemics, color, images, and music to criticize those who have power or authority over them. The study analyzes the selected episodes of each show by utilizing two approaches: The General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH), and Norris' Multimodal Interactional Approach (Norris' MIA). It aims to prove that humor is generated through either GTVH's parameters or Norris' non-verbal modes, or through integration between the two approaches. The study shows that Stewart and Youssef use verbal and non-verbal communicative modes with varying degrees. Moreover, the results uncover that the similarities are more than the differences in the linguistic tools that are used by each host. It is also noted that the two hosts integrate the verbal modes with the non-verbal communicative modes in all examples. Such integration plays a crucial role in attracting the audience and assists in delivering their implicit messages effectively and in a humorous way.

Key words: political satire shows, the General Theory of Verbal Humor, multimodal discourse analysis, Norris's Multimodal Interactional Approach.