A Multimodal Discourse-Analytic Approach to Incongruity in Short-Form Video

Audrey C. Willoughby
Università degli Studi di Milano

Keywords
Multimodal discourse analysis, incongruity, short-form video, audiovisual discourse, POV genre

Abstract

Humour in short-form audiovisual media is increasingly produced through the coordinated use of multiple semiotic resources unfolding over time rather than through language alone. While pragmatic theories of humour account for expectation violation and inferential reinterpretation, they offer limited methodological tools for analysing how these processes are organised temporally within multimodal audiovisual discourse. This paper develops and illustrates a multimodal discourse-analytic approach to incongruity in short-form video. The approach proceeds in two analytical steps. First, videos are segmented into interpretively stable phases based on observable shifts in semiotic cues such as text, gaze, gesture, sound, and editing. Second, instances of incongruity are analysed by distinguishing between an initial interpretive frame (Meaning 1) and a subsequent disruption or reinterpretation (Meaning 2), identifying the modes involved in each phase. The paper demonstrates the approach using TikTok point-of-view (POV) videos and proposes a transparent framework for analysing humour in multimodal discourse.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Audrey C. Willoughby
Dottoranda in Linguistica presso l’Università degli Studi di Milano, nel Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature, Culture e Mediazioni. Ha conseguito un Master in Applied Linguistics presso la Texas A&M University–Commerce, dove ha discusso una tesi intitolata Humor Markers in Computer-Mediated Communication, e ha inoltre ottenuto un Graduate Certificate in TESOL. La sua ricerca si concentra sulle modalità semiotiche attraverso cui l’umorismo si realizza nelle piattaforme di video brevi, adottando un approccio di analisi multimodale del discorso volto allo studio dei processi di significazione nei media digitali performativi. Ha inoltre ricoperto per diversi anni il ruolo di assistant editor della rivista HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Studies ed è stata editorial assistant per la Encyclopedia of Humor.

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