Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Humor in Picture Books for Children

Abstract

The aim of the study is to to examine ways in which humor in picture books for children functions as a communicative tool, promotes conversation and fulfils its interpersonal function through available meaning-making mechanisms. To analyze humor in picture books, six diverse narratives intended for children ages 3-6 were selected based on the advice of professional educators of an international school. Multimodal humorous occurrences were interpreted using Systemic Functional approach to Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA). Main analytical tools used in the current research are Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (the principle of metafunctionality) and the extension of Halliday’s theory proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) related to applying metafunctionality to visual language. Since the selected data consists of picture books intended for children ages 3 to 6, incongruity plays a central role of producing humor in this age (McGhee 1979). Therefore, to study humor, the current work takes the Incongruity Theory approach. The analysis of incongruity-based humor led to the findings that common humorous features in picture books include (i) the use of irony, (ii) anthropomorphism, (iii) language play and (iv) disruption of social norms. Readerly gaps serve as catalysts to evoke conversation, participation and entertainment. Multimodal nature of picture books allows to experiment with humorous features to create conversation, trigger interaction and provide readers with enjoyable entertainment.