Conversational Joking in English Youth Language

Humour and language in the movie 'Juno'

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2009 in the subject English - Miscellaneous, grade: 2,3, Technical University of Braunschweig, language: English, abstract: Today the youth and its culture attracts more attention than ever before. Via the internet, films, music or magazines it is possible to spread the feelings and tastes of a whole generation. Easily, a whole new culture can develope. So to say, modern media as a huge influence on the younger generation. Today, media is of major importance to younger people, because they use it as a communicative device, too. The term 'youth language' will be one aspect of this bachelor thesis. For the examination of the linguistic features it is necessary to look at the use of that language in conversations. Moreover, the focus will be on a special field of youth language. Namely, the humour and in detail conversational jokes ocurring in youth language willl be analysed. The data are on the basis of the motion picture Juno, which thematises an uncomfortably youth issue from the viewpoint of a sixteen-year- old girl. In the following, this work is concerned with the question, if youth language is used by the characters. Furthermore a speech analysis can reveal the linguistic features of the language of the adolescents. Moreover, the focus will be on how much humorous potential lies in their conversations.