Exploring sarcastic utterances in english in 'gilmore girls' tv series

Abstract

This study explores sarcastic utterances in English as depicted in Season 2 of the Gilmore Girls TV series, focusing on their types and strategies in various relational contexts. Adopting a mixed-method approach, the research categorizes sarcasm into explicit and implicit types, examining seven strategies: incongruity, explicitation, reasoning, metonymy, metaphor, rhetorical questions, and echoing, adapting from Tabacaru's (2017). Relationships are analyzed based on Brown and Levinson's Politeness Theory (1987), encompassing narrow-symmetrical, narrow-asymmetrical, distant-symmetrical, and distant-asymmetrical types. The findings reveal that sarcasm adapts to relational dynamics, with explicit types often used in symmetrical relationships to maintain humor or critique, while implicit types dominate asymmetrical relationships to mitigate face-threatening acts. This study enhances the understanding of sarcasm as a context-dependent communicative tool which provides insights into its strategic adaptability across diverse interpersonal settings.