Mesclagem conceptual na construção de sentido em piadas com nomes de órgãos sexuais

Abstract

This quali-quantitative research aims to study the cognitive processes that underlie the construction of sense of jokes that use popular names given to the vulva and penis. These processes are analyzed primarily from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (LAKOFF, JOHSON, 1980, EVANS, GREEN, 2006, KÖVECSES, 2010) and the Conceptual Integration Theory (or Blending) (FAUCONNIER, TURNER, 2002). For the selection of jokes, it was chosen to use narratives that dealt with (i) a possible inference to the respective organs and (ii) a double meaning usually revealed at the end of the anecdotes. In addition, the genre joke was chosen in which there were no direct reference to anatomical terminology (vulva and penis) in the narrative, providing the process of inferences by the reader - from the processing of cognitive domains - for the construction of meaning. Based on the analyzes, it was postulated that the blending makes possible the union of several cognitive processes that would reveal the creativity of the thought, in order to deal with taboos as from euphemistic words. Thus, these softened words would arouse the social acceptance of the words struck by taboo. In addition, it was presumed that some of these cognitive processes would tend to be repeated in a regularized form when triggered the frame relative to SEXUAL ORGANS. In this sense, it was verified that the associations established between a given object and the sexual organ are made, to a large extent, through metonymic-metaphorical motivations based on conventionalized metaphors of the type PERSON IS OBJECT, and (PART OF) THE HUMAN BODY IS OBJECT, showing that metaphorical thinking is activated by perceiving the role of the names used to circumvent taboo. In this study, we sought to develop networks of conceptual integration that demonstrate which vital relations/compressions are most recurrent in the conceptualization of jokes that integrate popular names given to the vulva and penis, in addition to examining how metaphorical thinking is activated by noticing the role of the names used to circumvent taboo.