TopCommunication And Context
Communication is meaningless without context. By that, I mean that meaning is derived through awareness of how messages are conditioned by time and place so that the same message in two different contexts can have two entirely different meanings. What might be humorous in one context can be insulting in another. That is why humor is always a little risky, but the risk is part of the fun. Proffering humor to another person means taking a gamble that the combination of message and context will work in a way that is unexpected, yet appropriate and effective.
Most of the time, when we think of communication context, we are likely to think of the time and place in which communication occurs. On the other hand, context can also be a story in which a communicative act is recounted (Binhammer, 2017; Repede, 2008). In other words, a story about a past conversation embeds one communicative act (the conversation) within another communicative act (the recounting of the conversation).
"India is in Asia?" is a case in point. By recounting a humorous incident, Dr. Tailor frames a conversation with her patient, James, in a particular way to illustrate her point about respecting patients. As a communication scholar, my job is to take a step back, looking at not only what transpired in the examination room, but also how Dr. Tailor constructs that conversation through her story.
In essence, Dr. Tailor's story is about demonstrating respect toward patients by illustrating her use of humor in response to a faux pas made by James. In this chapter, I will analyze many facets of the conversation described, focusing on "face-work" as my principle theoretical emphasis, informed by empirical studies of humor in doctor-patient communication. I will also draw upon narrative theory, specifically dramatism, to analyze how Dr. Tailor has constructed her story in a specific way to make her point.