Flouting Conversational Maxims in a Popular American Sitcom The Third Rock From the Sun

Abstract

The present paper aims at investigating the functions of deliberate violation of Gricean Cooperative Principle and the conversational maxims thereby. The corpus was collected from the six seasons of American TV sitcom The Third Rock from the Sun which was broadcast from 1996 to 2001 incorporating 138 episodes overall. Using descriptive and qualitative method we sought to explore which maxims are flouted the most and for which purposes. After a brief account of the fundamental theoretical notions, the examples of conversational turns are classified and discussed, followed by the conclusion drawn based on the previously accounted examples focusing predominantly on the functions of flouting. Furthermore, the shortcomings and advantages of the Gricean approach are underscored and expanded.