CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES IN THE MOVIE “THE MERMAID” (2016)

Abstract

"The Mermaid" (2016) is a Chinese fiction-comedy which ignites numerous laughters among the audience thanks to its humorous details and conversations among characters in the movie. On the basis of Gricean conversational implicatures (1975), this paper analyses conversational implicatures when characters intentionally violate conversation maxims. A total of 27 conversations with violations are put into analysis, among which some violate a single maxim whereas others may violate several maxims. Violations of the maxim of quality account for the highest proportion, and violations of the maxim of quantity the lowest. Interlocutors' implicatures are identified through the use of inference on the basis of, inter alia, contexts, settings, and relations among characters.