Sociopragmatic and Strategic Functions of Humour in Intercultural Business Contexts

Stwora, A. (2020). “Sociopragmatic and strategic functions of humour in intercultural business contexts” in: Michalik, U., Stwora, A., Sznicer, I., and Zakrajewski, P. (eds.), Exploring Business Language and Culture. Cham: Springer, 143-156. Humour plays an important role in corporate cultures and its sociopragmatic functions are already evidenced by ample research. This paper aims at supplementing the existing studies on this issue, presenting the results of a cross-cultural survey on humour in business context. The emphasis is placed on checking the awareness of the workings of humour in intercultural business contexts among Polish and Taiwanese respondents. Furthermore, the paper will focus on basic considerations related to humour, as well as on the universal and culture-specific aspects of humour. Is there a place for humour in business, in negotiations or in one’s workplace? Is more humour associated with more risk in intercultural communication? Which strategic functions of humour seem crucial to the informants? These are the research questions the author will try to answer.