The Expression of British Humor in Downton Abbey

陳金玲+周小靖

【Abstract】The British humor is of unique traits and it is a little difficult to understand for people who do not have enough knowledge background. There are four characteristics of British humor： implicit while profound， absurd and exaggerated， complicated while understated. As for its formation reason， it will be analyzed from three parts： the Englishmens personality， British culture and British economy.British humor has been applied in a large number of TV works. In this thesis， The Downton Abbey has been chosen as the object of the study for its popularity at home and abroad. First， its expression techniques to show the British humor have been analyzed： satire， self-deprecation， understatement and figure of speech. Because of these skills， the characters personality has been vividly performed in this play and it has attracted large audiences， so British humor has contributed greatly to the dramas success.

【Key words】British humor； Downton Abbey； features； expression technique

【摘要】英式幽默是英國文化的精髓之一。相比其他形式的幽默而言，英式幽默有其獨一無二的特點：含蓄深刻，夸張諷刺，簡單事情復雜化，輕描淡寫復雜事。本文首先分析了英式幽默的這些特點，然后敘述形成這些特點的原因。主要有三個方面：英國人保守矜持的性格；英國的經(jīng)濟特點，曾經(jīng)的“日不落帝國”的衰退；英國無處不在的紳士文化。英式幽默也越來越多的出現(xiàn)在英國的影視作品中，受到了國內(nèi)外觀眾的喜愛和歡迎，本文選取最受歡迎的英劇——《唐頓莊園》作為研究對象，討論該劇中所運用的英式幽默技巧：諷刺，自嘲，低調(diào)陳述和比喻，這些技巧對人物的塑造起著非常重要的作用，這也是為何《唐頓莊園》受到觀眾青睞的重要原因之一。

【關(guān)鍵詞】英式幽默 唐頓莊園 特點 原因 表達技巧

British humor is difficult to identify and understand.On one hand， what Englishmen find amusing may not be funny at all to others from other locations as they dont share the same style of humor.On the other hand，British jokes probably will not provoke the listeners into opening their mouths and bursting into laugh as the point of British humor lies in its profound connotation but not its function of laugh trigger.These contribute to make British humor a unique one.

Not like usual jokes，explicit and closed to life，British humor is extremely implicit and filled with profound cultural connotations.Englishmen attach great importance to their manner of behavior even when they are telling jokes or blowing up.In order to achieve that，British humor has to be showed in a underlying manner.

The British film True Love is a typical representative of this kind of implicit humor. Ten love stories unfold in this film.Once this prime minister had to take down the domineering American in an official conversation with the president of the United States.He implicitly described Britain as a country of Shakespeare，Churchill，the Beatles，Sean Connery，Harry Potter and David Beckham. His true meaning was that English never fell behind in history， literature，arts and sports.His implicit while profound statement boosted the morale of British and broke the momentum of American.

British culture is not a fast-food culture，and neither is the British humor.It lays emphasis on implication and realizes it through pun，absurd，witty irony and self deprecation. British humor sometimes turns into another mode which is absurd and exaggerated. The main characters in this type of humor are usually nobody，not like the omnipotent heroes in Hollywood movies.These people have a lot character defects like selfishness， jealousy， paranoid，cynic and irritating.

The Mr. Bean series of films are typical of this type. In this play，the main character Mr. Bean was a stupid man who aroused disorder everywhere.However，in the meantime，he took various crazy adventures and would finally save the day.He brushed his teeth in the supermarket to see if the toothbrush was suitable or not and then put it back.He dived naked into the swimming pool.Even though he dressed like a common middle-class man，his behavior was absurd and exaggerated.

British people behave ridiculously to satirize social ills.The decline of country and the unfair phenomenon in society put high pressure on British people.They need this nonsensical humor to give full sway to inner feelings.That is why British humor needs to be absurd and exaggerated.

British people are inclined to control the expression of enthusiasm， the burst of passion and the reveal of discomfort，which leads to the frequent use of understatement.

Understatement can produce satiric and humorous effects.For example，in the sentence“He had five sandwiches and a quart of milk for his snack.”The speaker understates five sandwiches and a quart of milk as snack，which should be a pair of contradiction.This dramatically contributes to a satiric effect and drives us to laugh.

In addition to understatement，Englishmen utilize complication as well.An episode in Three Men in a Boat is cited as a classic example of complication. The leading character J diagnosed scarlet fever on the base of following process. For one moment， he could not feel his pulse.For another moment，he felt the heart beating quickly. He pulled out his watch and timed it，counting it as a hundred and forty-seven to the minute. He patted himself form waist to head but heard nothing.He stuck his tongue out as far as ever it would go，and shut one eye，and tried to examine it with the other， but could only see the tip. He felt certain about his scarlet fever on the base of this illogical course.The complicated detail description demonstrated the anxious condition and ignorance of J.Complicating simple things means the strengthening of emotions and emphasis of the statement. Understatement and complication are thought-provoking and both of them are important features of British humor.

The tactic language that British humor applies employs four main techniques concluding four parts： satire，self-deprecation， understatement and figure of speech. Satire can be seen as a performing art， which aims at ridiculing individuals，events， government or society for vices，follies and shortcomings. Satire is the synonym of humor.It makes use of satiric or aggressive words to shame the target，forcing the readers to think deeply about the truth and the nature of things.Besides satiric words， it also employs repetition and exaggeration to achieve the goal.

There is a funny description of Turkish ambassador from Mary，the first daughter of Lord Grantham.“Hes rather a dandy. A funny little foreigner with a wide，toothy grin and hair reeking of pomade.”Mary used these satiric words to tease a man that she had never met，creating an image like geek.Similar examples about satiric words are ubiquitous in Downton Abbey.

In addition to satiric work，British also use repetition to emphasis and make ironic utterance.For instance，Violet once complained about her daughter-in-law Cora that she had not gave birth to a boy.Cora said “Well， I didnt.”Then Violet repeated “No， you did not.”The repetition emphasized the fact that Cora didnt have a son，which led to the transference of Lord Granthams inheritance and caused a great pain to their family.Repetition strengthens the tone and the statement.

Exaggeration is another essential method for satire.Once Mrs. Patmore asked Daisy to go for a drink，but Daisy delayed and did not come back quickly，so Mrs. Patmore shouted at Daisy “I said you could go for a drink of water，not a trip up the Nile.”The time for a drink was exaggerated as the time for a long trip.The exaggeration demonstrated the anger of Mrs.Patmore as well as her acridness.

Satire is the core of British humor.Its satiric， emphatic， hyperbolic effects injure endless vigor to British humor. Self-deprecation is a unique and exclusive method for British to relieve their true feelings.Actually，they mock themselves to pity themselves or laugh at others implicitly.

Mary usually mocked herself for her hard-heart.When her fiancé dead，she said she was sad because she was not as sad as she should at the funeral.When the Turkish ambassador dead because of her，she said that she didnt have a heart and thats why she didnt feel guilty.On the surface，she was a callous and snobbish girl，but in fact， she was just unwillingly to show her gentle and fragile heart.Self-deprecation is a way for her to numb herself and stay strong. Noble members and servants， regardless of their social class，all of them can convey British humor through self-deprecation. What behind the self-mockery maybe sorrow and maybe indignation.

Understatement is a figure of speech which applies lesser strength of expression than expected.It is often associated with British culture.Sometimes it is used for creating comic effect，sometimes used for dealing with extreme situation. Lord Grantham and Lady Cora quarreled for the inheritance of the legacy.The scene was caught by their mother Violet，who was dissatisfied with her American daughter-in-law. She joked that she hoped she do not hear sounds of a disagreement and New Yorker should call it discussion. A quarrel was weakened as disagreement or even discussion. The weakening of the tone makes a comic effect.Old lady Violet was amused by watching them fighting and she made use of it to scoff at American.Other than making comic effects，understatement is also used for coping with extreme situation. At the beginning of the drama，the news of Titanic disaster spread to Downton Abbey. Lord Grantham made a profound remark at this time.“Every mountain is unclimbable until someone climbs it，so every ship is unsinkable until it sinks.”Almost one thousand and five hundred people dead in Titanic disaster.Lord Grantham just used unsinkable to describe a miraculous ship.However， what beneath the calm voice was heavy heart.When things happened are too heavy to stand， Englishmen tend to conceal their sorrow and create a relatively relaxing atmosphere.

Englishmen do well in making a comparison，especially through literary charters and historical figures.Thomas was supposed to be promoted as the valet of Lord Grantham but the position unexpectedly taken by a crippled man，Bates.Thomas was not reconciled at all and regarded Bates as his rival.He complained to Obrien that he couldnt believe that he had been passed over for Long John Silver.Thomas compared Bates to Long John Silver，who was a fictional character in the novel Treasure Land written by Robert Louis Stevenson.Thomas insisted that Bates was a cunning and opportunistic villain just like the lame pirate Long John Silver.He used a literary character to show his dissatisfaction about Bates.Besides literary characters， Englishmen also make use of historical figures to conduct a comparison.For example， William compared Thomas and Obrien to Guy Fawkes and his assistant who tried to bomb the capital and assassinated King James I but failed.When Thomas and Obrien talked in whispers，they seemed to conspire something harmful.Thomas utilized this metaphor to satirize this scheming couple.

Metaphor make the expression of British humor more vivid.Comparison also promotes the cultural connotation of British humor.Person who hardly knows the history and literature of English may find difficulty in understanding it.

British humor is implicit and filled with profound connotations.Sometimes， it changes into another mode which is absurd and exaggerated.It also utilizes understatement and complication to emphasis the statement and strengthen the emotions.The tactic language that British humor employed in Downton Abbey makes use of four main expression techniques，concluding satire，self-deprecation， understatement and metaphor.The satiric words，repetition and exaggeration made satire become the core of British humor.People，regardless of what social class do they belong to，can make use of self-deprecation to show their inner minds.Understatement is an exclusive way for Englishmen to create comic effects or copy with extreme situations.Metaphor adds cultural complication to British humor.Under the help of these four expression techniques， British humor becomes the shinning point of Downton Abbey.

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