“You don’t want to buy it, you want to borrow it” : humour in the Prince Edward Island auctioneer’s performance

Abstract

Auctioneers in eastem Prince County, Prince Edward Island are entertainers as well as salesmen. They continually interrupt their rhythmic speech to joke with their audiences. Though most of their wit is spontaneous, the auctioneer’s use of humour is quite conscious and has pragmatic functions - to sell goods and to achieve social control over their audiences. This paper examines the use of humour by auctioneers of farm and household goods and shows how their humour reflects the values of their society.

Résumé

Cette étude décrit l’atmosphère de la vente à l’encan et les manières de s’exprimer des encanteurs. Elle montre comment ce discours favorise la vente des marchandises et réussit à retenir l’attention de l’assistance. De plus elle essaie de démontrer comment ce discours reflète les valeurs de la culture de l’encanteur et de son assistance.