John L. Austin’s laugth or its humour’s seriousness

Abstract

The object of this text is to think about the alleged binarism between the ‘serious’ and ‘non-serious’ uses of language in J. L. Austin. The starting point is an examination of his controversial position against dichotomies, paying particular attention to the central role that verbal humor plays in his writings. Based on this, it will be expounded how humor takes shape in Austin's theoretical / practical project in the way it is used to undo and destabilize dichotomous oppositions (its subversive capacity), as well as in its exemplary version, thus reinforcing his thesis that all saying is doing. In short, my proposal involves taking Austin's sense of humor seriously. From this perspective, that binarism hatches and a new reading emerges that contributes to clarify the complex interpretation of the Austinian work.