Self-deprecatory humor on TV cooking shows Keri Matwick * , Kelsi Matwick University of Florida, USA article info Article history: Keywords: Humor Self-disclosure Gender roles Pragmatics Celebrity Cooking shows abstract Humor and joking are instruments through which social control is exerted and through which self-identity is displayed. A form of self-disclosure, humorous self-deprecation is self-directed critique done in a humorous way to minimize possible value judgments the self-revealing information might provoke. While much of humor has been examined in the context of natural conversation or between participants in the media, little attention has been given to humor performed individually in a pseudo-interactional context. A prag- matics approach shows how humorous self-deprecations of celebrity chefs in single- hosted how-to-cook cooking shows serve to entertain, build solidarity, and construct authenticity. We further argue that self-deprecation protects the speaker from criticism and also promotes hegemonic values of what is appropriate and inappropriate gendered behavior. Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Recent research on humor has been carried out in the field of pragmatics and interactional sociolinguistics. This research has focused on the multiple uses of humor in conversation: its realization in the form of joking and teasing (Haugh, 2016; Norrick, 1993, 2010; Dynel, 2009, 2014); its effectiveness in eliciting laughter (Glenn, 2003; Haakana, 2012); and how it functions in relationships in various situations such as the workplace (Holmes, 2000; Holmes and Marra, 2002); and finally, how it functions in relationship development among friends (Boxer and Cortés-Conde, 1997) and between men and women (Jefferson, 2004; Lakoff, 1975; Hay, 2002). However, there has been little attempt to analyze the role of humor in one-way, “pseudo” interaction with others. In this article, we examine how humor is employed in the realization of self-disclosure by solo speakers to an absent other. Specifically, we analyze how humorous self-disclosure is carried out by solo television cooking show hosts who address virtual listeners, or their viewers. Fewer research in sociolinguistics on humor has been conducted in the field of gender studies (Cortés-Conde and Boxer, 2010; Hay, 2000, 2002; Holmes and Schnurr, 2006). This research has repeatedly shown that women continue to struggle with socially imposed gender roles, and through which uses of humorous self-disclosure allow for resistance and forging identities of their own. In this study, we address a type of self-disclosure: self-deprecation or the critiquing of oneself, especially in humor. We focus on humorous self-deprecation as a means for analyzing the way identity is displayed and how relationships are affirmed and reaffirmed through such display. We assert that an even more important part of humorous self-deprecation can be not only the display but also the development of “synthetic personalization,” the construction of a personal connection although done en masse (Fairclough, * Corresponding author. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. E-mail address: kerimatwick@gmail.com (K. Matwick). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Language & Communication journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/langcom http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2017.04.005 0271-5309/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Language & Communication 56 (2017) 33–41