An Analysis of Kuanmuk Narrative and Dialogue in the Royal Khon Performance

Abstract

          This article focuses on analyzing “Kuanmuk” narrative and dialogue - jokes dialogue from Royal Khon performance - by using humour theory with social and cultural reflections. The result shows that the form of Kuanmuk narrative and dialogue is consist of the 3 theories of humour: superiority theory, relief theory and incongruity theory. Various language strategies such as non-verbal communication, foreign language words and medical terms are used in this study. In addition, there are social and cultural reflections on many issues: social equality, LGBTQ, social class, political awakening, government corruption, popularity in entertainment media, the spread of communicable diseases. Kuanmuk narrative and dialogue indicates the colours of the royal Khon performance showing the intelligibility of language that is easy to understand, suitable for audiences of all ages and the use of those languages also reflect the social and cultural conditions at that time. This is a clear confirmation that language is closely related to society.