الفهرس 
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Abstract
Humor can be realized either through verbal or non-verbal modes. Verbal humor- realized through using language as a medium for creating humor-is found in comic movies, situation comedy, TV programs, everyday conversations, cartoons, jokes, etc. Concerning jokes, there are two kinds of jokes: canned jokes and conversational/situational jokes (Attardo, 1994). Jokes, as a sub-genre of verbal humor, can be classified into two categories: canned jokes and conversational/ situational jokes (Attardo, 1994). Canned jokes- found in written forms in books, collections of jokes, internet websites- do not depend on contexts of their occurrence. On the other hand, situational jokes are created spontaneously during a conversation, so they depend on the context in which they are used. The present study aims to pragmatically analyze canned jokes- previously unresearched genre- to improve non-native English speakers’ linguistic knowledge- to get better understanding of canned jokes. The researcher selects thirty canned- divided into three categories: family jokes, institutional jokes, and daily life jokes- and employs Attardo and Raskin’s (1991) the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH), Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principle (CP), and Searle’s (1979) Speech Act Theory (SAT). It is concluded that Script Opposition is the main source of humor in most, if not all, canned jokes. In addition, in the selected jokes, language reflects power relations among its participants. Finally, canned jokes are abundant with rhetorical devices through violation of quality and quantity maxims
Keywords: verbal humor, canned jokes, General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH), Cooperative Principle (CP), Speech Act Theory (SAT).