Author(s): Ruoqian Ji

Abstract: This review offers a critical examination of Francisco Yus’s Pragmatics of Internet Humour (2023), a comprehensive work that systematically applies Relevance Theory within a cyberpragmatic framework to the analysis of internet humour. The book’s eight chapters progress from theoretical foundations and incongruity-resolution typologies, through definitions and classifications of internet humour, to contextual constraints interactive humour on messaging apps, humour on social networking sites, meme-mediated communication, and non-propositional affective effects. This review highlights the book for extending Relevance Theory into online communication, integrating it with Incongruity-Resolution Theory, and offering a replicable analytical framework supported by rich empirical data across messaging apps, social networking sites, and memes. However, three limitations are noted: the absence of a concluding synthesis, a somewhat limited scope in explaining humorous meaning, and issues with the presentation of visual materials. Overall, the book is deemed as a valuable resource for pragmatics, discourse analysis and internet communication research.

Keywords: Cognitive Pragmatics, Cyberpragmatics, Internet humour, Memes, Relevance Theory

Article Info: Received: 20 May 2026; Received in revised form: 16 Jun 2026; Accepted: 19 Jun 2026; Available online: 26 Jun 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.113.82