Interpretation of Conversational Implicature in the Film Green Book From the Perspective of the Cooperative Principle

Abstract

Green Book, which premiered in September 2018, won various awards during the North American film awards season, culminating in the 2019 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. The film follows the travels of African-American pianist Dr. Donald Shirley and his hired Italian chauffeur and bodyguard, Tony Lip, in the 1960s. Combining Grice's conversational implicature theory and cooperative principle theory, this paper analyzes the dialogue between Dr. Donald Shirley and Tony Lip in the film, explores the implication of conversation from the violation of the cooperative principle, so as to deeply understand how conversation depicts character's personality and how conversation conveys humor.