GTVH.. additional thoughts

Of late I've been battling with the age old question of authorial intention in relation to the semantic-script theory (or SSTH) of Raskin and the more developed general theory (or GTVH) of Attardo and Raskin.

I've been thinking about my supervisor's work on the structures of political speeches and, in particular, the speeches of Churchill. The semantic and linguistic structures look so much like the structures of humour. Couplets and triplets working, often using incongruous elements, to make a memorable and surprising statement. Maybe this is why they can be so easily parodied? This leads me to question whether the application of the General Theory of Verbal Humour presupposes the intention of the script or performance. Would the GTVH give a 'false positive' if applied to "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Anyway, these are the ongoing thoughts.