Constructing Meaning, Shaping Society: The Calculability and Cancellability of Conversational Implicatures

This paper investigates the features of calculability and cancellability of conversational implicatures, focusing on their societal importance. The analysis of the carnival effigy Škuribando Fureštić is used to illustrate how conversational implicatures can be employed to maintain the social status quo and perpetuate stereotypes. This is not to suggest that implicatures are more prominent than explicit communication in achieving these effects, but rather that their indirect nature is often exploited to avoid responsibility for the conveyed message. This paper challenges the notion that implicatures are easily cancellable and deniable, arguing that cancellation often leads to logical implausibility, thereby indicating faulty communication.