Jurnal Bastra (Bahasa dan Sastra)
Vol. 11 No. 4 (2026): JURNAL BASTRA EDISI OKTOBER 2026

Conversational Implicature in Wolfgang Borchert’s Short Story Die Küchenuhr: A Gricean Pragmatic Study

Priskila Yosefina Natalia Sinaga (Universitas Negeri Medan)
Risnovita Sari (Universitas Negeri Medan)



Article Info

Publish Date
10 Aug 2026

Abstract

This study analyzes conversational implicature in Wolfgang Borchert’s short story Die Küchenuhr using Grice’s pragmatic theory. The study is motivated by the minimalist style of German postwar literature, in which simple utterances often contain deep implied meanings. This research aims to identify forms of conversational maxim flouting in the main character’s utterances and explain the implicatures generated by those floutings. The study employed a descriptive qualitative method with documentation and note-taking techniques. The data consisted of selected utterances of the main character that contain maxim flouting and implied meaning. Data were analyzed using Grice’s Cooperative Principle, which includes the maxims of quantity, quality, relevance, and manner, supported by an interactive analysis model involving data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings show that all four maxims are flouted, with quantity and relevance appearing most prominently. The implicatures reveal longing for the mother, regret over neglected simple moments, and belated awareness of lost happiness.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

journal

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

JOURNAL BASTRA (Language and Literature) is a publicly accessible journal published by the Indonesian Language and Literature Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Halu Oleo University. This journal is published four times a year, every January, April, July, and ...