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Chapter 11. The standard experimental approach to the study of irony

Let us not be hasty in throwing out the baby with the bathwater
  • Albert N. Katz
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Irony in Language Use and Communication
This chapter is in the book Irony in Language Use and Communication

Abstract

The traditional way in which irony has been studied in the laboratory takes a critical item, such as the sentence “You are a true friend” and embeds it in a verbal context that either supports a sincere reading or a counterfactual ironic one. One can question the ecological validity of this approach. In this chapter, three demonstrations are presented to show that by making slight changes to the traditional methodology one can provide insights into the discourse context in which irony is embedded, the pragmatic effects of the critical statements above that provided by the discourse context and, finally, a means of disentangling the multi-faced aspects of the ironic experience.

Abstract

The traditional way in which irony has been studied in the laboratory takes a critical item, such as the sentence “You are a true friend” and embeds it in a verbal context that either supports a sincere reading or a counterfactual ironic one. One can question the ecological validity of this approach. In this chapter, three demonstrations are presented to show that by making slight changes to the traditional methodology one can provide insights into the discourse context in which irony is embedded, the pragmatic effects of the critical statements above that provided by the discourse context and, finally, a means of disentangling the multi-faced aspects of the ironic experience.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Editors and contributors vii
  4. Foreword ix
  5. Introduction 1
  6. Part I. Interdisciplinary perspectives on irony
  7. Chapter 1. Irony performance and perception 19
  8. Chapter 2. How does irony arise in experience? 43
  9. Chapter 3. In defense of an ecumenical approach to irony 61
  10. Part II. Irony, thought and (media) communication
  11. Chapter 4. Introducing a three-dimensional model of verbal irony 87
  12. Chapter 5. On ironic puns in Portuguese authentic oral data 109
  13. Chapter 6. Irony and sarcasm in follow-ups of metaphorical slogans 127
  14. Part III. Approaches to verbal irony
  15. Chapter 7. Irony, pretence and fictively-elaborating hyperbole 145
  16. Chapter 8. Cognitive modeling and irony 179
  17. Chapter 9. Irony has a metonymic basis 201
  18. Part IV. Approaches to studying irony
  19. Chapter 10. Defaultness shines while affirmation pales 219
  20. Chapter 11. The standard experimental approach to the study of irony 237
  21. Chapter 12. Investigating sarcasm comprehension using eye-tracking during reading 255
  22. Name index 277
  23. Subject index 279
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.1.12kat

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Editors and contributors vii
  4. Foreword ix
  5. Introduction 1
  6. Part I. Interdisciplinary perspectives on irony
  7. Chapter 1. Irony performance and perception 19
  8. Chapter 2. How does irony arise in experience? 43
  9. Chapter 3. In defense of an ecumenical approach to irony 61
  10. Part II. Irony, thought and (media) communication
  11. Chapter 4. Introducing a three-dimensional model of verbal irony 87
  12. Chapter 5. On ironic puns in Portuguese authentic oral data 109
  13. Chapter 6. Irony and sarcasm in follow-ups of metaphorical slogans 127
  14. Part III. Approaches to verbal irony
  15. Chapter 7. Irony, pretence and fictively-elaborating hyperbole 145
  16. Chapter 8. Cognitive modeling and irony 179
  17. Chapter 9. Irony has a metonymic basis 201
  18. Part IV. Approaches to studying irony
  19. Chapter 10. Defaultness shines while affirmation pales 219
  20. Chapter 11. The standard experimental approach to the study of irony 237
  21. Chapter 12. Investigating sarcasm comprehension using eye-tracking during reading 255
  22. Name index 277
  23. Subject index 279
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