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3. Being polite through irony

  • Xose A. Padilla García and M. Belén Alvarado Ortega
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Dialogue in Spanish
This chapter is in the book Dialogue in Spanish

Abstract

This chapter examines irony and politeness in spoken Spanish utterances, two phenomena that have traditionally been considered contradictory. However, through the application of a pragmatic approach to spontaneous discourse, politeness and irony are found to be very close phenomena and irony can even be considered a strategy to produce politeness. Most researchers have studied ‘prototypical irony’; i.e., non-polite or negative irony. On the contrary, non-prototypical (positive) irony is examined to show that politeness can be present. Our study is part of a wider research agenda by the GRIALE group that looks at markers that help the listener recognize the ironic meaning.

Abstract

This chapter examines irony and politeness in spoken Spanish utterances, two phenomena that have traditionally been considered contradictory. However, through the application of a pragmatic approach to spontaneous discourse, politeness and irony are found to be very close phenomena and irony can even be considered a strategy to produce politeness. Most researchers have studied ‘prototypical irony’; i.e., non-polite or negative irony. On the contrary, non-prototypical (positive) irony is examined to show that politeness can be present. Our study is part of a wider research agenda by the GRIALE group that looks at markers that help the listener recognize the ironic meaning.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction vii
  4. 1. A continuum of approaches to dialogue 1
  5. Part I. Dialogue in interpersonal contexts of informal conversation
  6. 2. Dialogues within oral narratives 31
  7. 3. Being polite through irony 55
  8. 4. Humor in verbal irony 69
  9. 5. Evaluation, interpersonal meaning and co-construction in oral narratives by Mexican adolescents 89
  10. 6. The truth about verdad 117
  11. 7. Backchannels as a realization of interaction 137
  12. Part II. Dialogue in public, professional, and educational contexts
  13. 8. Dialogue in the dynamics of political practice 159
  14. 9. Conflict resolution 189
  15. 10. A discourse analysis of Alzheimer-type dementia in personal conversations 221
  16. 11. Triadic discourse 237
  17. 12. Behind L2 pragmatics 257
  18. Conclusions and implications of studies that approach dialogue in its complexity 283
  19. References 291
  20. General index 315
  21. List of contributors 321
https://doi.org/10.1075/ds.7.04pad

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction vii
  4. 1. A continuum of approaches to dialogue 1
  5. Part I. Dialogue in interpersonal contexts of informal conversation
  6. 2. Dialogues within oral narratives 31
  7. 3. Being polite through irony 55
  8. 4. Humor in verbal irony 69
  9. 5. Evaluation, interpersonal meaning and co-construction in oral narratives by Mexican adolescents 89
  10. 6. The truth about verdad 117
  11. 7. Backchannels as a realization of interaction 137
  12. Part II. Dialogue in public, professional, and educational contexts
  13. 8. Dialogue in the dynamics of political practice 159
  14. 9. Conflict resolution 189
  15. 10. A discourse analysis of Alzheimer-type dementia in personal conversations 221
  16. 11. Triadic discourse 237
  17. 12. Behind L2 pragmatics 257
  18. Conclusions and implications of studies that approach dialogue in its complexity 283
  19. References 291
  20. General index 315
  21. List of contributors 321
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