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Chapter 1. Irony performance and perception

What underlies verbal, situational and other ironies?
  • Herbert L. Colston
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Irony in Language Use and Communication
This chapter is in the book Irony in Language Use and Communication

Abstract

Differing notions of things labeled as “irony”, and issues concerning their relative unity versus disunity are discussed. Accounts of verbal and situational irony in particular are considered as sharing the oft-mentioned but rarely agreed-upon form of contradiction that seems to potentially underlie all types of irony. This notion of contradiction is widened under the newly introduced umbrella term, “conjoined antonymy”, whereby contra-indicatedness is enhanced by the blatant and undeniable juxtaposition of the contradicting portions in ironic structures. Future directions for research exploring the variety if ironies and their commonality (and nuanced differences) are also proposed.

Abstract

Differing notions of things labeled as “irony”, and issues concerning their relative unity versus disunity are discussed. Accounts of verbal and situational irony in particular are considered as sharing the oft-mentioned but rarely agreed-upon form of contradiction that seems to potentially underlie all types of irony. This notion of contradiction is widened under the newly introduced umbrella term, “conjoined antonymy”, whereby contra-indicatedness is enhanced by the blatant and undeniable juxtaposition of the contradicting portions in ironic structures. Future directions for research exploring the variety if ironies and their commonality (and nuanced differences) are also proposed.

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.1.02col

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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