Chapter 2. How does irony arise in experience?
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Raymond W. Gibbs
Abstract
How does irony arise in experience? Most studies of irony focus on the verbal expression of ironic meaning. Irony is typically viewed as a rhetorical tool used for indirect communication. But irony also emerges automatically in many nonlinguistic contexts. People often judge paradoxical situations to be ironic, and sometimes recognize that their own failed attempts at thought suppression also lead to a sense or feeling of irony. Irony can also emerge when people enact certain embodied metaphors relevant to pretense and benign violations of the body. This chapter explores these various ways by which irony presents itself in everyday life. We suggest that irony is less an indirect form of communication than fundamental kind of bicoherent thought which underlie many cognitive and expressive actions.
Abstract
How does irony arise in experience? Most studies of irony focus on the verbal expression of ironic meaning. Irony is typically viewed as a rhetorical tool used for indirect communication. But irony also emerges automatically in many nonlinguistic contexts. People often judge paradoxical situations to be ironic, and sometimes recognize that their own failed attempts at thought suppression also lead to a sense or feeling of irony. Irony can also emerge when people enact certain embodied metaphors relevant to pretense and benign violations of the body. This chapter explores these various ways by which irony presents itself in everyday life. We suggest that irony is less an indirect form of communication than fundamental kind of bicoherent thought which underlie many cognitive and expressive actions.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Interdisciplinary perspectives on irony
- Chapter 1. Irony performance and perception 19
- Chapter 2. How does irony arise in experience? 43
- Chapter 3. In defense of an ecumenical approach to irony 61
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Part II. Irony, thought and (media) communication
- Chapter 4. Introducing a three-dimensional model of verbal irony 87
- Chapter 5. On ironic puns in Portuguese authentic oral data 109
- Chapter 6. Irony and sarcasm in follow-ups of metaphorical slogans 127
-
Part III. Approaches to verbal irony
- Chapter 7. Irony, pretence and fictively-elaborating hyperbole 145
- Chapter 8. Cognitive modeling and irony 179
- Chapter 9. Irony has a metonymic basis 201
-
Part IV. Approaches to studying irony
- Chapter 10. Defaultness shines while affirmation pales 219
- Chapter 11. The standard experimental approach to the study of irony 237
- Chapter 12. Investigating sarcasm comprehension using eye-tracking during reading 255
- Name index 277
- Subject index 279
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Interdisciplinary perspectives on irony
- Chapter 1. Irony performance and perception 19
- Chapter 2. How does irony arise in experience? 43
- Chapter 3. In defense of an ecumenical approach to irony 61
-
Part II. Irony, thought and (media) communication
- Chapter 4. Introducing a three-dimensional model of verbal irony 87
- Chapter 5. On ironic puns in Portuguese authentic oral data 109
- Chapter 6. Irony and sarcasm in follow-ups of metaphorical slogans 127
-
Part III. Approaches to verbal irony
- Chapter 7. Irony, pretence and fictively-elaborating hyperbole 145
- Chapter 8. Cognitive modeling and irony 179
- Chapter 9. Irony has a metonymic basis 201
-
Part IV. Approaches to studying irony
- Chapter 10. Defaultness shines while affirmation pales 219
- Chapter 11. The standard experimental approach to the study of irony 237
- Chapter 12. Investigating sarcasm comprehension using eye-tracking during reading 255
- Name index 277
- Subject index 279
