Irony from the cognitive perspective
1. Definition and meaning
of irony from the stylistic point of view
Irony is an instinctively recognized Stylistic Device (SD), the
nature of which is not fully studied. This device is also based on the
simultaneous realization of two logical meanings – dictionary and contextual
ones, but the two meaning stand in opposition to each other. That is, a word
with a positive meaning is used to denote something negative and vice versa.
For example: must be delightful
to find oneself in a foreign country without
a penny in one's pocket.
Irony,
as a widely used figure of speech, has received considerable attention from
cognitive psychologists and linguists. The traditional study of verbal irony
from rhetorical and aesthetical approaches has been shifted to current
cognitive and pragmatic investigation. From
the perspective of Figure-Ground theory, the context or the apparent meaning of
irony corresponds to the Ground; the intended meaning of irony corresponds to
marked Figure. The cognitive character of irony accords with cognitive
principle which human realizes world from known entities to unknown entities,
and also serves to the economic characteristic of cognition, it is a new way of
human's cognitive innovation.
According to Efimov’s book from stylistic
irony is classified as lexico-semantic Stylistic Devices and is the figure of
substitution and in additional the figures of quality as a kind of figure of
substitution.
This figure of quality is realized when the speaker intentionally
hunks the principle of sincerity of speech. Ironically used words acquire meanings opposite to their primary
language meanings: ironical good means bad, enough means not enough, pleased means
displeased, etc. Though irony is a contextual stylistic device, there exist
words and word-combinations which convey ironical meaning out of context: too
clever by half, a young hopeful, head cook and bottle washer, to orate, to
oratorize. In order to help the addressee decode irony the speaker often
resorts to impropriate intonation and gestures.
Irony is generally used to convey:
-
Negative meaning or emotion: Favoured country! – they let the paupers go to sleep!
-
Irritation and
dissatisfaction: What a noble illustration of the tender laws of
this.
-
Regret and disappointment: We
were very lucky to find our pockets without penny in a foreign country.
-
Displeasure: Thank you very much for trumping my ace!
Usually the word containing the irony is strongly marked by
intonation by means of a logical stress. Irony should not be confused with
humour, though they have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter.
But a word used ironically may have some shades of meaning that can be sad and
even bitter. For example, observe the ironical usage of the verb «like»:
I like the taxes, when they 're not too many;
I like a sea coal fire, when not too dear;
I like the weather, when it is not rainy;
That is I like two months of every year. (J.G. Byron)
According to Kuznetsova’s book from Stylistics some SDs are based
upon the ways of joining lexical units in succession: words within a phrase,
words and phrases within a sentence. The essence of such ways of joining words
is the semantic correlation of words and phrases. There are three main types of
this correlated junction of words:
1) correlation between
semantically synonymous lexical units; they produce figures of identity;
2) correlation between
semantically opposite lexical units; they produce figures of opposition;
3) correlation between semantically different lexical units; they
produce figures of inequality.
Figures of opposition are characterised by the combination in context
of two or more words or word-groups with opposite meanings. These meanings are
either objectively opposition which interpreted as such by the speaker. Figures of opposition are: Irony, Antithesis and Oxymoron.
So, irony – speakers
communicate implied propositions that are intentionally contradictory to the
propositions contained in the words themselves.
2. Classification of Irony and general distinctions between metaphor, metonymy and irony
1. Verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means
something else. An example of this is
when someone says «Oh, that's beautiful», when what they mean (probably
conveyed by their tone) is they find «that» quite ugly.
2. Dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a
character in the literature does not know. For example, when a character says to another «I'll see you
tomorrow!», when the audience (but not the character) knows that the character
will die before morning.
3. Situational irony is a discrepancy between the expected result
and actual results. Being «shot with one's
own gun,» or «hoisted by one's own petard» are popular formulations of the
basic idea of situational irony. Situational irony includes cosmic irony and
historical irony.
Verbal irony is distinguished from situational irony and dramatic
irony in that it is produced intentionally by speakers. For instance, if a man
exclaims, «I’m not upset!» but reveals an upset emotional state through his
voice while truly trying to claim he's not upset, it would not be verbal irony
by virtue of its verbal manifestation (it would, however, be situational
irony). But if the same speaker said the same words and intended to communicate
that he was upset by claiming he was not, the utterance would be verbal irony.
This distinction illustrates an important aspect of verbal irony – speakers
communicate implied propositions that are intentionally contradictory to the
propositions contained in the words themselves. There are, however, examples of
verbal irony that do not rely on saying the opposite of what one means, and
there are cases where all the traditional criteria of irony exist and the
utterance is not ironic.
Ironic similes are a form of verbal irony where a speaker intends
to communicate the opposite of what they mean. For instance, the following
explicit similes begin with the deceptive formation of a statement that means A
but that eventually conveys the meaning not A: as soft as concrete, as clear as
mud, as pleasant as a root canal.
Dramatic irony has three stages – installation,
exploitation, and resolution (often also called preparation, suspension, and
resolution) – producing dramatic conflict in what one character relies or
appears to rely upon, the contrary of which is known by observers
(especially the audience; sometimes to other characters within the drama) to be
true. In summary, it means that the reader/watcher/listener knows something
that one or more of the characters in the piece is not aware of. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the other characters in the cast think Juliet is
dead, but the audience knows she only took a sleeping potion. Tragic irony is a
special category of dramatic irony. In tragic irony, the words and actions of
the characters contradict the real situation, which the spectators fully
realize.
Situational irony is a relatively modern use of the term, and
describes a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results when
enlivened by perverse appropriateness.
For example: When John Hinckley attempted to assassinate Ronald
Reagan, all of his shots initially missed the President; however, a bullet
ricocheted off the bullet-proof Presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the
chest. Thus, a vehicle made to protect the President from gunfire was partially
responsible for his being shot.
The expression «irony of fate» (cosmic
irony) stems from the notion that the gods (or the Fates) are amusing
themselves by toying with the minds of mortals with deliberate ironic intent.
Closely connected with situational irony, it arises from sharp contrasts
between reality and human ideals, or between human intentions and actual
results. The resulting situation is poignantly contrary to what was expected or
intended. More recently in English, the mere «coincidental or unexpected» has
been called ironic, and this usage appears to be gaining ground. It is still
considered a minor usage. Some examples of situations poignantly contrary to
expectation.
In art: In O. Henry's story The Gift of the Magi, a young couple
are too poor to buy each other Christmas gifts. The wife cuts off her treasured
hair to sell it to a wig-maker for money to buy her husband a chain for his
heirloom pocket watch. She's shocked when she learns he had pawned his watch to
buy her a set of combs for her long, beautiful, prized hair.
When history is seen through modern eyes, there often appear sharp
contrasts between the way historical figures see their world's future and what
actually transpires. In a more tragic example of historical irony, what people
now refer to as «The First World War» was originally called «The War to End All
Wars» or «The Great War.» Historical irony is therefore a subset of cosmic
irony.
Cosmic irony is
disparity between human desires and the harsh realities of the outside world.
By some definitions, situational irony and cosmic irony are not irony at all.
A speaker might take up an opponent's argument and then exaggerate
it to reveal its weaknesses. This is Socratic irony. Irony is often classed as a form of humour, along with sarcasm and
satire. These do not necessarily evoke laughter, but rather a wry shrug or
assent to the idea that the received world picture has been disturbed. Irony
must not be confused with sarcasm, which is direct: sarcasm means precisely
what it says, but in a sharp, caustic manner.
The difference between metaphor and metonymy, on the one hand, and
irony, on the other, can be defined as follows: in metaphor and metonymy, the
transfer is based on affinity of the objects, in Irony, it is based on their
opposition. Irony refers to a contrast or discrepancy between appearance and
reality.
Inference
irony speech correlation metaphor
In a narrow sense, irony is the use of a word having a positive
meaning to express a negative one. In a wider sense, Irony is an utterance
which formally shows a positive or neutral attitude of the speaker to the
object of conversation but in fact expresses a negative evaluation of it.
Irony is not restricted to any particular syntactical structure or
lexical units. In context, there are usually some formal markers of irony
pointing out to the meaning implied.
Irony is an instinctively recognized Stylistic Device (SD), the
nature of which is not fully studied. This device is also based on the
simultaneous realization of two logical meanings – dictionary and contextual
ones, but the two meaning stand in opposition to each other. That is, a word
with a positive meaning is used to denote something negative and vice versa.
The cognitive character of irony accords with cognitive principle
which human realizes world from known entities to unknown entities, and also
serves to the economic characteristic of cognition, it is a new way of human's
cognitive innovation.
There are various types of irony. The most accepted is: verbal
irony, situational irony, dramatic irony.
Sources
1.
Єфімова Л.П., Ясінецька О.А.
– Стилістика англійської мови і дискурсивний аналіз. Учбово-методичний
посібник. – Вінниця: НОВА КНИГА, 2004. – 240 с.
2.
Жуковська В.В. – Основи
теорії та практики стилістики англійської мови: Навчальний посібник. – Житомир Вид-во ЖДУ ім. І.
Франка, 2010. – 240 с.
3.
Кузнецова І.В. – Stylistics in Practice (Стилістика на
практиці): Практикум. – 2-е вид., випр. і доп. – Житомир: Вид-во ЖДУ ім. І.
Франка, 2007. – 132 с.
4.
Інтернет ресурс – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony