Irony is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or
incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says and what is generally understood (either at the time, or in the later context
of history). Irony may also arise from a discordance between acts and results, especially if it is striking, and seen by an
outside audience. Irony is understood as an aesthetic evaluation by an audience, which relies
on a sharp discordance between the real and the ideal, and which is variously applied to texts, speech, events, acts, and even
fashion. All the different senses of irony revolve around the perceived notion of an incongruity, or a gap between an
understanding of reality, or expectation of a reality, and what actually happens.
There are different kinds of irony. For example:
- Tragic (or dramatic) irony occurs when a character on stage or in a story is ignorant, but the audience watching knows
his or her eventual fate, as in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.
- Socratic irony takes place when someone (classically a teacher) pretends to be foolish or ignorant, to expose the
ignorance of another (and the teaching-audience, but not the student-victim, realizes the teacher's plot).
- Cosmic irony is when a higher being or force interferes in a character's life, creating ironic settings.
H. W. Fowler, in Modern
English Usage, says of irony:
- Irony is a form of utterance that postulates a double audience, consisting of one party that hearing shall hear &
shall not understand, & another party that, when more is meant than meets the ear, is aware both of that more & of the
outsiders’ incomprehension.[1]
Irony threatens authoritative models of discourse by "removing the semantic security of ‘one signifier : one signified’";[2][3] irony
has some of its foundation in the onlooker’s perception of paradox which arises from insoluble
problems.
The connection between irony and humor is somewhat revealed when the surprise at what should
have expected startles us into laughter. However, not all irony is humorous: “grim irony” and “stark irony” are familiar.
The Greek word eironeia—ειρωνεία applied particularly to understatement in the nature of dissimulation. Such irony occurred especially and notably in the assumed
ignorance which Socrates adopted as a method of dialectic,
the “Socratic irony.” Socratic irony involves a profession of ignorance that disguises a skeptical, non-committed attitude
towards some dogma or universal opinion that lacks a basis in reason or in logic. Socrates’ “innocent” inquiries expose step by step the vanity
or illogicality of the proposition by unsettling the assumptions of his dialogue partner by questioning or simply not sharing his
basic assumptions. The irony entertains those onlookers who know that Socrates is wiser than he permits himself to appear and who
may perceive slightly in advance the direction the “naïve” questioning will take. Fowler describes it:
- The two parties in his audience were, first, the dogmatist, moved by pity and contempt to enlighten this ignorance, and,
secondly, those who knew their Socrates and set themselves to watch the familiar game in which learning should be turned inside
out by simplicity.
Many have interpreted Socrates as not feigning ignorance so much as expressing a form of philosophical skepticism.
Television journalist Louis Theroux demonstrated expert use of Socratic irony to his
audience, by interviewing a number of diverse individuals with an air of relaxed naïveté and appreciative curiosity. This has led
to his subjects becoming less guarded and more open in answering questions than they would have been in a more adversarial
dialogue, while more often than not also granting Theroux subtle control of the interview.
The main character of Lieutenant Columbo, played by Peter Falk in the 1980's television
sitcom Columbo employed the method of Socratic-irony to
comic effect. The character's bad posture, piddling behavior, one squinted eye, and constant barrage of seemingly obvious
questions were usually taken by criminals to be signs of utter incompetance, even mental disability. Ultimately, he was of course
a brilliant crime solver. The slyness of his approach was often hieghtened by the fact that the clues had been apparent to the
viewer as well. His signature line was "Um, excuse me, just one more question ma'am (or sir)..." which usually was followed by
the realization by the culprit that they were caught.
In his character of Ali G, Sacha Baron Cohen uses
Socratic irony to satirical effect. For instance, in one sketch he interviews a professor from
the National Poison Information Centre about recreational drug use. Ali’s
pretended stupidity in the form of asking questions such as “Does Class A drugs absolutely
guarantee that they is [sic] better quality?” elicits a response that makes drugs look like any other consumer article.
The 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard admired Socratic irony and
used a variation of Socratic irony in many of his works. Kierkegaard wrote on Socratic irony in his master’s thesis, titled
On the Concept of Irony with Continual
Reference to Socrates. In the thesis, Kierkegaard praises Plato’s and Aristophanes’ use of Socratic irony, and argues that Aristophanes’ portrayal of Socrates in
The Clouds most accurately captured the spirit of Socratic irony.
Roman irony
In Roman times, irony was used in public speaking and rhetoric, in which the words used
were opposite their meaning or intent.[citation needed]
Shakespeare imitated Roman irony in his play Julius Caesar in Mark Antony’s speech: "Friends, Romans,
countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." (III, ii,
78–79), continually emphasizing that Brutus and the conspirators "are honourable
men." The subsequent monologue uses extensive irony to glorify Caesar; Antony selects words that seem to support the assassins,
while his purpose and his effect is to incite the crowd against them.
Verbal irony
Verbal irony is distinguished from related phenomena such as situational irony and dramatic irony in that it is produced
intentionally by speakers. For instance, if a speaker exclaims, “I’m not upset!” but reveals an upset emotional state
through her voice while truly trying to claim she's not upset, it would not be verbal irony just 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 she was upset by claiming she was not, the utterance would be verbal irony. This distinction gets at an important aspect of
verbal irony: speakers communicate implied propositions that are intentionally contradictory to the propositions contained in the
words themselves. There are 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.
A fair amount of confusion has surrounded the issue regarding the relationship between verbal irony and sarcasm, and psychology researchers have addressed the issue directly (e.g, Lee & Katz, 1998). For example,
ridicule is an important aspect of sarcasm, but not verbal irony in general. By this account, sarcasm is a particular kind of
personal criticism leveled against a person or group of persons that incorporates verbal irony. For example, a person reports to
her friend that rather than going to a medical doctor to treat her ovarian cancer, she has decided to see a spiritual healer
instead. In response her friend says sarcastically, "Great idea! I hear they do fine work!" (Note that this could easily be
spoken literally by a person who believes in spiritual healing as a legitimate treatment for cancer.) The friend could have also
replied with any number of ironic expressions that should not be labeled as sarcasm exactly, but still have many shared elements
with sarcasm.
Research shows that most instances of verbal irony are considered to be sarcastic, suggesting that the term sarcasm is
more widely used than its technical definition suggests it should be (Bryant & Fox Tree, 2002; Gibbs, 2000). Some
psycholinguistic theorists suggest that sarcasm ("Great idea!", "I hear they do fine work."), hyperbole ("That's the best idea I
have heard in years!"), understatement ("Sure, what the hell, it's only cancer..."), rhetorical questions ("What, does your
spirit have cancer?"), double entendre ("I'll bet if you do that, you'll be communing with spirits in no time...") and jocularity
("Get them to fix your bad back while you're at it.") should all be considered forms of verbal irony (Gibbs, 2000). The
differences between these tropes can be quite subtle, and relate to typical emotional reactions of listeners, and the rhetorical
goals of the speakers. Regardless of the various ways folk taxonomies categorize figurative language types, people in
conversation are attempting to decode speaker intentions and discourse goals, and are not generally identifying, by name, the
kinds of tropes used.
Types of irony
The word “irony” is used in many different situations in which an issue or result seems to contradict normal expectations
derived from the previous state or condition.
Situational irony
Definition: irony of a situation is a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results when enlivened by 'perverse
appropriateness.'.
Examples:
- In Noel Coward's Oscar-winning Cavalcade, extremely happy honeymooners wonder how long their joy will last. The camera pulls back
to reveal a life preserver stenciled “RMS Titanic.”
- A situation immortalized in O. Henry's story The
Gift of the Magi, in which a young couple is too poor to buy each other Christmas gifts. The man finally pawns his
heirloom pocket watch to buy his wife a set of combs for her long, beautiful, prized hair. She, meanwhile, cuts off her treasured
hair to sell it to a wig-maker for money to buy her husband a watch-chain. The irony is twofold: the couple, having parted with
their tangible valuables, is caused by the act to discover the richness of the intangible.
- When John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, all of his shots initially missed the President; however a bullet ricocheted off the
bullet-proof windows of the Presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the chest. Thus, the windows made to protect the
President from gunfire were partially responsible for his being shot.
- Rock trio ZZ Top are famously associated with the chest-length beards of guitarist
Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill. The group's
drummer, who only has a mustache, happens to be named Frank Beard.
- A man jumps over a giant waterfall e.g. Niagara Falls in a barrel and survives, only
to take a cleanup shower where he slips on the soap and dies from trauma.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, an actor famous for his violence in film, campaigning
against violence in video games in general - which ironically includes those featuring his own characters.
- An anti-technology website.
- An anti-federalist runs for president.
Irony of fate (cosmic irony)
The common household expression “irony of fate” 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 cosmic irony, it arises from sharp contrasts between reality and human ideals, or between human intentions and
actual results.
For example:
- The artist Monet's loss of vision.
- Ludwig van Beethoven’s loss of hearing.
- Importing Cane Toads to Australia to protect the environment only to create worse
environmental problems for Australia.
- Both tetraethyl lead and the chlorofluorocarbon
Freon-12 were invented as safe chemicals (both by chemist and mechanical
engineer Thomas Midgley), and intended for wide environmental use. However, both
compounds were environmental disasters: the first resulting in widespread lead poisoning, and the second class of compounds in
widespread harm to the ozone layer.
- Organic farming and health expert J.I. Rodale declared in a New York Times Magazine interview on June 4
1971 that "I'm going to live to be 100, unless I'm run down by a sugar-crazed taxi driver". The
very next day he was a guest on The Dick Cavett Show and again spoke about
his plans for a long life saying that "I never felt better in my life!" Later in the show, he appeared to fall asleep while
another guest was speaking, only to be found dead of a heart attack.
- At the age of 23, basketball star "Pistol" Pete Maravich told a Pennsylvania reporter,
"I don't want to play 10 years [in the NBA] and then die of a heart attack when I'm 40."[4] In 1988 he collapsed and died of a heart attack at age 40, after playing 10 NBA
seasons.
- Jim Fixx, who did much to popularize jogging as a form of
healthy exercise in his 1977 book "The Complete Book of Running", died at the age of 52 of a heart attack while out jogging.
Acctually all of these examples are not ironic at all, they are paradoxes. the difference is that a Paradox is something that
has a possibility of truth, i.e. it is possible for Monet to loose his vision, this is not ironic it is a paradox.
Historical irony (cosmic irony through time)
When history is seen through modern eyes, it sometimes happens that there is an especially sharp contrast between the way
historical figures see their world and the probable future of their world, and what actually transpired. When the World War which
began the 20th century (Also known as "World War I") was called The War to End All Wars, this later became an example of
historical irony. Historical irony is therefore a subset of cosmic irony, but one in which the element of time is bound up.
Examples:
- Contrasting statements were made at the dawn of computers, which were initially thought to be devices never capable of use
outside a government or academic setting, with Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, saying, "I think there is a world market for maybe
five computers."
Historical irony is often encapsulated into statement:
- "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Nearly the last words of American Civil War General John Sedgwick before being shot through the eye by a Confederate sniper..[5]
- In response to Mrs. Connally's comment, "Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you." John F. Kennedy uttered his last words, "That's very obvious."[6]
There are, however, many incidents of futurists or others making incorrect predictions of
the future, without being examples of historical irony.
Ironic art
Most clever and satirical art is in some way ironic. The layers of complexity are added as more than one meaning
can be attached to the piece. The subject can be taken for face value or absorbed into the conscious of association. Ideas may
possess more than one interpretation. The alternate meanings do not come about due to personal experience, but rather the typical
association of alternate meanings. In this way ironic art is almost always specific to culture, language or time period.
Ironic art differs from satire as it does not have an intended target. Likewise it does not have
an agenda to get across. Visually speaking this term is typically confined to the graphic
design realm. Musically, this term is applied to individuals and bands that do not take themselves seriously. It is
commonly said that a good sense of humor is needed to appreciate ironic music.
Graphic Design Examples:
Band Examples:
Fiction
A typical use of irony of fate occurs in the climax of Disney’s
The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Frollo, the villain, stands upon a gargoyle. He raises his sword to strike Esmeralda, and says, “And He shall smite the wicked
and plunge them into the fiery pit!” At that moment, the gargoyle breaks off, sending Frollo falling to his death into the
courtyard, filled with molten lead that Quasimodo had spilled to stop the oncoming guards. The irony is that Frollo’s line is
used in reference to Esmeralda, but instead it winds up applying to Frollo himself as he plunges into the fiery pit of molten
lead.
Situations resembling poetic justice, but lacking the aspect of justice, may also be
ascribed to the irony of fate.
Tragic irony (dramatic irony)
Dramatic irony is very similar to verbal irony. Dramatic irony contains elements of contrast, but it usually refers to a
situation in a greek play where a character who is omniscient watches over a less educated character as that character
experiences a situation or event that is of lesser significance than that character realizes. Tragic irony particularly
characterized the drama of ancient Greece, owing to the familiarity of the spectators
with the legends on which so many of the plays were based. In this form of irony, the words and
actions of the characters belie the real situation, which the spectators fully realize. It may take several forms: the character
speaking may realize the irony of his words while the rest of the characters may not; or he or she may be unconscious while the
other actors share the knowledge with the spectators; or the spectators may alone realize the irony. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King provides a classic example of tragic
irony at its fullest and finest.
Irony may come to expression in inappropriate behavior. A witness to a scene involving threats of violence, for example, may
perceive continued politeness on the part of the victim as increasingly ironic as it becomes increasingly inappropriate.
Sometimes the “second” audience is the private self of the ironist.
When not recognized, irony can lead to misunderstanding. Even if an ironic statement is recognized as such, it often expresses
less clearly what the speaker or writer wants to say than would a direct statement.
Another famous case of tragic irony occurs in the William Shakespeare play,
Romeo and Juliet. When Romeo finds Juliet in a drugged death-like sleep, he
assumes her to be dead and kills himself. Upon awakening to find her dead lover beside her, Juliet kills herself with his knife.
Also, the play Richard III is full of dramatic irony. Many of Richard's lines are the
complete antitheses of what he and the audience know he is thinking.
Comic irony
Layers of comic irony pervade (as an example) Jane Austen’s novels. The first sentence of
Pride and Prejudice famously opens with a nearly mathematical postulate. “It
is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The scene that
follows immediately betrays the proposal. “No, a rich young man moving into the neighborhood did not come to seek a wife.” In
fact, it soon becomes clear that Austen means the opposite: women (or their mothers) are always in search of, and desperately on
the lookout for, a rich single man to make a husband. The irony deepens as the story promotes his romance and ends in a double
wedding.
Comic irony from television sketch-comedy has the distinction over literary comic irony in that it often incorporates elements
of absurdity. For instance, an ironic situation might involve getting hit by a rib-delivery truck after trying to poison someone
with bad rib-sauce to steal his or her gems. Reference: Season 4 Cycle 1—SCTV
Network / 90 Show 2, Polynesiantown.
Comic irony has long been a staple of comic strips, in which the action is free to be unrealistic. An example is a notable
Far Side cartoon in which a hapless cat is trapped against an inside house window, having
to watch the once-in-a-lifetime consequences of a collision outside between a truck labeled "Al's Rodents," and another labeled
"Ernie's Small Flightless Birds."
Metafiction
-
Metafictions are kinds of fiction which self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. It usually involves irony and is
self-reflective. Metafiction (or “romantic irony” in the sense of roman the prose fiction) refers to the effect when a
story is interrupted to remind the audience or reader that it is really only a story. Examples include Henry Fielding’s interruptions of the storyline to comment on what has happened, or J.M. Barrie’s similar interjections in his book, Peter Pan.
Daniel Handler’s (known as Lemony Snicket) A Series of Unfortunate Events could also be considered a form of romantic irony, in
which the action is frequently halted for a warning that the events to follow could be potentially distressing. The concept is
also explored in a philosophical context in Sophie’s World, by Jostein Gaarder. A similar example occurs in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy novel where the narrator reveals in
advance “in the interest of reducing stress” that nobody will get hurt by a pair of incoming nuclear warheads, but that he will
leave some suspense by stating that he would not reveal whose upper arm would get bruised in the process. A notable attempt to
sustain metafiction throughout a whole novel is Christie Malry's Own
Double Entry by B.S. Johnson, none of the characters are real and exist only
within the author's imagination.
Irony as infinite, absolute negativity
While many reputable critics limit irony to something resembling Aristotle's definition, an influential set of texts insists
that it be understood, not as a limited tool, but as a disruptive force with the power to undo texts and readers alike. This
tradition includes Søren Kierkegaard, 19th century German critic and novelist
Friedrich Schlegel ("On Incomprehensibility"), Charles Baudelaire, Stendhal, and the 20th century deconstructionist Paul de Man ("The Concept of Irony"). Briefly, it
insists that irony is, in Kierkegaard's words, "infinite, absolute negativity". Where much of philosophy attempts to reconcile
opposites into a larger positive project, Kierkegaard and others insist that irony — whether expressed in complex games of
authorship or simple litotes — must, in Kierkegaard's words, "swallow its own stomach". Irony
entails endless reflection and violent reversals, and ensures incomprehensibility at the moment it compels speech. Not
surprisingly, irony is the favorite textual property of deconstructionists.
Usage controversy
The material above deals with the primary dictionary meaning of the word irony. There is no controversy that the usage
above is a correct usage; the controversy is over whether it is the only correct usage. Authority, in the form of
dictionaries and usage guides, can be cited on both sides.
Descriptivists generally discount such self-proclaimed language authorities
in favor of studying how individuals currently use the word.
It is currently quite common to hear the word ironic used as a synonym for incongruous or coincidental in
situations where there is no “double audience,” and no contradiction between the ostensible and true meaning of the words. Two
examples of such usage:
- Ironically, Sir Arthur Sullivan is remembered for the comic operas he found
embarrassing, rather than the serious works he hoped would be his legacy.
- Adolph Coors III was the former heir to the Coors beer empire. Ironically, Coors
was allergic to beer.
The American Heritage Dictionary’s usage panel found it unacceptable to use the word ironic to describe mere
unfortunate coincidences or surprising disappointments that “suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly.” This
definition still allows the above usage but excludes examples like Alanis Morissette’s
“It's a traffic jam when you're already late” for a meeting, unless perhaps the topic of the meeting were traffic congestion, not something implied by the lyrics of “Ironic”.
The American Heritage Dictionary
recognizes a secondary meaning for irony: “incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.” This
sense, however, is not synonymous with "incongruous" but merely a definition of dramatic or situational irony. The word
incongruity is not in the active vocabulary for most speakers of the English language,
irony being much more widespread among those wanting to be precise in their language.
Other historical prescriptivists have even stricter definitions for the word
irony. Henry Watson Fowler, in The King’s English, says “any
definition of irony—though hundreds might be given, and very few of them would be accepted—must include this, that the surface
meaning and the underlying meaning of what is said are not the same.” Fowler would thus consider the Sullivan example above as
incorrect usage.
Cultural variation
Irony often requires a cultural backdrop to be understood or noticed, and as with any culture-specific idiom, irony often
cannot be perfectly transplanted. An expression with a secondary meaning clear to an east-coast American may be obscure to a
Canadian, Briton, Australian, or even a west-coast American, though they ostensibly all speak the same language. Attempting a
literal translation of an ironic idiom to another language often renders the concept muddled or incoherent. Further, the use of
verbal irony may also rely on non-literal cues such as tone of voice or posture. Every culture incorporates its own form of
linguistic metaphor, idiom and subtlety. In such cases, translation requires extra care, and perhaps explanation.[citations needed]
Notes
Bibliography
- Star, William T. "Irony and Satire: A Bibliography." Irony and Satire in French Literature. Ed. University of South Carolina
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina College of Humanities and Social
Sciences, 1987. 183-209.
- Bogel, Fredric V. "Irony, Inference, and Critical Understanding." Yale Review 69 (1980): 503-19.
- Hutcheon, Linda. Irony’s Edge: The Theory and Politics of Irony. London: Routledge, 1994.
- for review of socratic irony see Kieran Egan The
educated mind : how cognitive tools shape our understanding. (1997) University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN
0-226-19036-6 p. 137-144
External links
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