|
A common example of dramatic irony: In the film The Truman Show, where Truman is the only person who doesn't know that he's being filmed all the time.
Situational irony is when the outcome of a situation is totally different from what people expect. This type of irony is a literary technique that's riddled with contradictions and contrasts.
For example, in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, all the people in Emerald City assume that its Oz is powerful and impressive. However, Oz turns out to be the exact opposite: an old man with no special powers.
A common example of situational irony: In 1925, when the New York Times said the crossword puzzle was a craze that was “dying out fast”. That didn't age well.
Verbal irony is when your speaker says something that's the opposite to what they mean. While it sounds similar to sarcasm, it's not exactly the same. People usually use sarcasm to attack something, but that's not always the case with irony.
Our old friend Alanis Morrissette did manage to get one example of irony into her song. When the man (in the song) whose plane is going down says "Well, isn't this nice", it's clearly in the form of verbal irony. He's not actually happy that the plane's about to crash, so his statement is the opposite of what he means.
One more note: unlike dramatic irony and situational irony, verbal irony is always an intentional move by the speaker.
A common example of verbal irony: When people say "What a pleasant day!" when there's a thunderstorm outside. The jokers.
Irony is a stylistic device based on the simultaneous realization of two
logical meanings dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings stand in
opposition to each other.
For example:
―It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in
one’s pocket. The italicized word acquires a meaning quite the opposite to its primary dictionary meaning, that is, ―unpleasant, ―not delightful. The word containing the irony is strongly marked by intonation. It has an emphatic stress and is generally supplied with a special melody design, unless the context itself renders this intonation pattern unnecessary , as in the following excerpt from Dickens’s
―Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club: ―Never mind, said the stranger, cutting the address very short, said enough no more; smart chap that cabman handled his fives well: but if I’d been your friend in the green jimmy – damn me – punch his hand- 7 cod I would-pig’s whisperpieman too, – no gammon.
―This coherent speech was interrupted by the entrance of the Rochester coachman, to announce that…
The word ―coherent, which describes Mr. Jingle’s speech, is inconsistent with the actual utterance, and therefore becomes self-contradictory. In no other device where we can observe the interplay of the dictionary and contextual meanings, is the latter so fluctuating, suggestive, and dependent on the environment as is irony. That is why there are practically no cases of irony in language-as-a-system. Irony must not be confused with humor, although, they have very much in common. Humor always causes laughter. What is funny must come as s sudden clash of the positive and the negative. In this respect irony can be likened to humor. But the function of irony is not confined to producing a humorous effect. In a sentence like ―How clever of you! where, due to the intonation pattern, the word ―cleverconveys a sense opposite to its literal signification, the irony does not cause a ludicrous effect. It rather expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret. A word used ironically may sometimes express very subtle, almost imperceptible nuances of meaning, as the word ―like in the following lines from ―Beppo by Byron,
Like a parliamentary debate, Particularly when this not too late.
I like the taxes, when they are not too many;
I like a seacoal fire, when not too dear;
I like a beef-steak, too, as well as any;
Have no objection to a pot of beer;
I like the weather, when it is not rainy,
That is I like two months of every year.
And so God save the Regent, church and King! Which means that I like all and everything. In the first line the word ―like‖ gives only a slight hint of irony.
Parliamentary debates are usually long. The word ―debate‖ itself suggests a lengthy discussion, therefore the word ―like‖ here should be taken with some reservation. In other words, a hint of the interplay between positive arid negative begins with the first ―like.
The second use of the word ―like‖ is definitely ironical. No one would be expected to like taxes. It is so obvious that no context is necessary to decode the true meaning of ―like. The attributive phrase ―when they’re not too many strengthens the irony. Then Byron uses the word ―like in its literary meaning.
―Like in combinations with ―sea coal fire and ―a beefsteak‖ and with ―two months of every year maintains its literal meaning, although in the phrase ―I like the Weather the notion is very general. But the last line again shows that the word ―like is used with an ironic touch, meaning ―to like and ―to put with Simultaneously Richard Altick says, ―The effect of irony lies in the striking disparity between what is said and what is meant. This ―striking disparity is achieved through the intentional interplay of two meanings, which are in opposition to each other.
Another important observation must be borne in mind when analyzing the linguistic nature of irony. Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning. Therefore only positive concepts may be used in their logical dictionary meanings. In the examples quoted above, irony is embodied in such words as ―delightful, ―clever, ―coherent, ―like. The contextual meaning always conveys the negation of the positive concepts embodied in the dictionary meaning.
Irony largely depends on the environment. We ought to distinguish between irony and humor. Humor causes laughter. But the function of irony is not to produce a humorous effect only. In some cases it can express a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret. Richard Altick says: ―The effect of irony lies in the striking disparity between what is that and was meant. Ex: ―stoney smiled the sweet smile of an alligator. ―Hali uyga kelsang, boshingni silab qo`yaman. ―Imtihonga juda ―yaxshi tayyorlanib kelibsiz, qizim, bahongiz ―ikki dedi o`qituvchi.
To mark out ironically used words in written language such graphic means as inverted commas and italicized words are used. Sometimes ot is only the situation that can prompt the use of irony. In oral speech the main role in recognition of irony belongs to intonation and situation. The following phrase ―There is gratitude foe you! (Thanks for you) may be said ironically, depending on the situation and the intonation with which you use it.
In Uzbek language irony can be expressed by morphological form of
plurality. For example:
Sabohat xonaga sinchkov ko`z yugurtirarkan, nimagadir xursand bo`lganday
og`zini tanobi qochib, istehzo bilan iljayardi.
– Nega aqalli qizlaringizni yo`qlab bormaysiz, desam turishlaringiz shohona
ekanda, – dedi nihoyat kesatiq bilan.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
