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Applications on Irony

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Irony

Definition: A mode of discourse for conveyingmeanings different from, and usually oppositeto, the professed or ostensible ones. All irony

depends for its effectiveness on the belief inand exploitation of the difference anddistance between words or events and theircontexts. (Routledge123).

Types: Verbal Irony, Dramatic Irony, andSituational Irony.

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Verbal Irony

Definition: verbal irony involves a discrepancybetween what is said and what is really meant.

The ability to recognize such irony depends uponan appreciation of the particular linguistic, orsometimes more general social or moral, context.

Example: In speech, it is possible to indicate bytone of voice that the word clever in thesentence Hes a clever chap is to be understood

to mean stupid, but as this cannot be said to beany of the meanings of the word clever, thewriter has to convey his sense obliquely.

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Overstatement (also called hyperbole): a type of

verbal irony in which the speaker exaggerates,

says more than what he or she means.

Example: He is the cleverest man I have ever met.

Understatement: a type of verbal irony whereby

the speaker says less that what he or she means.

Example: your friend returns your new coat withblots all over it; in response, you make an

understatement, It doesnt look too bad

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Dramatic Irony

In Dramatic Irony, the audience knows more

about a character's situation than the

character does, foreseeing an outcome

contrary to the character's expectations, and

thus ascribing a sharply different sense to

some of the character's own statements and

actions.

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Situational Irony

Situational irony: the situation turns out

differently than expected.

E.g. The police station gets robbed,

In The Gift of the Magiby O. Henry - The wife

cuts her long hair and sells it to have the

money to buy her husband a pocket watch

chain. He sells the watch to buy her a hair

accessory.

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The True Story of AH Q

The author: Lu Xunor Lu Hsn (pronounced

"Lu Shun"; 1881-1936) is China's greatest

modern writer for most of the 20th

century. The Chinese leader Mao Zedong

(1893-1976) called him "commander of

China's cultural revolution.

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His pre-eminence results from the fact thatdespite his preoccupation with social and politicalissues, he never puts his craft as writer second tothese concerns. Unlike many of his

contemporaries, his works enjoy a kind ofsubtlety and sophistication of style that savethem from didacticism and propaganda. He alsohas an eye for human weaknesses, which he

highlights in such a way that induces his readersto try to eliminate them and the ensuingcorruption and deprivation.

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Setting: Map of China

The story takes place in a village called Weichuang duringthe second decade of the twentieth century. The story endsin December 1921.

On May 4, 1919, the May Fourth Movement took place in

which students demonstrated in protest of the Treaty ofVersailles. The Movement helped the Chinese by promotingscience and making Chinese adopt a new easier form ofwriting. Moreover, the movement was the foundation forthe forming of the Communist Party of China (CCP). Fromthat time on, and till 1949 there was a kind of civil war

between the ally of the west the KMT which aimed atestablishing a democracy in China and the CCP (CommunistParty of China) which ended in the establishment of thePeoples Republic in China in 1949.

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Satire of the Chinese society

Satire is a genre of writing that exposes thefailings of individuals, institutions, or societies toridicule and scorn. Irony is one of the techniques

used in satire. Examples:

1- the reason why this name could not be tracedwas that Chen Tu-hsiu had brought out the

magazine New Youth, advocating the use of theWestern alphabet, so that the national culturewas going to the dogs.

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Satire continued

2- The men in the wine shop roared too, with

only slightly less satisfaction.

3- Society judges by appearance: It was the

custom in Weichuang that when there seemed to

be something unusual about anyone, he should

be treated with respect rather than insolence,

and now, although they knew quite well that thiswas Ah Q, still he was very different from the Ah

Q of the ragged coat.

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4- Villagers are cruel as clear from their reaction toexecutions.

5- Villagers are envious of the rich and are cowardly:After the Chao family was robbed most of the people

in Weichuang felt pleased yet fearful.

6- Society lacks justice: The two other men alsoseemed to be villagers. They gradually fell intoconversation with him, and one of them told him that

the successful provincial candidate wanted to dun himfor the rent owed by his grandfather; the other did notknow why he was there.

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Ah Q as an anti-hero

An anti-hero is a central character in a dramatic or narrativework who lacks the qualities of nobility and magnanimityexpected of traditional heroes and heroines. This isapplicable to Ah Q as he:

1- is coward: He would look over the offender, and if itwere someone weak in repartee he would curse him, whileif it were a poor fighter he would hit him. Yet, curiouslyenough, it was usually Ah Q who was worsted in theseencounters, until finally he adopted new tactics, contentinghimself in general with a furious glare.

2- has a low status in society: People of Weichuang onlymade use of his services or treated him as a laughing-stock.

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3- falls in self-deception: Ah Q would walk awayalso satisfied that he had won, thinking that hewas the "foremost self-belittler," and that after

subtracting "self-belittler" what remained was"foremost.

4- is dirty: Ah Q took off his tattered lined jacket,and turned it inside out; but either because he

had washed it recently or because he was tooclumsy, a long search yielded only three or fourlice.

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5- is irresponsible: he still had a few cash left,

but instead of using these to redeem his felt

hat from the bailiff, he spent them all on

drink.

6- is a thief.

7- is a misogynist.

8- is a hypocrite.

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Point of view

The story starts with the first person point of

view and then moves to the limited

omniscient.

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