irony

[Robert Chametzky]

A different approach to irony, one that attempts to move beyond the
confusions and unclarities of the rhetorical tradition, can be found in

Dan Sperber & Deirdre Wilson (1981) 'Irony and the use/mention distinction'
in Peter Cole, ed., "Radical Pragmatics", Academic Press, pp.295-318.

Dan Sperber & Deirdre Wilson (1986/1995 2nd ed.) "Relevance", Blackwell.

In the latter, the authors give up/take back some of the earlier approach
as they embed their ideas on irony within their larger project of
rethinking (linguistic) pragmatics (viz., 'relevance theory', arguably the
leader in this admittedly not overcrowded field). Whether their
self-criticism represents an advance in the study of irony I leave as an
exercise for the reader.

		--RC
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Robert Chametzky
Assistant Dean
College of Arts & Sciences
55 Goldwin Smith
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853-3201
(607) 255-5004
rc84 at cornell.edu
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