Sarcasm:
Yeah, like you’ll ever need to know anything
about sarcasm.
Wait a minute, maybe that last comment isn’t
just negative, maybe it was THE BEST WAY
EVER of demonstrating sarcasm.
Or was that last one supposed to be a tiny bit
sarcastic as well? It’s so hard to tell.
Sarcasm:
[ad. late L. sarcasm-us, a. late Gr. , f. to tear flesh, gnash the
teeth, speak bitterly, f. -, flesh.]
A sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or
taunt. Now usually in generalized sense: Sarcastic language;
sarcastic meaning or purpose, saying the opposite of what you
mean.
1579 E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Oct., Glosse, Tom piper, an ironicall
Sarcasmus, spoken in derision of these rude wits, whych [etc.]. 1581 J.
BELL Haddon's Answ. Osor. 324 With this skoffe doth he note them..by a
certayne figure called Sarcasmus. 1605 J. DOVE Confut. Atheism 38 He
called the other Gods so, by a figure called Ironia, or Sarcasmus. 1621
BURTON Anat. Mel. I. ii. IV. IV, Many are of so petulant a spleene, and haue
that figure Sarcasmus so often in their mouths,..that [etc.]. 1661 FELTHAM
Resolves II. l. 284 Either a Sarcasmus against the voluptuous; or else, 'tis a
milder counsel.
Irony:
Perhaps the best definition of ‘irony’ provided
(since its creation in 1912), is contained in the
following passage from ‘Ironic’:
“[Irony is] a black fly in your chardonnay . . . it’s
like rain on your wedding day . . . it’s like too
many spoons when all you need is a knife . . . it’s
a death-row pardon two-minutes too late.”
- Alanis Morissette
Irony:
That last slide was actually an example of irony in
action, because the real definition of ‘irony’ is:
[ad. L. rna (Cicero), a. Gr. ‘dissimulation, ignorance purposely affected’.
Cf. F. ironie (yronie, Oresme, 14th c.).]
1. A figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite
of that expressed by the words used; usually taking the form of
sarcasm or ridicule in which laudatory expressions are used to imply
condemnation or contempt.
2. In etymological sense: Dissimulation, pretence; esp. in reference
to the dissimulation of ignorance practised by Socrates as a means of
confuting an adversary (Socratic irony).
So . . . Sarcasm and Irony are similar in that both involve
saying something other than what you actually mean in
order to draw attention to the real (but hidden) meaning.
Types of Literary Irony
1. Stable Irony: Stable irony offers the reader an
assertion or position which, whether
explicit or implied, serves as a firm
ground for subverting the surface
meaning. In other words, stable
ironists are sure about what they
believe in and say the opposite (for
whatever reason), in the full
knowledge that they are doing so.
Stable Iron(y)man:
“I am here to pick on the weak, and to help organized crime!”
Ironic Characterization:
STABLE IRONY frequently involves the creation
of a persona from whose attitudes the author
clearly stands apart.
The persona is sometimes naive or ignorant or
self-deluded; or, alternatively, is speaking
tongue-in-cheek and does not mean what he or
she says.
Mark Twain’s character, Huck Finn is a good
example of a naive persona who serves as a
mouthpiece for the author’s use of irony. Scout
Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird is also an
example of stable irony.
Types of Literary Irony
2. Unstable Irony: To the unstable ironist, the world
is a much more ambiguous and
unsettling place.
Unstable ironists are of two (or
more) minds about what they
believe in, and their constant use
of irony (never saying exactly
what they mean) reflects this
uncertainty. In a sense, the world
views of stable and unstable ironists are entirely
opposite. In The Dark Knight, the Joker often
says the opposite of what he means, but still
contradicts himself, leaving us unsure of what he
truly means.
Unstable Iron(y)m(e)n
“I am here to free the weak from oppression. I am not.”
Ironic Characterization:
UNSTABLE IRONY frequently involves the
creation of a relatively sophisticated ironic
persona with whom the narrator and the reader
are expected to share some attitudes and
values, but who is, in turn, subjected to irony –
the ironist is ironized.
It is very difficult to know exactly where the
author stands in such cases – except that there
is good reason to believe that the author’s
attitude (and intended meaning) DOES NOT
correspond precisely with the attitude of the
narrator or protagonist.
What do I need to know
about reading for Irony?
There is one important distinction to make when
reading literary works that employ either type of
irony.
In the case of STABLE IRONY, if you don’t pick
up on the irony, you miss the point altogether.
But, in the case of UNSTABLE IRONY, you have
less to lose, because it is impossible to say that
irony actually determines the meaning (because
unstable irony is contradictory by nature).