Introduction
I Course Description
This course aims to provide students with an introduction to irony, a central term in literary and cultural studies. As such, the course is intended to present an overview of characteristics that have been attributed to irony, as well as some related terms such as parody and satire. Historically, there is little agreement on how irony is to be defined. For this reason we will consider conflicting definitions. In particular, we will critically examine the all too easy assumption that it is possible to understand irony mechanically, for instance by merely inverting a statement -- translating it into its opposite -- or by looking out for clues such as exaggerated tone of voice. In fact, we will question not only how irony is to be understood, but the degree to which it can be understood at all.
Far from being restricted to literature, irony is often used in everyday conversation. However, using irony poses a number of problems of understanding. One problem is that reaching an interpretation of an apparently ironic statement doesn't depend solely on the meaning of what someone says, but on what she does not say. There is thus a gap between what is said and not said, and factors such as the speaker's attitude, tone of voice, intention, and the context within which she speaks are important in understanding irony. For these reasons, irony is a complicated verbal phenomenon that requires the reader to pay close attention to what is (not) being communicated.
The definition of irony as a figure of speech is often extended to describe a situation which is contrary to what could be expected or what is in fact the case ('situational irony'). For instance, in the film Shrek (2001), the traditional Western fairytale - particularly as exemplified in animated features such as Disney's Sleeping Beauty - is parodied by means of irony: the conventions of this genre are inverted. Instead of the handsome prince one would have expected, the film's protagonist is a green ogre. And the actual prince in the film is very much not tall and handsome.
Irony involves issues of responsibility and citizenship since it presupposes a critical attitude, often towards figures of authority. Thus Shrek seems to subvert values associated with fairytales, such as feminine beauty, eternal love, duty, honour, and so on. Since irony involves the perversion of meaning it is often understood to express criticism of a state of affairs (such as fairytale values). But given Shrek's ending ("and they lived happily ever after"), doubts arise as to whether all is as it appears. The question of how we should understand the film arises - whether its irony questions or confirms the values it seems to attack. While irony appears to be subversive, in actual cases it is often difficult to read.
II Questions and problems
In order to investigate the problem of understanding irony, the course will consider the following questions / problems:
- How does irony work?
- What is the relation between irony, parody, and satire?
- How should we understand a way of speaking or writing which is used by people to say the opposite of, or something different from, what they mean?
- Why do people use irony rather than just saying what they mean?
- What are the effects of irony?
- Why is irony sometimes misunderstood?
- What happens when irony is misunderstood?
- What are the consequences of such misunderstanding?
III Objectives
Dealing with these questions / problems will help us attain the following objectives:
- Understanding what irony is, how it functions, and what its effects are;
- familiarity with theories of irony as well as an awareness of the links between irony, parody, and satire;
- the ability to read closely by noticing textual details and asking questions;
- linking claims with evidence;
- applying works of theory to literary texts as well as combining historical and theoretical material with textual analysis when discussing literature;
- writing well-constructed critical essays using these texts as the foundation for arguments;
- participating fluently in class and IVLE discussions of the issues dealt with in the module.
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