Sarcasm

LECTURE 9

STYLISTIC SEMASIOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

1. Irony as an expressive means of semasiology.
2. Stylistic devices of semasiology (figures of combination), their classification.
3. Figures of identity: simile, synonyms-substitutes and synonyms-specifies: definitions, types, stylistic functions.
4. Figures of opposition: antithesis, oxymoron: definitions, types, stylistic functions.
5. Figures of inequality climax, anticlimax, pun, zeugma: definitions, types, stylistic functions.

Materials

1. А.Н.Мороховский. Стилистика английского языка. – 1991. – с.164-182, 183-199.
2. I.R.Galperin. Stylistics. – 1981. – p. 138-146, 157-162, 164-166, 169-177, 246-248, 146-148, 162-164, 167-169, 222-224.
3. V.A.Kukharenko. A Book of Practice in Stylistics. – 2000. – p.42-43, 45-46, 55-56, 58-61, 63-64, 100, 101-102, 48-49, 52-53, 66, 91, 93-94, 95-96.
4. И.В.Арнольд. Стилистика современного английского языка. – 1981. – с.82-92.

С Irony

Irony is also based on the transfer of the meaning, but if metaphor is based on similarity and metonymy on contiguity, irony is based on the opposition / difference of two meanings of a speech unit (the one that is expressed and the one that is meant).

Irony (concealed mockery) is the use of a word, a phrase or a sentence, which has a positive meaning to express a negative one.

E.g. The house itself was not so much. It was smaller than Buckingham Palace, rather grey for California, and probably had fewer windows then the Chrysler Building. (R. Chandler)

E.g. What a noble illustration of the tender laws of this favoured country! - They let the pauper go to sleep! (Ch.Dickens)

How early you've come!

E.g. I looked at the First of the Barons. He was eating salad - taking a whole lettuce leaf on his fork and absorbing it slowly, rabbit-wise - a fascinating process to watch. (K. Mansfield)

An Irony, dissembling with an air,

Thinks otherwise than what the words declare.

WIT / IRONY / SATIRE / CYNICISM / SARCASM / SARDONICISM

Wit

This term implies mental keenness, the talent for making an effective comment on them. Example: Oscar Wilde, the Irish dramatist, once defined eternity as two people and a ham.

Irony This term was defined at the beginning of this section.

Satire

An expression or literary work that seeks to expose folly and wickedness, often by means of irony and sarcasm, is satirical.

Cynicism

Cynicism is characterised by scorn for the motives and virtues of others; the belief that people are motivated by selfishness. The cynical tone is mocking and sneering, often bitter; it may or may not involve irony.

Example I: When a rich man donates money to a charity, cynics say that his motive is to get a charitable deduction on his tax return.

Sarcasm

This refers to an expression or attitude that is sharply mocking or contemptuous, typically utilising statements or implications pointedly opposite or irrelevant to the underlying purport. Sarcasm suggests open taunting and ridicule; though it uses irony, its effect is considerably harsher, revealing an intention to hurt.

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