Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected. It typically figures as a rhetorical device and literary technique. … 展开

'Irony' comes from the Greek eironeia (εἰρωνεία) and dates back to the 5th century BCE. This term itself was coined in reference to a stock … 展开

How best to organize irony into distinct types is almost as controversial as how best to define it. There have been many proposals, generally relying on the same cluster of types; still, there is little agreement as to how to organize the types and what if any … 展开

Typically "irony" is used, as described above, with respect to some specific act or situation. In more philosophical contexts, however, the term is sometimes assigned a more general … 展开

It is commonplace to begin a study of irony with the acknowledgement that the term quite simply eludes any single definition. Philosopher Richard J. Bernstein opens his Ironic Life with the … 展开

Building upon the double-level structure of irony, self-described "ironologist" D. C. Muecke proposes another, complimentary way in which we may typify, and so better understand, ironic … 展开

To consider irony from a rhetorical perspective means to consider it as an act of communication. In A Rhetoric of Irony, Wayne C. Booth seeks … 展开