Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ironie verbale'

L’objectif de cette thèse était d’explorer les bases cognitives et cérébrales des processus de compréhension du langage figuré via l’utilisation d’outils de neuroimagerie (EEG et IRMf). Nous nous sommes particulièrement intéressés aux processus inférentiels sémantiques et pragmatiques. Afin de mieux les cerner, nous avons étudié la compréhension de la métaphore verbale nouvelle (« catapulter ses paroles ») et de l’ironie verbale (« Il est détesté de tous. Cet homme est très populaire. »). Ce choix repose sur l’hypothèse selon laquelle chacune de ces figures sollicite spécifiquement un type de processus inférentiel ; de nature sémantique pour la métaphore et pragmatique pour l’ironie. Conformément à cette hypothèse, nos résultats indiquent que la compréhension des métaphores verbales nouvelles se fonde sur des processus de recherche et d’intégration d’informations sémantiques, supportant l’hypothèse d’un traitement séquentiel. L’examen des bases cérébrales du traitement de ces expressions précédées d’un contexte a mis en évidence des régions cérébrales postérieures, suggérant la mise en œuvre d’un processus de manipulation conceptuelle. Concernant le traitement de l’ironie, nous avons observé un processus tardif d’intégration d’informations plus important pour les énoncés ironiques comparés aux énoncés littéraux, suggérant un traitement pragmatique plus difficile. Enfin, nous avons mis en évidence un réseau fronto-temporal bilatéral lors du traitement de l’ironie, dont une part serait sensible au contraste entre le contexte et l’énoncé et à l’humour des énoncés. Nos résultats sont confrontés aux théories psycholinguistiques et cognitives du traitement du langage figuré
Our main aim was to assess the cognitive and neural basis of the figurative language processing using neuroimaging tools (EEG and fMRI). We were especially interested in semantic and pragmatic inferential processes. In order to better grasp these processes, we have studies the comprehension of novel verbal metaphor (“to catapult his/her words”) and verbal irony (“Everybody thinks he is foul. He is a very popular man.”). This choice was based upon the hypothesis that each of these figurative expressions specifically engages one of the two inferential processes: semantic for metaphors and pragmatic for irony. Following this hypothesis, our results point out that the comprehension of novel metaphoric expression is built on the research and the integration of a semantic congruent information, supporting a sequential processing hypothesis. The assessment of the cerebral basis of the processing of such expressions embedded in a context has revealed regions in posterior areas, suggesting a conceptual manipulation process. Concerning the irony processing, we observed a greater late integration processing for ironic sentences than literal ones, suggestion a more effortful pragmatic processing. Finally, we observed a fronto-temporal network specific to irony processing. Some part of this network could be involved in both the contrast between the utterance and the context and the humor processing of the sentences. Our results are confronted with psycholinguistic and cognitive theories about figurative language processing

Title: “All roads here always lead to irony”. Verbal irony as a mean of presenting dandyismin the novels ‘Faserland’, by Christian Kracht and ‘Att komma hem ska vara en schlager’, byPer Hagman. A contrastive analysis. Author: Hanna JulinSupervisor: Bärbel WestphalExaminator: Corina Löwe Summary: The aim of this study is to investigate how verbal irony is used in fiction to indicatedandyism in pop-modern literature. It is a contrastive study based on Christian Kracht’s novelFaserland (1995), which is considered to be a romana à clef in the German popliterature. Attkomma hem ska vara en schlager (2004), by Per Hagman is a Swedish novel comparative tothe German „pop-novel“. The analysis has shown that the verbal irony primarily has threefunctions: social criticism, distancing and self-criticism. These elements correspond withdistinctive features which are typical of the dandy. Irony itself, according to Barbey (1987),Schickedanz (2000) and Rauen (2010) among others, is a distinctive feature of the classicaldandy figure, as well as of the pop-modern one. However, further research consisting of bothsynchronic, diachronic and contrastive analysis is relevant, as the dandy, according to Hörner(2008) and Tietenberg (2012) among others, always renews himself – so that his image alwaysappears elegant, modern, original and rebellious in his contemporary society.

Diese Dissertation untersucht das Verstehen figurativer Sprache, im Besonderen die zeitliche Verarbeitung von verbaler Ironie. In sechs Experimenten wurde mittels ereignis-korrelierter Potentiale (EKP) die Gehirnaktivität beim Verstehen ironischer Äußerungen im Vergleich zu entsprechenden nicht-ironischen Äußerungen gemessen und analysiert. Darüberhinaus wurde der Einfluss verschiedener sprachbegleitender Hinweisreize, z.B. von Prosodie oder der Verwendung von Satzzeichen, sowie außersprachlicher Hinweisreize, wie bspw. pragmatischen Wissens, auf das Ironieverstehen untersucht. Auf Grundlage dieser Ergebnisse werden verschiedene psycholinguistische Modelle figurativer Sprachverarbeitung, d.h. 'standard pragmatic model', 'graded salience hypothesis', sowie 'direct access view', diskutiert.
This dissertation investigates the comprehension of figurative language, in particular the temporal processing of verbal irony. In six experiments using event-related potentials(ERP) brain activity during the comprehension of ironic utterances in relation to equivalent non-ironic utterances was measured and analyzed. Moreover, the impact of various language-accompanying cues, e.g., prosody or the use of punctuation marks, as well as non-verbal cues such as pragmatic knowledge has been examined with respect to the processing of irony. On the basis of these findings different models on figurative language comprehension, i.e., the 'standard pragmatic model', the 'graded salience hypothesis', and the 'direct access view', are discussed.

Le sujet de cette recherche est l´analyse sémantico-pragmatico-discursive de l´ironie dans le débat parlementaire portugais. Nous étudions plus particulièrement les degrés d´implicitation de la critique ironique, les indices, les fonctions et les stratégies discursives de l´ironie. Notre approche théorique interdisciplinaire permet de couvrir la pluralité des formes d´expression de l´ironie dans notre corpus, et elle comprend des concepts opératoires émanant notamment: de la théorie des actes de langage (Austin 1962 et Searle 1969 et 1979); des maximes conversationnelles de Grice 1975; de la perspective antiphrastique de l´ironie (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 1980); des théories de la polyphonie linguistique (Ducrot 1984) et de la politesse verbale (Brown & Levinson 1987 et Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2005 et 2010), ainsi que des études sur l´argumentation (Amossy 2000). La première partie de ce travail est consacrée à la caractérisation du discours parlementaire portugais et à l´analyse critique de certaines études sur l´ironie. Dans la deuxième partie, nous étudions les diverses formes de manifestation de l´ironie dans notre corpus, établissant trois grandes classes d´ironie à partir des différents degrés d´implicitation du jugement ironique; nous y dégageons également les indices d´ironie les plus fréquents. Dans la troisième partie, nous nous penchons sur les principales fonctions et stratégies discursives qui sous-tendent l´utilisation de l´ironie dans le genre discursif en question. Cette démarche nous a permis d´envisager l´ironie comme un mécanisme linguistico-discursif de nature axiologique, visant la disqualification d´autrui, au service de l´argumentation et de la persuasion
The subject of this study is a semantic, pragmatic and discursive analysis of irony in Portuguese parliamentary debate. We study in particular the implicitation degrees of ironic criticism, the signals, the functions and the discursive strategies of irony. Our interdisciplinary theoretical approach covers the multiple forms that irony takes in our corpus, and includes operating concepts deriving from : the speech act theory (Austin 1962 and Searle 1969 and 1979) ; Grice´s conversational maxims (1975) ; the antiphrastic irony´s point of view (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 1980) ; the linguistic theory of polyphony (Ducrot 1984) ; the verbal politeness theory (Brown & Levinson 1987 and Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2005 and 2010) and studies on argumentation (Amossy 2000). The first part of this work focuses on the characteristics of the Portuguese parliamentary discourse and on the critical analysis of different studies on irony. In the second part, we study the different forms of irony in our corpus and identify the most common signals of irony. In the third part, we focus on the main discursive functions and strategies that underlie the use of irony in the discursive genre being analysed. This approach has allowed us to conceive irony as an axiological linguistic-discursive mechanism that aims to depreciate someone, while supporting argumentation and persuasion
O objeto de estudo deste trabalho é a análise semântico-pragmático-discursiva da ironia no debate parlamentar português. São estudados em particular os graus de implicitação da crítica irónica, os índices, as funções e as estratégias discursivas da ironia. A abordagem teórica interdisciplinar permite contemplar a multiplicidade de formas de expressão da ironia no nosso corpus e inclui conceitos operatórios oriundos nomeadamente: da teoria dos atos de fala (Austin 1962 e Searle 1969 e 1979); das máximas conversacionais de Grice (1975); da perspetiva antifrástica da ironia (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 1980); das teorias da polifonia linguística (Ducrot 1984) e da cortesia verbal (Brown & Levinson 1987 e Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2005 e 2010), assim como dos estudos sobre a argumentação (Amossy 2000). A primeira parte do trabalho é dedicada à caracterização do discurso parlamentar português e à análise crítica de determinados estudos sobre a ironia. Na segunda parte, estudamos as várias formas de manifestação da ironia no corpus em análise, estabelecendo três grandes classes de ironia a partir dos diferentes graus de implicitação da apreciação irónica; identificamos igualmente os índices de ironia mais frequentes. Na terceira parte, debruçamo-nos sobre as principais funções e estratégias discursivas da ironia que subjazem à utilização da ironia no género discursivo em questão. Este procedimento permitiu-nos considerar a ironia como um mecanismo linguístico-discursivo de natureza axiológica, que visa a desqualificação de outrem, estando ao serviço da argumentação e da persuasão

Le journal télévisé satirique est un genre qui recycle les discours issus des sources médiatiques traditionnelles, dans le but de produire une mise en scène décalée de l'information. Cette thèse s'intéresse, dans une perspective comparative, à la production de certains procédés discursifs au sein de ce genre, tel qu'ils se manifestent dans les productions françaises et américaines. Nous tâchons plus précisément de dégager les tendances et les principes socioculturels qui élucident leur fonctionnement. Notre corpus se compose de deux émissions issues de chacune des deux cultures : The Daily Show et Last Week Tonight pour le sous-corpus américain, C'est Canteloup et Les Guignols pour le sous-corpus français. Le recueil de notre corpus est déterminé plus précisément par des paramètres de thème et de temps. En prenant pour thématique les élections présidentielles, chaque épisode dans la période de 50 jours avant l'élection présidentielle respective de chaque pays a été enregistré : du 19/09/16 au 08/11/16 pour le corpus américain et du 18/03/17 au 07/06/17 pour le corpus français. Notre méthodologie se fonde sur la notion du dialogisme (Bakhtine, 1970 [1929], 1984, 1987 [1975]) qui rend compte de la nature sociale du langage en discours selon laquelle l'être humain forme sa parole en relation avec les autres, leurs réflexions et leurs paroles. Nous menons plus précisément une analyse dialogique du processus de production de sens en nous intéressant aux éléments linguistiques et contextuels que le locuteur-énonciateur met en jeu dans l'emploi des procédés discursifs. Nous prenons en considération notamment les traces linguistiques observables de la voix de l'autre dans les matériaux verbaux et paraverbaux. Notre étude est menée aux niveaux quantitatif et qualitatif. Nous proposons une étude de deux procédés particuliers : l'ironie verbale et le détournement. Dans cette étude, nous avons d'une part décrit les occurrences concrètes des deux procédés tels qu'ils se manifestent dans le journal télévisé satirique. D'autre part, nous avons exposé les usages de ceux-ci dans chacune des deux cultures en mettant au clair la portée des paramètres socioculturels sur la production du discours satirique et parodique. À partir de l'étude contrastive des deux corpus provenant de deux communautés linguistiquement et culturellement distinctes, nous avons relevé certaines convergences et certaines divergences selon le procédé discursif en jeu. Nous avons pu observer que la fonction du procédé discursif influe sur les connaissances et les images socioculturelles mobilisées, repérables par les sources énonciatives incorporées. Le détournement sert d'une façon générale à (i) créer une connivence humoristique entre les producteurs et les récepteurs et à (ii) former des associations ludiques entre deux référents afin de s'en moquer d'un. Pour ce faire, les deux corpus ont recours aux types de références culturelles similaires, relevant principalement de la culture populaire. Dans le cas de l'ironie verbale ayant principalement une fonction de critique, nous avons pu observer l'incorporation des sources énonciatives différentes selon la culture, ce qui semble refléter certaines des valeurs socioculturelles de la communauté respective
The satirical news program is a genre that recycles discourse circulating within traditional media in order to create the satirical mise-en-scène of a news broadcast. This dissertation investigates the construction of meaning of certain discursive devices within this genre, as expressed in French and American shows. We attempt to specifically pinpoint the sociocultural tendencies and principles that shed light on the way they function. Our corpus is composed of two TV programs from each culture: The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight in the American sub-corpus; C'est Canteloup and Les Guignols in the French sub-corpus. We set thematic and temporal specifications for the collection of our corpus. As the chosen theme is the presidential elections, every episode in the 50-day period before the respective presidential election of each country was recorded: September 19-November 11, 2016, for the American corpus and March 18-May 17, 2017, for the French corpus. Our methodology is based on the notion of dialogism (Bakhtine, 1970 [1929], 1984, 1987 [1975]) that establishes the social nature of language in discourse by which human beings construct their own speech in view of the speech and the thoughts of others. In this dissertation, we carry out a dialogic analysis of the process of meaning production by studying the linguistic and contextual elements that the speaker-enunciator puts into play when using discursive devices. We take into account specifically the observable verbal and paraverbal traces of the voice of the other. Our study is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. We propose a study of two specific devices: verbal irony and discursive detournement. On one hand, we describe in this study the concrete occurrences of the two devices as they are expressed in satirical news programs. On the other hand, we show the usages of these devices in each culture while clarifying the impact of sociocultural parameters on the production of satiric and parodic discourse. Based on the contrastive study of two corpora originating from two linguistically and culturally distinct communities, we have discerned certain resemblances and differences according to the device in use. We observed that the discursive device's function influences which sociocultural images and knowledge are mobilized, perceptible by the discursive sources that are incorporated. Detournement serves globally to (i) create a humoristic complicity between the producers and the recipients and (ii) form playful associations between two referents, in order to make fun of one of them. To do this, both corpora turn to similar types of cultural references, mainly from pop culture. In the case of verbal irony that primarily has a critical function, we observed the incorporation of different enunciative sources, depending on the culture, which seems to reflect certain sociocultural values of the respective community

This dissertation takes an integrated approach to the study of audiovisual cues to verbal irony. While pragmatic studies have mainly focused on the role of the discourse context in irony detection, little is known about the role of prosodic and gestural cues in this process. The thesis includes four experimental studies—each one described in a separate chapter—addressing a set of questions using a variety of experimental designs. The first one is a case study of a professional comedian and reveals (a) that ironic utterances display a higher density of prosodic and gestural markers than non-ironic utterances; and (b) that gestural markers can appear both temporally aligned with prosodic prominence but can also appear independently, as gestural codas. The second study includes two experiments: (a) a production experiment eliciting spontaneous ironic speech which reveals that in non-professional spontaneous speech, too, speakers employ a higher density of prosodic and gestural markers in ironic compared to non-ironic utterances; and (b) a perception experiment on the contribution of gestural codas to the detection of verbal irony, which shows that speakers detect ironic intent significantly better when post-utterance gestural codas are present than when they are not. Following up on this idea, the third study presents three perception experiments on the relative contribution of contextual vs. prosodic vs. gestural cues to verbal irony understanding. Overall, results of the three experiments emphasize the role of contrast effects in irony perception. The first experiment shows that (a) listeners detect irony more accurately when they have access to both prosodic and gestural cues than when they just rely on prosodic information, (b) that listeners rely more strongly on gestural information than on prosodic information, and (c) that listeners rely more heavily on gestural cues than on prosodic or contextual ones for detecting irony. Finally, the fourth study addresses the contribution of prosodic and gestural cues to children’s early understanding of verbal irony, showing that mismatched multimodal cues of emotion facilitate the detection of irony by 5-year-old children. Altogether, this dissertation shows that both prosodic and gestural markers of irony aid in guiding the hearer in the interpretation of an utterance by providing overt clues about the assumptions, emotions and attitudes held by the speaker. Together with recent studies on the general pragmatic effects of prosody and gesture, the claim is that audiovisual markers of irony are strong triggers of implicature strength which help decode speech intentions in interaction. In addition, the dissertation presents novel empirical evidence of the stronger effects of multimodal—and especially gestural—cues in comparison with contextual cues, both in adult and child populations. This crucial finding leads us to claim that the study of prosodic and gestural cues to verbal irony should be at the core of any pragmatic or psycholinguistic account of verbal irony production and comprehension.
Esta tesis aborda el estudio de las marcas audiovisuales de la ironía verbal desde una perspectiva integral. Los estudios pragmáticos se han centrado principalmente en investigar el papel del contexto discursivo en la detección de la ironía, pero poco se sabe sobre el rol que desempeñan las marcas prosódicas y gestuales en este proceso. La presente tesis incluye cuatro estudios experimentales —cada uno de ellos incluido en un capítulo separado— que abordan diferentes preguntas de investigación utilizando varios diseños experimentales. El primero es un estudio de caso sobre un cómico profesional y muestra, en primer lugar, que los enunciados irónicos presentan una mayor densidad de marcadores prosódicos y gestuales que los enunciados no irónicos y, segundo, que los marcadores gestuales pueden aparecer alineados temporalmente con la prominencia prosódica, pero también de forma independiente, como codas gestuales. El segundo estudio incluye dos experimentos. Uno de producción —diseñado para obtener discurso irónico espontáneo—, cuyos resultados confirman que también en habla espontánea los hablantes no profesionales emplean una mayor densidad de marcadores prosódicos y gestuales cuando son irónicos en comparación con cuando no lo son; y, en segundo lugar, un experimento de percepción que investiga la contribución de las codas gestuales a la detección de la ironía verbal y cuyos resultados muestran claramente cómo la intención irónica se detecta significativamente mejor cuando los hablantes tienen acceso a codas gestuales que cuando no la tienen. El tercer estudio de esta tesis contiene tres experimentos de percepción que examinan cómo el contexto, las marcas prosódicas y las marcas gestuales contribuyen a la comprensión de la ironía verbal. En general, los resultados de los tres experimentos subrayan la importancia que los “efectos de contraste” tienen en el proceso de detección de la ironía. El primero muestra que los oyentes detectan la ironía con más precisión cuando tienen acceso a las marcas prosódicas y gestuales de manera conjunta que cuando solo tienen acceso a la información prosódica; el segundo, que la información visual resulta más convincente que la información prosódica a la hora de detectar la ironía; y, por último, el tercer experimento muestra que los oyentes emplean preferentemente las marcas gestuales por encima de las prosódicas e incluso de las contextuales a la hora de detectar la ironía. Finalmente, el cuarto estudio investiga cómo los niños desarrollan la capacidad de detectar la ironía verbal a través de las marcas prosódicas y gestuales, y los resultados muestran que las marcas multimodales facilitan la detección de la ironía en niños desde los 5 años de edad. En conjunto, esta tesis muestra que tanto los marcadores prosódicos como los gestuales contribuyen de manera significativa a la comprensión de la ironía verbal, guiando al oyente en la interpretación del enunciado mediante el suministro de pistas sobre las suposiciones, las emociones y las actitudes del ironizador. Siguiendo la línea de algunos estudios recientes sobre los efectos pragmáticos de la prosodia y el gesto, los resultados de los experimentos de esta tesis muestran que los marcadores audiovisuales de la ironía son potentes desencadenadores del proceso inferencial necesario para decodificar las intenciones del hablante en las interacciones comunicativas. Además, esta tesis presenta evidencia empírica de la gran incidencia que tienen las marcas multimodales —y especialmente de las gestuales— en la detección de la ironía verbal en comparación con las marcas contextuales, tanto en la población adulta como en la infantil. Este hallazgo fundamental nos lleva a afirmar que el estudio de las señales prosódicas y gestuales de la ironía debería considerarse una parte integral fundamental de cualquier explicación pragmática o psicolingüística sobre la producción y comprensión de la ironía verbal.
Aquesta tesi adopta una perspectiva integral a l'estudi de les marques audiovisuals en la ironia verbal. Els estudis pragmàtics s'han centrat principalment a investigar el paper del context discursiu en la detecció de la ironia, però se sap poc sobre el rol que juguen les marques prosòdiques i gestuals en aquest procés. La tesi inclou quatre estudis experimentals —cadascun d’ells descrit en un capítol separat— que aborden diferents preguntes de recerca i fan servir diversos dissenys experimentals. El primer és un estudi de cas sobre que analitza el discurs d’un còmic professional i mostra, en primer lloc, que els enunciats irònics presenten una major densitat de marcadors prosòdics i gestuals que els enunciats no irònics; i, en segon lloc, que els marcadors gestuals poden aparèixer temporalment alineats amb la prominència prosòdica, però també de forma independent, en el que anomenem “codes gestuals”. El segon estudi inclou dos experiments. Un de producció, dissenyat per obtenir discurs irònic espontani i els resultats del qual confirmen que en parla espontània els parlants no professionals també empren una major densitat de marcadors prosòdics i gestuals quan són irònics en comparació a quan no ho són; i, en segon lloc, un experiment de percepció sobre la contribució de les codes gestuals a la detecció de la ironia verbal, els resultats del qual demostren que la ironia es detecta millor quan els parlants tenen accés a codes gestuals que quan no en tenen. El tercer estudi presenta tres experiments de percepció que examinen com el context, les marques prosòdiques i les marques gestuals contribueixen a la comprensió de la ironia verbal. En general, els resultats dels tres experiments subratllen la importància dels efectes de contrast en el procés de detecció de la ironia. El primer experiment mostra que els oients detecten la ironia amb més precisió quan tenen accés a les marques prosòdiques i gestuals alhora, comparat amb quan només tenen accés a la informació prosòdica; el segon, que la informació visual és més poderosa que la informació prosòdica a l’hora de detectar la ironia, i, finalment, el tercer experiment mostra que els oients empren preferentment les marques gestuals per sobre de les prosòdiques o les contextuals a l’hora de detectar la ironia. Finalment, el quart estudi investiga com els infants aprenen a comprendre la ironia verbal a través de les marques prosòdiques i gestuals, i els resultats mostren que les marques multimodals faciliten la detecció de la ironia des dels 5 anys d'edat. En conjunt, aquesta tesi mostra que tant els marcadors prosòdics com els gestuals contribueixen a la comprensió de la ironia verbal, tot guiant l'oient en la interpretació de l’enunciat mitjançant el subministrament de pistes sobre els supòsits, les emocions i les actituds del parlant irònic. Seguint la línia d’estudis recents sobre els efectes pragmàtics de la prosòdia i el gest, els resultats dels experiments d’aquesta tesi mostren que els marcadors audiovisuals de la ironia són potents factors que desencadenen el procés inferencial necessari per a descodificar les intencions del parlant en les interaccions comunicatives. A més, aquesta tesi presenta evidència empírica de la gran incidència que tenen les marques multimodals —i especialment de les gestuals— en la detecció de la ironia verbal, en comparació amb les marques contextuals, tant en població adulta com en població infantil. Aquesta troballa fonamental reforça la idea que l'estudi dels aspectes prosòdics i gestuals hauria de ser una part integral fonamental de qualsevol explicació pragmàtica o psicolingüística sobre la producció i comprensió de la ironia verbal.

This study offers a pragmatic account of verbal irony, arguing that verbal irony can be best treated as a special type of conversational implicature.As the first part of the thesis, Grice's theory of conversational implicature is revised. This is done by 1)an addition to Grice's Maxim of Quality so that this maxim will be able to take presupposition into account; 2)an inclusion of the notion of mutual knowledge in Grice's framework and 3)an establishment of speakers' motivation for violating Grice's Maxims. This motivation is subsumed into three principles--the Politeness Principle (PP) (following previous writers such as R. Lakoff, Brown and Levinson), which embodies the speaker's need and want to be polite to others, the Selfishness Principle (SP), which constrains the speaker to say things that will bring him/her desirable consequences, and the Expressivity Principle (EP), by observing which the speaker will succeed in leaving more propositional and emotional impact on the hearer. Lastly, a heuristic of implicature production and understanding is offered which is believed to be more coherent and explanatory than Grice's original procedures for implicature calculation.Second, the revised theory is applied to verbal irony. Based on the heuristic of implicature production and understanding, a heuristic of irony production and understanding is provided. This heuristic demonstrates that irony is both similar to and different from ordinary conversational implicatures. It is similar in that it results from the speaker's observance of the motivating principles, and thus violation of Grice's maxims. It is different because 1)It is seen as the violation of the Maxim of Quality alone, while in ordinary conversational implicatures, any of the maxims may be violated; and 2)This violation is caused by all the three motivating principles, the PP, the SP, and the EP, whereas an ordinary conversational implicature is usually motivated by one of these three principles. Finally, this heuristic is applied to various cases of verbal irony, showing that the revised theory of conversational implicature is better than previous proposals on the subjuct.
Department of English

Aborda el problema de la ironía desde el trasfondo de las presuposiciones pragmáticas. De esta manera, brinda una mirada en la que la ironía se analiza como un fenómeno perteneciente a la cognición, pero inciden en las anclas contextuales que despliegan lo que se puede denominar una cognición situada en el entorno. En cuanto al método de análisis, se delinea un procedimiento pragmático-cognitivo configurado en cuatro dimensiones: determinación de anclas materiales, inferencia de la intención irónica, acomodación del trasfondo presuposicional y estructuración topológica del sentido. Con miras a la evaluación de la teoría, se propende a una evidencia convergente que añade al análisis de enunciados irónicos una perspectiva centrada en la apuesta cognitiva. Esta tesis se sustenta en un estudio llevado a cabo durante el 2010 en el seno del Instituto de Investigaciones Humanísticas con el título de Prolegómenos a una teoría cognitiva de la ironía (código 100303251) y que contó con el auspicio del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.
Tesis

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Neste trabalho são apresentados dois estudos sobre ironia verbal na Análise do Comportamento. Essa dissertação traz as contribuições de outras áreas (Linguística, Psicologia Cognitiva) para a Análise do Comportamento, de maneira que se possa construir, em alicerces comportamentais, um arcabouço sustentável para o estudo das funções da produção e da compreensão da ironia verbal; e, ao mesmo tempo, para que se possam testar empiricamente algumas das interpretações behavioristas sobre a ironia verbal. O Estudo I é conceitual e seu objetivo é apresentar o conceito de ironia em duas grandes áreas do conhecimento: a Linguística, através da autora Paiva (1961), Contribuição Para Uma Estilística Da Ironia; e a Análise do Comportamento, através doutor Skinner (1957), Verbal Behavior. A partir dessas duas obras clássicas, foi analisado e discutido, através do método da ECD (Análise Comportamental do Discurso), o conceito de ironia verbal e as possibilidades de uma análise funcional do comportamento verbal que envolve o fenômeno. Esse método é a auto-descrição dos efeitos do texto-discurso sob o pesquisador. Os resultados mostraram que a ironia em Skinner pode ser conceituada como comportamento verbal sob controle múltiplo audiência múltipla, estímulos múltiplos (especialmente não verbais) e operações motivacionais a partir desses estímulos e audiências múltiplas com a função de deixar que o ouvinte produza uma resposta (em geral contrária ao que foi dito). As diferentes consequências sobre as audiências classificam funcionalmente subtipos de ironia: sarcasmo, sátira, alegoria, cinismo, etc. Esses elementos do conceito de ironia do autor são compartilhados pelas definições de ironia de Paiva. Skinner descreve a função da ironia a partir do contexto do controle múltiplo do comportamento verbal (irônico), que inclui mais de uma audiência como parte desse contexto; Paiva demonstra uma relevante contribuição na diferenciação dos cinco tipos (pura, satírica, disfemística, restritiva e contornante) e climas (ingênuo, retórico, sagrado, científico e familiar) da ironia. A junção das abordagens de Skinner e de Paiva aponta que o estudo da ironia no discurso deve analisar a produção e a compreensão do comportamento verbal irônico levando em consideração o contexto (controle de estímulo) e a audiência múltipla que definem tipos e climas de ironias. Concluiu-se que a análise funcional do comportamento verbal irônico ajudou a ir além de simplesmente dizer como a ironia é utilizada, apontando onde, como e porque (para que) esse comportamento é emitido. No Estudo II é apresentada uma análise empírica da produção e compreensão da ironia verbal em ambienta jurídico. Foi gravado e filmado um Júri Popular e analisadas as falas do Promotor e do Advogado. Dessas falas gravadas foram selecionadas quatro frases irônicas de cada participante, escolhidas pela pesquisadora e julgadas por outras três pessoas (um estagiário, o orientador dessa dissertação e o oponente do participante). As frases foram separadas e analisadas com base no método da ACD. Os resultados demonstraram uma clara compreensão da ironia por parte dos participantes pela definição mais dicionarizada. Além disso, a alta emissão de autoclíticos manipulativos fez com que a ironia fosse mais emitida com o objetivo de persuadir os ouvintes do que com função humorística, por exemplo. Concluiu-se que a emissão da ironia pode ser compreendida com algo inapropriado em ambiente jurídico. Além disso, quando investigada pela Análise do Comportamento (juntamente com a junção das definições na Linguística), é emitida sob controle múltiplo, destacando-se as funções de humor e de desqualificação da fala do oponente (como sarcasmo ou deboche). Palavras-chave: Tribunal do Júri, Linguística.

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This paper presents two studies of verbal irony in Behavior Analysis. This work shows the contributions of other areas (Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology) for Behavior Analysis, so that it can construct in behavioral foundations, a sustainable framework for studying the functions of production and comprehension of verbal irony, and, at the same time, so they can test empirically some of the verbal irony interpretations. The first study is conceptual and is intended to introduce the concept of irony in two areas of knowledge :Linguistics, through the author Paiva (1961), A Contribution to The Stylistics Irony, and Behavior Analysis, through the author Skinner (1957), Verbal Behavior. From these two classics, was analyzed and discussed through the method of BAS (Behavioral Analysis of Speech), the concept of verbal irony and the possibilities for a functional analysis of verbal behavior that involves the phenomenon. This method is self-description of the effects of text-speech under the researcher. The results showed that the irony in Skinner can be conceptualized as verbal behavior under multiple control - multiple audience, multiple stimuli (especially non-verbal) and motivational operations from these stimulus and multiple audiences - with the function of allowing the listener to produce a response (in general, contrary to what was said). The different consequences on audiences, functionally classify subtypes of irony (sarcasm, satire, allegory, cynicism, etc).The authors Skinner and Paiva share the same elements of irony concept. Skinner describes the function of irony from the context of multiple control on verbal behavior (ironic), that includes more than one audience as part of that context; Paiva demonstrates an outstanding contribution in the differentiation of five types (pure, satirical, disfemistic, restrictive and contornant) and climates (naive, rhetoric, sacred, scientific and familiar) of irony. The junction of the approaches of Skinner and Paiva suggests that investigation of irony in speech should analyze the production and comprehension of verbal irony considering the context (stimulus control) and the audience that define multiple types of climates and ironies. We conclude that functional analysis of verbal irony helped to go beyond simply saying how irony it is "used", indicating where, how and why (for what) this behavior is emitted. Study II presents an empirical analysis of production and comprehension of verbal irony in the legal environment. A Jury was recorded, filmed and the speech of the Prosecutor and Lawer was analysed. From the recorded statements, four ironic phrases were selected from each participant, chosen by the researcher and judged by three people (a trainee, the supervisor of this dissertation and the participant s opponent). The phrases were separated and analyzed using the BAS method. The results demonstrated a clear understanding of the participant s irony by definition in the dictionary. Moreover, the high emission of manipulative autoclitics made the irony be issued more in order to persuade listeners than to humor function, for example. It was concluded that the emission of irony can be understood as something inappropriate in legal environment. Furthermore, when investigated by the Behavior Analysis (along with the addition of Linguists definitions), is issued under multiple control, highlighting the humor functions and disqualification of the opponent s speech (such as sarcasm or mockery)
Neste trabalho são apresentados dois estudos sobre ironia verbal na Análise do Comportamento. Essa dissertação traz as contribuições de outras áreas (Linguística, Psicologia Cognitiva) para a Análise do Comportamento, de maneira que se possa construir, em alicerces comportamentais, um arcabouço sustentável para o estudo das funções da produção e da compreensão da ironia verbal; e, ao mesmo tempo, para que se possam testar empiricamente algumas das interpretações behavioristas sobre a ironia verbal. O Estudo I é conceitual e seu objetivo é apresentar o conceito de ironia em duas grandes áreas do conhecimento: a Linguística, através da autora Paiva (1961), Contribuição Para Uma Estilística Da Ironia; e a Análise do Comportamento, através do autor Skinner (1957), Verbal Behavior. A partir dessas duas obras clássicas, foi analisado e discutido, através do método da ACD (Análise Comportamental do Discurso), o conceito de ironia verbal e as possibilidades de uma análise funcional do comportamento verbal que envolve o fenômeno. Esse método é auto-descrição dos efeitos do texto-discurso sob o pesquisador. Os resultados mostraram que a ironia em Skinner pode ser conceituada como comportamento verbal sob controle múltiplo audiência múltipla, estímulos múltiplos (especialmente não verbais) e operações motivacionais a partir desses estímulos e audiências múltiplas com a função de deixar que o ouvinte produza uma resposta (em geral contrária ao que foi dito). As diferentes consequências sobre as audiências classificam funcionalmente subtipos de ironia: sarcasmo, sátira, alegoria, cinismo, etc. Esses elementos do conceito de ironia do autor são compartilhados pelas definições de ironia de Paiva. Skinner descreve a função da ironia a partir do contexto do controle múltiplo do comportamento verbal (irônico), que inclui mais de uma audiência como parte desse contexto; Paiva demonstra uma relevante contribuição na diferenciação dos cinco tipos (pura, satírica, disfemística, restritiva e contornante) e climas (ingênuo, retórico, sagrado, científico e familiar) da ironia.A junção das abordagens de Skinner e de Paiva aponta que o estudo da ironia no discurso deve analisar a produção e a compreensão do comportamento verbal irônico levando em consideração o contexto (controle de estímulo) e a audiência múltipla que definem tipos e climas de ironias. Conclui-se que a análise funcional do comportamento verbal irônico ajudou a ir além de simplesmente dizer como a ironia é utilizada , apontando onde, como e porque (para que) esse comportamento é emitido. No Estudo II é apresentada uma análise empírica da produção e compreensão da ironia verbal em ambiente jurídico. Foi gravado e filmado um Júri Popular e analisadas as falas do Promotor e do Advogado. Dessas falas gravadas foram selecionadas quatro frases irônicas de cada participante, escolhidas pela pesquisadora e julgadas por outras três pessoas (um estagiário, o orientador desta dissertação e o oponente do participante). As frases foram separadas e analisadas com base no método da ACD. Os resultados demonstraram uma clara compreensão da ironia por parte dos participantes pela definição mais dicionarizada. Além disso, a alta emissão de autoclíticos manipulativos fez com que a ironia fosse mais emitida com o objetivo de persuadir os ouvintes do que com função humorística, por exemplo. Concluiu-se que a emissão da ironia pode ser compreendida como algo inapropriado em ambiente jurídico. Além disso, quando investigada pela Análise do Comportamento (juntamente com a junção das definições na Linguística), é emitida sob controle múltiplo, destacando-se as funções de humor e de desqualificação da fala do oponente (como sarcasmo ou deboche)

Il presente lavoro prende in considerazione la comprensione dell'ironia verbale in bambini di età prescolastica e scolastica alla luce del suo legame con la teoria della mente (capacità di attribuire stati mentali a se' e agli altri e di prevederne il comportamento sulla base di tali stati) e con le abilità linguistiche dei soggetti. L'obiettivo è verificare quali fattori di tipo relazionale, contestuale e informativo aiutano i bambini nell'interpretare l'ironia verbale prima e dopo l'acquisizione di abilità mentalistiche complesse. Il primo studio si sofferma sulla differenza di status tra gli interlocutori (rapporto simmetrico e asimmetrico) e sulla qualità del legame di attaccamento del bambino con i suoi caregiver. La seconda ricerca approfondisce il ruolo delle conoscenze pregresse che i soggetti hanno a disposizione per comprendere l'enunciato ironico (conoscenze enciclopediche o episodiche) e il tipo di affermazione ironica (costituita da eco o allusione) in rapporto alle abilità mentalistiche e linguistiche. I risultati mostrano che i bambini si avvalgono di alcuni dei fattori individuati per comprendere l'ironia verbale anche prima dell'acquisizione di abilità mentalistiche complesse.
This work considers the verbal irony comprehension in school and preschool age children in the light of its link with theory of mind (the ability to impute mental states to the self and to the others as a way of making sense and predicting behaviour) and linguistic competences of subjects. The aim is to identify the relational, contextual and informative factors helping children to interpret verbal irony before and after the complex mentalistic abilities acquisition. The first study deals with status difference between talkers (symmetric and asymmetric relation) and characteristics of children relationship attachment with their caregivers. The second research elaborates on the role of previous knowledge of subjects to understand irony statement (encyclopaedic or episodic knowledge) and of ironic claim type (echoic or allusional) and the link with mentalistic and linguistic abilities. The results show that children use some of the detected factors to understand verbal irony also before the acquisition of complex theory of mind.

Il presente lavoro prende in considerazione la comprensione dell'ironia verbale in bambini di età prescolastica e scolastica alla luce del suo legame con la teoria della mente (capacità di attribuire stati mentali a se' e agli altri e di prevederne il comportamento sulla base di tali stati) e con le abilità linguistiche dei soggetti. L'obiettivo è verificare quali fattori di tipo relazionale, contestuale e informativo aiutano i bambini nell'interpretare l'ironia verbale prima e dopo l'acquisizione di abilità mentalistiche complesse. Il primo studio si sofferma sulla differenza di status tra gli interlocutori (rapporto simmetrico e asimmetrico) e sulla qualità del legame di attaccamento del bambino con i suoi caregiver. La seconda ricerca approfondisce il ruolo delle conoscenze pregresse che i soggetti hanno a disposizione per comprendere l'enunciato ironico (conoscenze enciclopediche o episodiche) e il tipo di affermazione ironica (costituita da eco o allusione) in rapporto alle abilità mentalistiche e linguistiche. I risultati mostrano che i bambini si avvalgono di alcuni dei fattori individuati per comprendere l'ironia verbale anche prima dell'acquisizione di abilità mentalistiche complesse.
This work considers the verbal irony comprehension in school and preschool age children in the light of its link with theory of mind (the ability to impute mental states to the self and to the others as a way of making sense and predicting behaviour) and linguistic competences of subjects. The aim is to identify the relational, contextual and informative factors helping children to interpret verbal irony before and after the complex mentalistic abilities acquisition. The first study deals with status difference between talkers (symmetric and asymmetric relation) and characteristics of children relationship attachment with their caregivers. The second research elaborates on the role of previous knowledge of subjects to understand irony statement (encyclopaedic or episodic knowledge) and of ironic claim type (echoic or allusional) and the link with mentalistic and linguistic abilities. The results show that children use some of the detected factors to understand verbal irony also before the acquisition of complex theory of mind.

After Donald Trump won the presidency, his use of social media has gotten massive attention because of its incredibly inappropriate content. Many people question how appropriate his use of Twitter is, and in the linguistic field prominent voices point out that the former businessman does not have the skills to speak; he only talks (McWhorter, 2017). As America’s President with views of his own about worldly events, it is of special interest to see how people interact with him online. Because of the low 39% approval rating, one can assume that many disagree with him, possibly in a way involving irony. One sub-type of irony is described as “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning” (Merriam-Webster, 2018), and it is reasonable to assume that some responses to Trump’s tweets use irony to present an alternative view of his actions or opinions. The study sets out to find replies to Trump’s tweets that are ironic and identify if they correspond to earlier developed theories of irony. The replies are examined to determine which of Grice’s maxims of conversation that is flouted the most. The data included 337 replies of which 78 (23%) were shown to follow an ironical pattern, mostly in order to ridicule and condemn Trump. 88 % of all comments disagree with Trump’s tweets. The most applicable theory of irony is the echoic interpretation theory by Wilson and Sperber, and the most flouted maxim is relevance.
Sedan Donald Trump ställde upp i presidentvalet och till slut vann valet, har hans användning av sociala medier fått mycket uppmärksamhet p.g.a dess olämpliga innehåll. Många har ifrågasatt lämpligheten i hans Twitter-användning, och lingvistiskt sett menar framstående röster att den tidigare företagsmannen inte äger förmågan att tala; han kan bara prata; och det gör han på Twitter som USA:s president och ger sin egen syn på världsliga händelser. Därför är det av intresse att titta på hur människor reagerar och tilltalar honom på nätet. Med tanke på hans låga popularitetssiffra på 39%, kan det förmodas att många inte håller med honom, och att ironi används som ett sätt att uttrycka en annan åsikt. Ironi beskrivs som “användningen av ord för att uttrycka någonting annat eller speciellt det motsatta av den bokstavliga meningen” (översatt från Merriam-Webster, 2018), vilket är hypotetiskt förväntat i svar till Trumps tweets. Denna studie syftar till att identifiera ironiska kommentarer på Trumps tweets och se om de överensstämmer med tidigare utvecklade teorier kring ironi. Även analys av vilken av Grices konversationsmaximer som bryts oftast görs i studien. Studiens data inkluderar 337 kommentarer, av vilka 78 (23%) är ironiska, oftast med intention att förlöjliga och fördöma Trump. 88% av alla kommentarer håller inte med om innehållet i Trumps tweets. Den mest applicerbara ironi-teorin var “echoic interpretation” teorin (Wilson & Sperber), medan den mest ignorerade konversationsmaximen var relevans.

À travers une lecture transversale de trois soliloques, Molloy, Le Bavard et Béton, cette thèse analyse la notion d'avidité, intrinsèquement liée à celles de copia rhétorique, d'abondance et de prolixité, comme un principe essentiel du travail de l'écriture de Beckett, des Forêts et Bernhard. Que l'avidité se manifeste sous la forme d'une compulsion de répétition ou d'un bavardage comme excès du dire, elle révèle la vacuité du sujet impuissant, incarne la trace de son sentiment de médiocrité, mais le pousse aussi en avant de lui-même. Pris dans une tension entre le délitement du personnage et sa logorrhée frénétique, le récit avide manifeste un goût pour l'usage de la répétition, pour la phrase longue et asyntaxique, mais aussi une propension à l'invective et l'agressivité, à la fragmentation de la prose, tout comme à la multiplication des oralitèmes et des pratiques intertextuelles. Ces modalités variées que décline le discours copieux témoignent tant d'un appétit pour les mots, que d'une volonté de déconstruire les fondements traditionnels du récit. Par leur force de déflagration, elles peuvent produire un effet d'absorption du lecteur, dont le rapport hors-norme, excessif au texte repose sur un mélange d'affects parfois contradictoires — fascination, attraction, contamination ou, à l'inverse, dégoût, nausée, détestation. Inflation des jeux métatextuels, propagation diffuse d'une ironie prophylactique, ou encore inclusion et rejet agressifs du lecteur, constituent autant de processus de métabolisation du texte qui nous engagent dans une expérience-limite, dont la puissance repose en grande partie sur la déstabilisation des interprétations
Through a cross-reading of three soliloquies, Molloy, Le Bavard and Béton, I propose to analyse the notion of « avidity » -quintessentially linked to those of rhetorical copia, abundance and verbosity- as an essential principle in the writing of Beckett, des Forêts and Bernhard. Whether avidity appears in the forms of compulsive repetition or of chatter as a mariner of overexpression, it reveals the vacuity of the powerless subjects, it embodies the lingering mediocrity which they feel, while it also pushes them forward, beyond the self. In the grasp of tensions between the crumbling characters and their frenzied logorrhea, the avid narrative demonstrates a taste for the use of repetitions and for long and asyntactic sentences, as well as it displays a strong tendency towards abuse and aggressiveness, a fragmented prose, an abundance of personal oral structures, and intertextual practices. These diverse modes, recurrent in the copious discourse, indicate an appetite for words, as well as a will to deconstruct the traditional foundations of narratives. Their strong blast can induce the absorption of these readers, whose abnormal, excessive relation to the text relies on a mixture of somehow contradictory affects —fascination, attraction, contamination, or, conversely, disgust, nausea, hatred. The text is metabolized through a series of processes such as the inflation of metatextual play, a diffusely propagated prophylactic irony, or an aggressive inclusion and rejection of the reader. Such processes invest readers in a borderline experience, the might of which mainly relies on unsettled interpretations

Cell phones are an essential piece of communication technology in today’s world. Though pocket sized computers provide the ability to have verbal communication between almost anyone in the world, it is often forgotten that these devices also allow non-verbal communication. Short Message Service (SMS), more commonly known as text messaging, enables cell phones to send and receive short messages from others instead of making a phone call. When using texting, there is a lack of verbal and visual non-verbal cues that we normally experience speaking over the phone or face-to-face (FtF). One of the more often mistranslated functions of communication when texting is verbal irony. Verbal irony is difficult to decipher in text due to the lack of cues. This study examines whether verbal irony can accurately be deciphered in texting, and if it is possible to correctly convey verbal irony in SMS. Additional questions include what category of verbal irony provides the clearest interpretation, the effect of emoticons on understanding, and possible gender differences in interpretation and creation of verbal irony. After collection and analysis of data, the research has shown that it is possible to correctly convey verbal irony if certain patterns are followed. There is an overwhelming use of emoticons, particularly the disappointed face, and the use of ellipsis when creating verbal irony within text messages. In both cases, it shows to be beneficial. There are gender differences in the interpretation of verbal irony including the concept that same gendered senders and receivers are more accurate in interpretation.

Social anxiety is associated with a number of cognitive biases that influence the way that social information is processed. One particular bias that has been identified, coined a judgmental bias (Foa, Franklin, Perry, & Herbert, 1996), involves overestimation of the probability and costs associated with negative social events. While research has established that judgmental biases occur in social anxiety, it is not clear whether they have a notable impact on cognitive processes in everyday life. The present study investigated the impact of social anxiety on the interpretation of verbal irony, a complex and commonly encountered form of ambiguous language, and whether judgmental biases play a mediating role in any observed interpretation biases. Participants high and low in social anxiety completed written measures of depression, judgmental bias, and irony interpretation. Mixed model analyses of variance conducted on several factor analytically derived interpretation scales suggested that, contrary to expectation, social anxiety had a negligible effect on the interpretation of both personal and non-personal instances of verbal irony, although it may have minimal gender specific effects on the use of specific types of comments. Potential covariates are explored and implications of the findings, limitations of the study, and future directions are discussed.
Arts, Faculty of
Psychology, Department of
Graduate

Traditionally, irony has long been viewed as a rhetorical device and broadly defined as “the use of words to express the opposite of their literal meaning.” It has been amply studied in different disciplines such as psychology, philosophy and literature, among others. Within linguistics, irony has also been researched into extensively. Several contemporary specialists in the subject now propose that irony does not always imply the opposite meaning of what has been said (or written). Alternatively, it may convey another meaning which is, in fact, different from the literal meaning of an utterance. Besides this innovative proposal, modern linguistic studies, especially within pragmatics, have distinguished four types of irony: ‘Socratic’ irony (that is, the pretence of ignorance of a given topic), ‘dramatic’ irony (where, for example, the audience of a play, or the reader of a novel, knows something that a protagonist ignores), ‘situational’ irony (a state of affairs in the world viewed as ironical), and ‘verbal’ irony (typically, a linguistic phenomenon) (Kreuz and Roberts 1993, cited by Attardo 2000).

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Lingüística mención Lengua Española
El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo describir las funciones discursivo-pragmáticas de la ironía como recurso humorístico en un corpus de tiras cómicas en lengua española en relación con los distintos tipos de actos de habla planteados por Searle (2001). Dentro del marco conceptual se desarrollarán algunos conceptos de ironía que van desde la consideración de dicho recurso como un tropo que consiste en ‘decir una cosa queriendo decir lo contrario’ (Haverkate, 1983) hasta nociones que permiten ampliar el análisis de la ironía relacionándola con elementos contextuales (Sperber y Wilson, 1981). La metodología de trabajo consistió en la recolección de un corpus de 50 viñetas en las cuales se presentó el uso de la ironía, las cuales fueron analizadas de manera individual en función de las implicaturas, de su intención comunicativa y del acto de habla a través del cual se manifestó el uso de la ironía. Posteriormente, se realizó un análisis individual y general, tanto cuantitativo como cualitativo, que permitió la verificación de las hipótesis de trabajo planteadas en el estudio. Los resultados muestran que las funciones discursivo-pragmáticas de la ironía corresponden a generar humor y a realizar una crítica. Estas funciones se realizan por medio de actos de habla asertivos, directivos y expresivos.

This thesis attempts to shed new light on the functioning of verbal irony in literary discourse and contemporary narrative fiction in particular, adopting a pragmatic stylistic approach to the topic. It argues in favour of Sperber and Wilson's pragmatic account of verbal irony which it deems extendable and generalisable, despite its two main shortcomings concerned with the basically one-to-one situation analysis it offers and its disregard for components (of a psycho-sociolinguistic nature) which are essential for explaining and securing the existence of irony. The defence of this argument follows two steps. The first (Chs. I, II, III, IV) is concerned with the exploration of the potential that discourse as a whole and literary discourse in particular offer for warranting such a view of irony. Tremendous support has been unravelled from the notions of intertextuality, recontextualisation and re-attribution which readily accommodate the proposed view of irony and help to elucidate it. The second step explores irony in contemporary narrative fiction taking into consideration aspects of its discourse, and the way it can be reconciled with Sperber and Wilson's account. Chapter V singles out some paratextual elements (the title, the epigraph and the note) as instantiating intertextuality par excellence and therefore offering a fertile ground for the communication of irony, at the periphery of the body of the fictional text. Chapters VI and VII scrutinise the organisation of the narrative both as report of events and as report of speech in order to single out the potential each narrative technique offers for the generation and comprehension of irony. It is argued that the duplicity between 'story' and 'discourse' is at the heart of a great deal of the possibilities open for irony in narrative fiction given what it offers for the manipulation of the organisation of the events in terms of time, focalisation and narration as well as speech and thought presentation. This investigation is further accompanied by an exploration of the pragmatic or rhetorical purposes behind the use of irony through the manipulation of these techniques. Characterisation, thematic reinforcement and self-conscious criticism are found to be the elements of narrative that seem to benefit most from ironic communication.

Uno de los objetivos principales de este estudio es examinar y analizar tanto el modo en que el ironista expresa sus significados como los elementos que el oyente observa en el enunciado del hablante para llevar a cabo procesos interpretativos y calcular los significados implicados. Ambos procesos suponen la utilización de diversos tipos de conocimiento, entre los cuales se encuentran la conciencia que los demás participantes de la interacción poseen la misma información y el hecho que los participantes colaboran en la conversación de modo relevante y ostensivo (Sperber y Wilson 1986)

Il presente elaborato finale propone la traduzione, dall’inglese all’italiano, di un fumetto della Marvel Comics, Invincible Iron Man #600 di Brian Michael Bendis, e il confronto di questa con la versione ufficiale italiana dello stesso fumetto, pubblicato dalla Panini Comics. Il lavoro si articola in tre capitoli. Nel primo capitolo, dopo un accenno di storia del fumetto, espongo alcune teorizzazioni sulla traduzione di fumetti, in particolare per ciò che concerne la stretta correlazione tra codice verbale e codice visivo; infine, racconto brevemente la storia della Marvel Comics e contestualizzo il fumetto in oggetto. Il secondo capitolo è interamente dedicato alla mia proposta di traduzione. Nel terzo capitolo commento la mia proposta di traduzione e opero il confronto con la traduzione ufficiale italiana, prendendo in esame i principali problemi di traduzione da me riscontrati.

The most common form of nutritional deficiency worldwide is iron deficiency, which is associated with sup optimal early brain development. Literature indicates that children with a poor nutritional status during early development of the brain showed poorer cognitive functioning, deficient growth and muscle function. The first purpose of this study was to determine if iron status plays a role in motor competency. A second purpose was to determine if iron status shows an association with motor competency, behavioural characteristics and scholastic success, while a third purpose was to determine if the consumption of different teas will improve iron intake positively and consequently will improve motor development and behaviour. A test- retest research design was used in a randomised parallel study, with one group of children drinking tea and a control group drinking 'rooibos' tea. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) (Henderson & Sugden, 1992) was used to determine the DCD (Developmental co-ordination disorder) status in the group (N = 76). In this group, 45 children were classified as children with DCD. Blood samples were taken to determine the haemoglobin, ferritin and transferrin saturation levels while a 24hr recall dietary questionnaire was used to determine nutritional intakes. Descriptive statistics, t-testing, effect sizes and analysis of co-variance were used to analyse the data. With regards to the first aim of the study, the results which were analysed by means of t-testing, effect sizes and co-variance of analysis indicated that iron deficiency showed significant relationships with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). When corrected for influences other than haemoglobin on gross motor competency manual dexterity, and especially ball skills, showed significant relationships with iron deficiency. These results demonstrate the importance of proper nutrition on motor and cognitive development. With reference to the second aim of the study the assessment of children with DCD by the teachers with regard to their manual dexterity and behavioural characteristics, indicated poorer manual dexterity and more behavioural problems compared to children without DCD. The children in the DCD group was also divided into a group where the MABC-total showed improvement and their haemoglobin levels increased (n=19). This group was then compared with a group of DCD children of which the MABC total decreased and a decrease in haemoglobin was found (n=6). Although the groups were small, the results indicate that manual dexterity skills and mathematics, reading and writing was poorer in the DCD-children whose iron status decreased. No definite association between the different teas and improvement of motor development and behaviour were indicated by the results. Overall, the conclusion can be made that a relationship between iron status and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) among 9-12 year old children exist. However, it is recommended that more studies of this nature should be done on school age children to substantiate the findings of this study. Intervention studies should also be implemented where the children with depleted iron anaemia status should receive iron supplementation.
Thesis (M.Sc. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

碩士
國立臺灣師範大學
翻譯研究所
100
The purpose of this study is to examine verbal irony in Jane Austen’s work Pride and Prejudice and the effectiveness of verbal irony in different translations. This thesis begins by looking into the biography and social background of Austen, and then invokes the Relevance Theory developed by Sperber and Wilson to discuss the definition and utilization of verbal irony in communication. Then the study draws on Yus’ Model of Contextual Activation to analyze specific instances of verbal irony, and understand the various signals of activation in the context. The results are used as criteria to examine the effectiveness of four translations. The study concludes that the more contextual signals are activated, the better the understanding and performance of the translators. In terms of different types of text in the book, it is discovered that verbal irony in dialogues are more adequately translated, whereas verbal irony in author’s narration are often missed or misunderstood. It is advised that future translation of the work take further notice regarding the understanding and expression of verbal irony.

Dotychczasowe prace badawcze wskazują, że stosowanie i rozumienie ironii werbalnej jest zależne od cech indywidualnych współrozmówców. Szczególnie interesującą, dotychczas niezbadaną z perspektywy badań nad ironią cechą może być gelotofobia: awersja wobec śmiechu i żartów oraz negatywne ich interpretowanie. Badanie 1 wykazało, że preferencja wobec ironii, sarkazmu, satyry i cynizmu nie różnicowała osób gelotofobicznych i niegelotofobicznych. Wypowiedzi ironiczne wzbudzały jednak bardziej negatywne emocje u osób z gelotofobią. Wyniki te wskazują zatem na złożoną relację między stosowaniem i rozumieniem ironii a gelotofobią. Dążąc do jej zgłębienia, w Badaniu 2 przeprowadzono jakościową analizę wypowiedzi osób gelotofobicznych i niegelotofobicznych na temat ironii. Niegelotofobiczni uczestnicy podawali, że stosują ironię, aby żartować i rozbawiać współrozmówców, lecz osoby gelotofobiczne opisywały ironiczne komentarze jako zarozumiałe i obraźliwe. Jednak mimo owej deklarowanej niechęci, osoby gelotofobiczne same zgłaszały stosowanie przez siebie ironii. W drugiej części projektu, łącząc ujęcie ironii w perspektywie interpersonalnej z ujęciem intrapersonalnym, wykorzystano teorię dialogowego Ja (ang. Dialogical Self Theory, DST) i powiązaną z nią koncepcję dialogów wewnętrznych. Drugim wątkiem projektu było zatem przeniesienie uwagi z ironii w dialogach interpersonalnych na ironię w dialogach wewnętrznych, dążąc do zbadania potencjalnych relacji między tymi dwiema sferami. Badanie 3 wykazało, że preferencja wobec ironii była skorelowana z tendencją do prowadzenia dialogów wewnętrznych, w tym tych dotyczących symulowania w wyobraźni rzeczywistych interakcji, przyjmowania innych punktów widzenia oraz rozgrywania wewnętrznych konfliktów. Z drugiej strony, gelotofobia okazała się być powiązana z częstszymi dialogami wewnętrznymi, zarówno dotyczącymi symulacji sytuacji społecznych, jak i ruminacji. Negatywna postawa osób gelotofobicznych wobec ironii oraz jednoczesne jej stosowanie na poziomie podobnym do osób niegelotofobicznych może być więc powiązane z faktem, że osoby te są szczególnie wyczulone na taką formę humoru oraz pamiętają i przywołują więcej przypadków bycia jej ofiarą, co znajduje odbicie w ich dialogach wewnętrznych i nadaje kształt ich rozumieniu ironii. Na podobny mechanizm wskazuje teoria ironii jako echa, według której ironia polega na przywoływaniu rzeczywistych lub wyobrażonych wypowiedzi i postaw innych. Zatem perspektywa intrapersonalna – wewnętrzna reprezentacja siebie samego w relacji z innymi – pozostaje w związku z interpersonalną sytuacją stosowania i rozumienia ironii. Badanie 4 wykorzystało ilościowe narzędzie opisu sfery dialogów wewnętrznych w perspektywie DST, podążając za sugestią twórców tej teorii oraz wynikami istniejących badań dotyczących możliwej wewnętrznej pozycji „Ja jako ironista”. Wyniki wykazały, że pozycja „Ja jako ironista” była rozpoznawana przez badanych w ich dialogach wewnętrznych. Była oceniana jako wchodząca w dialogi z szeregiem innych pozycji dotyczących własnych postaw i relacji z innymi osobami. Dodatkowo w Badaniu 4 wykazano brak istotnych statystycznie korelacji pomiędzy potrzebą domknięcia poznawczego a wewnętrzną aktywnością dialogową, co świadczy o odrębności tych dwu konstruktów. Podejmując badania nad ironią z perspektywy interpersonalnej komunikacji i intrapersonalnej sfery dialogów wewnętrznych oraz wskazując na relacje między nimi, niniejszy projekt wpisuje się w najnowsze trendy badawcze i pogłębia rozumienie procesów społeczno-poznawczych związanych z ironią. Otwiera drogę ku dalszym badaniom dotyczącym relacji między ironią a wewnętrzną aktywnością dialogową. Stanowi też punkt wyjścia dla dalszych badań nad autoironią.
Existing research shows that irony use and understanding is influenced by the interlocutors’ individual differences. A particularly interesting difference which has not yet been explored from the perspective of irony research might be gelotophobia: the fear of being laughed at and negatively interpreting humor. Study 1 showed that the preference for irony, sarcasm, satire, and cynicism did not differentiate gelotophobes from nongelotophobes. However, gelotophobes reported more negative emotional reactions to ironic utterances. These results point to a complex relationship between irony use and understanding and gelotophobia. Seeking to explore it further, Study 2 involved a qualitative analysis of gelotophobes’ and nongelotophobes’ statements about irony. Nongelotophobes reported using irony to joke and to entertain their interlocutors, while nongelotophobes described ironic utterances as arrogant and insulting. Nevertheless, they also reported using irony themselves. The second part of the project combined the interpersonal perspective on irony with the intrapersonal one using dialogical self theory (DST) and the related concept of internal dialogues. The second theme of the project was thus to emphasize irony in internal dialogues in addition to interpersonal ones and to examine the potential relations between these two spheres. Study 3 showed that the preference for irony was correlated with the tendency to engage in internal dialogues, including simulating real interactions, taking different points of view, and debating internal conflicts. On the other hand, gelotophobia was related to more frequent internal dialogues, both involving simulations of real interactions as well as ruminations. Gelotophobes’ negative attitudes towards irony and their simultaneous use of irony on a level similar to nongelotophobes might thus be related to the fact that gelotophobes are especially sensitive to this form of humor and remember/recall more instances of being the victims of irony. This might be reflected in their internal dialogues and might shape their understanding of irony. A similar mechanism is described in the echoic theory of irony, which states that irony involves recalling others’ real or imagined utterances and attitudes. Thus, the intrapersonal perspective - the internal representation of oneself in relationships with others - is related to the interpersonal situation of irony use and understanding. Study 4 used a quantitative measure of the sphere of internal dialogues according to DST, following its authors’ suggestion as well as the results of existing studies on the possible internal position of “I as ironic.” The results showed that the position of “I as ironic” was recognized by the participants in their internal dialogues. It was rated as entering into internal dialogues with a variety of other positions related to own attitudes and relationships with others. Moreover, Study 4 showed a lack of statistically significant correlations between the need for cognitive closure and internal dialogical activity, meaning that these constructs are separate. Studying irony from the interpersonal and intrapersonal perspective and pointing to the relationships between them, the current project fits the newest research trends and deepens our understanding of the social-cognitive processes related to irony. It lays the foundations for further studies on irony and internal dialogues. It also serves as a starting point for further studies on self-irony.

The objective of this study was to examine Polish and Canadian children’s and adults’ attention to two potential cues to ironic intent: 1) interpretive perspective (addressee versus bystander), and 2) parties present (speaker, addressee, and bystander). Polish participants were 36 9- to 10-year-olds and 36 adults recruited from schools in Poland. Canadian participants were matched from an existing dataset. Participants watched 9 videos containing ironic criticisms, literal criticisms, and literal compliments. Video characters criticized/complimented a present or absent addressee either with or without a bystander in three conditions: private evaluation, public evaluation, and gossip. Participants judged speaker’s intent and humour from the addressee’s perspective, and/or the bystander’s perspective. Interpretative perspective served as a cue to verbal irony only among Canadian adults, who rated ironic criticisms more mean and more serious when interpreting these statements from the addressee’s perspective versus the bystander’s perspective. The number of parties present influenced interpretation of irony’s seriousness for Polish adults, but not their Canadian counterparts. Polish adults rated public ironic criticisms as less serious compared to private ironic criticisms, while Canadian adults rated the conditions similarly. The results show that the relevance of cues in interpreting ironic criticisms is influenced by age and culture.
October 2016

Verbal irony, a form of figurative language, uses the discrepancy between a speaker’s intended meaning and the literal word meanings to achieve social goals. Yet, little research exists on individual differences that may disrupt irony understanding. Verbal irony may challenge shy children, who tend to interpret ambiguous stimuli as being threatening, and who have difficulties with mentalizing in social contexts. This study assessed whether shy children interpret ironic statements differently than do non-shy children. Children (8- to11-year-olds) listened to stories wherein one character made a statement to another character that was a literal or ironic criticism or a literal or ironic compliment. Children appraised the speaker’s belief and communicative intention. Shyness was assessed using self report measures of social anxiety symptoms and shy negative affect. Shy children did not differ from non-shy peers in comprehending speakers’ beliefs. However, shy children rated speakers who made ironic criticisms as being more mean than did children low in shyness. Thus, while understanding that speakers intended to communicate their true beliefs, shy children construed the social meaning of irony differently, indicating difficulties with pragmatics. Such subtle differences in pragmatic understanding may underlie some of the social difficulties facing shy children.

Badania zawarte w projekcie dotyczą rozumienia wypowiedzi ironicznych przez polskojęzyczne dzieci w wieku czterech, pięciu i sześciu lat. Ich celem była próba odpowiedzi na pytania o to, czy już dzieci czteroletnie potrafią poprawnie odczytać znaczenie prostej wypowiedzi ironicznej, czy występuje zależność między tą umiejętnością a poziomem rozwoju teorii umysłu, jak rozumienie ironii zmienia się z wiekiem oraz o to, czy wybrane cechy wypowiedzi ironicznych mogą ułatwić ich zrozumienie. Dzieci badane były Zadaniem Rozumienia Ironii (Banasik, Bokus, 2012) oraz Testem Refleksji nad Myśleniem (Białecka-Pikul, 2012).Wyniki pokazują, że już dzieci czteroletnie potrafią odczytać zamierzone znaczenie wypowiedzi ironicznej, i że nie ma różnicy w poprawności odpowiedzi w Zadaniu Rozumienia Ironii między nimi a dziećmi pięcioletnimi. Dzieci sześcioletnie natomiast radzą sobie istotnie lepiej niż dzieci czteroletnie, ale nie została wykazana różnica między dziećmi cztero- a pięcioletnimi. Potwierdzona została hipoteza o współwystępowaniu umiejętności rozumienia wypowiedzi ironicznych i poziomu rozwoju teorii umysłu, a po przeprowadzeniu analiz biorących pod uwagę poszczególne aspekty wiedzy o umyśle, okazało się, że rozumienie ironii koreluje istotnie tylko z wynikami zadania badającego rozumienie fałszywych przekonań pierwszego rzędu oraz z rozumienie nieoczekiwanej tożsamości.Porównania odpowiedzi dzieci na pytania dotyczące wypowiedzi ironicznej krytycznej i ironicznej, która nie zawiera krytyki pokazały, że dzieci czteroletnie lepiej radzą sobie z ironią, jeśli jest w niej zawarta krytyka, natomiast w grupach pięcio- i sześciolatków nie ma istotnych różnic w rozumieniu tych dwóch typów ironii. Również tylko w grupie dzieci czteroletnich wystąpiła różnica między rozumieniem wypowiedzi, które skierowane były przez osobę dorosłą do dziecka, a wypowiedzi, w których dziecko zwraca się do dziecka, Ten pierwszy typ ironicznych komentarzy okazał się łatwiejszy dla najmłodszych dzieci.W pracy zostały również pokazane wyniki dotyczące odpowiedzi dzieci na pytania otwarte w zadaniu rozumienia ironii. Na podstawie zebranych danych stworzona została klasyfikacja uzasadnień dla wypowiedzi ironicznych tworzonych przez dzieci.
The main topic of this research project was the comprehension of ironic utterances by Polish-speaking children aged four, five and six. It attempted to answer the questions on whether four-year-old children can correctly understand the real meaning behind a simple ironic statement, whether there is a relation between this ability and the level of development of the theory of mind, how does the irony comprehension change with age and whether selected features of ironic statements can facilitate children's understanding of them.Children were tested with Irony Comprehension Task (ICT, Banasik, Bokus, 2012) and Theory of Mind Task (TRM, Białecka-Pikul, 2012).The results indicate that children as early as when they are four-year-old grasp the meaning of ironic comment. Interestingly, four-year olds do not differ on the accuracy score in Irony Comprehension Task from five-year olds. However, six-year-olds do better on irony comprehension than four-year-olds, but there is no difference between six- and five-year-olds.The hypothesis about a relation between irony comprehension and the level of development of the mind theory was confirmed. When various aspects of the knowledge about the mind were analyzed separately, it was shown that irony comprehension only correlates with the results on the first order false belief task and with the understanding of unexpected identity task.Comparisons of children's responses to ironic criticism and to irony that is not aimed to criticize demonstrated that four-year-olds are better at comprehension of ironic statements when it includes criticism, whereas there is no difference in correct comprehension between critical and non-critical ironic statements in five- and six-year olds.Also, only in the youngest group there was a difference between the meaning of the statements addressed by the adult to a child and the statements in which the child was speaking to another child – the former was easier for four-year olds. The results of children's responses to open-ended questions in ICT were also presented in the dissertation. Based on the collected data, the classification of justifications for using ironic statements given by children was prepared.

Children and adolescents with autism commonly struggle with social interactions. In particular, it has been found that children and adolescents with autism struggle with verbal irony in face-to-face interactions where there are many competing cues that require their attention (i.e., body language, facial expressions, intonation). This study made use of Bubble Dialogue (Cunningham et al., 1992), a form of computer-mediated communication, to examine how children and adolescents with high-functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome (HFA/AS) comprehended verbal irony when these competing cues were removed from social interactions. Speaker attribute information has been shown to be beneficial in aiding typically developing children with successful verbal irony comprehension. In this study, participants with HFA/AS and matched typically developing participants were presented with Bubble Dialogue scenarios where speaker attribute was manipulated such that speakers were labelled as a peer, an adult, or without a speaker attribute label. Participants were presented with scenarios where the speaker made either an ironic criticism or a literal compliment in order to assess whether or not the information about the speaker influenced their comprehension and interpretation of speaker belief, speaker intent and speaker humour. Participants with HFA/AS provided responses along similar themes to their typically developing counterparts for both literal compliments and ironic criticisms in each speaker attribute condition. Participants with HFA/AS performed similarly to typically developing participants on their interpretations of speaker belief, speaker intent, and speaker humour. These findings suggest that, within the context of computer-mediated communication, children with HFA/AS are able to perform as well as typically developing participants on measures of verbal irony comprehension.