San Antonio College Library

"This book provides a concise summary of the concepts "irony" and "sarcasm": what they mean, how they have been used over time, and how they differ from the related concepts like coincidence, paradox, satire, and parody. The use of these terms, from Greek philosophers to postmodern theorists, is briefly sketched, and empirical research on why people use such language, and how it is comprehended, is provided. The book is leavened with quotations about...

"Putting aside questions of truth and falsehood, the old "talk is cheap" maxim carries as much weight as ever before. Indeed, perhaps more. For one need not be an expert in irony or sarcasm to realize that people don't necessarily mean what they say. Phrases such as "Yeah, right" and "I could care less" are so much a part of how we speak - and how we live - that we are more likely to notice them when they are absent (for example, Forrest Gump). From...

American philosopher Richard Rorty argues that thinkers such as Nietzsche, Freud, and Wittgenstein have enabled societies to see themselves as historical contingencies, rather than as expressions of underlying, ahistorical human nature, or as realizations of suprahistorical goals. This ironic perspective on the human condition is valuable but it cannot advance Liberalism's social and political goals. In fact, Rorty believes that it is literature and...

Proclaimed "the greatest novelist" of his generation by one of its foremost historians, Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) portrays the intricacies of human life on a broad and colorful canvas. His many famous novels - as well as his lesser-known nonfiction writings - continue to attract readers and to challenge critics. The heart of their appeal, Beaty shows, is Waugh's rich and varied use of irony to explore the texture of society. This study is the first...