1、Irony1.Irony is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant,the intended meaning of the words being the opposite of their usual sense.(冯翠华，1995：213)12.Irony is the expression of ones meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite,typically for hu
2、morous or emphatic effect.2Classifications of Irony:there are two different ways of dividing Irony.The first case is based on the genre,the second case is on the form a mild form or not.3Generally speaking,Irony can be divided into four categories on the basis of Genre:1.Verbal Irony(语言倒反)2.Stylisti
3、c Irony(风格倒反)3.Dramatic Irony(戏剧倒反)4.Situational Irony(情景倒反)41.Verbal Ironya.What a noble illustration of the tender law of his favored country!they let the paupers go to sleep!(Dickens)这是证明他那可爱的国家的仁慈法律的一个多么漂亮的例证！他们允许穷人睡觉！5b.It is incredible that mere ignorance should have achieved such masterpieces
4、 of horror.(H.L.Mencken:The Libido for the Ugly)很难想象人们仅仅出于无知会搞出这些可怕的杰作。(masterpieces here means the opposite the extremely ugly building)6c.After a while,it is the setting of man against man and creed until we are marching backwards to the glorious age of the sixteenth century when bigots lighted fa
5、ggots to burn the men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment and culture to the human mind.(John Scopes:the Trial That Rocked the World)(Zhang hanxi Advanced English)7 用不了多久，就会出现人与人，宗教与宗教之间的相互争斗，直到我们退回到16世纪那个辉煌的年代，那时偏执的教徒们点燃柴堆活活烧死那些敢于给人类带来智慧、启迪和文明的人。(glorious here means the opposite d
6、ark)8Background InformationEighty years ago,in July 1925,the mixture of religion,science and the public schools caught fire in Dayton,Tenn.The Scopes trial-or Monkey Trial,as it was called-dominated headlines across the country.The trial lasted just a week,but the questions it raised are as divisive
7、 now as they were back then.910d.Now,he had not even a penny with him and did not have to think about what to eat for lunch,wonderful!(Robert Tressell:The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists)现在他一名不文，也不必操心午饭吃什么了，真棒！(wonderful means the opposite bad;here it is used in a rakish manner)e.This diligent stud
8、ent seldom reads more than an hour per month.这个勤奋的学生每个月读书时间不超过一小时。11f.根据报纸上官方介绍，他是天底下头等大好人，浑身上下毫无缺点，连肚脐眼都没有。（宗福先于无声处）According to the official write-ups in the papers,hes the best man in the world.He doesnt have a single defect in his whole body.Why,he doesnt even have a belly-button!12Note that:Som
9、e of the Verbal Irony is light-hearted and humorous:for example,we call a very thin boy“Fatty”,a fat one“Skinny”.But more often,it is used to veil feelings in a subtle way,using words of praise where condemnation is meant,or vice versa.13Light Irony:a.We are lucky.Its the other side on the thirteent
10、h of December.That makes us feel really good.(David Parks:G.I.diary)(The author means exactly the opposite of what he says:13 is an unlucky number to most Westerners.Since on that day December 13,they will land on the other side of the Pacific to fight in the Vietnam War,they dont feel good at all)1
11、4b.Like all the other officers at Group Headquarters except Major Danby,Colonel Cathcart was infused with the democratic spirit:he believed that all men were created equal,and he therefore spurned all men outside Group Headquarters with equal fervor.(Joseph Heller:Catch 22)(This passage implies that
12、 Colonel Cathcart was not democratic at all:his democratic spirit extended only to his own group;all others he treated with scorn and high-handedness)15Heavy Irony:A famous example of heavy irony is Mark Antonys speech at the burial ceremony of Caesar in Shakespeares Julius Caesar:16“Friends,Romans,
13、Countrymen,lend me your ears;I come to bury Caesar,not to praise him.The evil that men do lives after them,The good is oft interred with their bones;So let it be with Caesar.The noble BrutusHath told you Caesar was ambitious.If it were so,it was a grievous fault;And grievously hath Caesar answerd it
14、.Here,under leave of Brutus and the restFor Brutus is an honorable man;17So are they all,all honorable menCome I to speak in Caesars funeral.He was my friend,faithful and just to me;But Brutus says he was ambitious,And Brutus is an honorable man.18(Antony means exactly the opposite of what he says.B
15、y constant repetition of the statement“Brutus is an honorable man”,after showing Caesar was not ambitious,he is really condemning Brutus as dishonorable for his part in killing Caesar.)192.Stylistic Irony 指用与内容相反的风格来表现主题的一种手法。比如叙述一件小事时故意虚张声势，讲述滑稽故事时板着面孔，处理严肃的主题时冷讽热嘲。A case in point is“A Modest Propo
16、sal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being Burden to Their Parents or Country,and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public”written by Jonathan Swift.他一本正经地以“建议者”的身份，提出了一个十分残忍的“建议”把孩子养肥，屠宰后运送到英国市场上出售。203.Dramatic Irony:主要指小说或戏剧中的人物的语言或动作表明他们不知道某些情况，而读者或观众却一清二楚。这种手法在于人物所表达的意义
17、和读者或观众所知道的的不同意义之间的对比。比如在Romeo and Juliet 中。读者/观众清楚地知道Juliet 并没有死，而剧中Romeo却并不知道，他以为自己的心上人已经死去，悲痛万分，甚至于徇情自杀。214.Situational Irony 常常用来描写事物的现象与本质的矛盾，行为与反应的矛盾，预料与结果的矛盾，常理与现状的矛盾。作者通过这些矛盾的揭露和描绘来表现世情的颠倒和荒谬。情景倒反有助于反应复杂的现实，准确地展示作者对现实的分析，从而更有说服力地表现主题。22It was an immaculately(perfectly)planned crime by three N
18、orwegian safe-breakers who knew their business.They found the company safe and placed a small explosive charge.Calmly,they lit the fuse and sheltered in the next room.There came the bang and a whole wall washed down round the trio on a roar of flying bricks and mortar.The safe did not contain money.
19、It contained explosives.23The second case of the classification of Irony is based upon the Form,mild or not:A.InnuendoA mild form of Irony,hinting in a rather roundabout way at something disparaging or uncomplimentary to the person or subject mentioned.24“The weatherman said it would be warm.He must
20、 take his readings in a bathroom.”(David Parks:G.I.Diary)(The author is hinting at the inaccuracy of the weathermans weather report.The weather is cold,rather than warm.)25B.Sarcasm While Innuendo is a mild form of Irony,Sarcasm is just the opposite.It attacks in a taunting and bitter manner,and its
21、 aim is to disparage,ridicule and wound the feelings of the subject attacked.261.From Jonathan Swifts“A MODEST PROPOSAL for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being Burden to Their Parents or Country,and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public”:27Background InformationIt is neve
22、rtheless important to understand the economics of Swifts time in order to fully understand the piece.With the start of a new industrial age in the 18th century it was believed that“people are the riches of the nation,”and there was a general faith in an economy which paid its workers low wageshigh w
23、ages meant workers would work less.28Furthermore,“in the mercantilist view no child was too young to go into industry.”We can better understand Swifts satirical cannibalistic proposal when we take into account this idea in his time of the human being as a number or commodity.In this text,Swift attac
24、ked the English mistreatment of the Irish poor.29A Modest ProposalI shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts,which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London,that a young healthy child well nursed is at a yea
25、r old a most delicious,nourishing,and wholesome food,whether stewed,roasted,baked,or boiled;and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.303132I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed,twenty
26、thousand may be reserved for breed,whereof only one-fourth part to be males;which is more than we allow to sheep,black cattle or swine;and my reason is,that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage,a circumstance not much regarded by our savages,therefore one male will be sufficient to serve
27、 four females.33That the remaining hundred thousand may,at a year old,be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom;always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month,so as to render them plump and fat for a good table.A child will make two d
28、ishes at an entertainment for friends;and when the family dines alone,the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish,and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day,especially in winter.34在此请允许我冒昧的提出我的拙见，希望不会遭到异议。我在伦敦结识的一个博学的美国朋友曾经向我保证，一个被细心的看护至一岁大的年幼的健康的小孩
29、是最美味、滋补和健康的食品，无论是用炖、烘烤或是煮的；而且我毫不怀疑，将这样的小孩做成炖肉丁或菜炖肉都会一样美味。35因此，请允许我冒昧的向公众提出我的拙见，将记录在册的120，000孩童中留下20，000个用来繁殖后代，其中1/4须是男孩。这个数目比我们养的羊、黑牛和猪多多了。我的理由是，这些孩子大部分都不是婚姻的结晶，而既然我们这些野蛮人并不注重婚姻这种形式，那么一个男人足以应付4个女人。对于剩下的100，000个孩子，可以在他们一岁时卖给上流社会人士（食用）；叫他们的妈妈在出售前一个月喂足奶，让他们又肥又胖可以卖个好价钱。（一般而言）一个孩子可以做成两个菜招待朋友，而当家庭自己聚餐时，身
30、体的前后1/4段就足够提供一盘好菜色，如果加少许胡椒粉和盐，在第四天下锅就能煮出美食，特别是在冬天。36AnalysisSwift appears to suggest in his essay that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies.Swifts rhetorical style persuades the reader to detest the speaker and pity the I
31、rish.Swifts specific strategy is twofold,using a“trap”to create sympathy for the Irish and a dislike of the narrator.37Swift has his proposer further degrade the Irish by using language ordinarily reserved for animals.The speaker uses“the vocabulary of animal husbandry”to describe the Irish.Once the
32、 children have been commoditized,Swifts rhetoric can easily turn“people into animals,then meat,and from meat,logically,into tonnage worth a price per pound”.382.From Samuel Johnsons letter to The Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield：“Is not a patron,my lord,one who looks with unconcern on a man
33、struggling for life in the water,and,when he has reached ground,encumbers him with help?The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labors,had it been early,had been kind;but it has been delayed till I am indifferent,and cannot enjoy it;till I am solitary,and cannot impart it;till I am know
34、n,and do not want it.I hope it is no cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received,or to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that to a patron,which Providence has enabled me to do for myself”阁下，世之所谓恩主者，岂见溺不救，任其浮沉，不加理睬，及其登岸，又伸以援手，示以关切者之流耶？此乃出自肺腑之言
35、，并非一时意气之争，尚希仁人君子不至于误解本人乃忘恩负义之徒，因我既无恩可忘，更无义可负也。阁下对本人挖空心思之捧场文章，如果早来一步，不知 使我将物和感激涕零；然而，时过境迁，一切均成明日黄花，本人现已无心强颜欢笑，自我陶醉；当我孤独一人，呼天既不应，呼地亦无闻，现我功成名就，又何劳 他人锦上添花，代为吹嘘。39Irony in Chinese:A.讽刺反语讽刺反语 有几个“慈祥”的老板到菜场去收集一些菜叶，用盐一浸，这就是他们们难得的佳肴。（夏衍包身工)Some kind-hearted bosses go to the market and pick up some vegetable leaves,coming back and dipping them into salt water,and then a god-given cake is ready for them.40B.非讽刺反语非讽刺反语几个女人有点失望，也有点伤心，各人在自己的心里“骂着”自己的“狠心贼”。Disappointed and rather upset,each woman was secretly laying the blame on her heartless brute of a husband.41
