Culture · 6 pages · 12 min

How irony depends on a hearer

Irony appears only when a hearer can reconstruct a gap the words do not state.

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From the opening

Irony works by a gap between the words uttered and a further aim the utterance is taken to have. Without a hearer who can compute that gap, the same string is only the sentence it appears to be. The opening covers why the words are not enough, how common ground builds the gap, and where dramatic irony sits.

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Inside

Why the words are not enough
How common ground builds the gap
Where dramatic irony sits
Why the opposite test fails
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Irony as a gap between expression and aim
Hearer inference from shared context

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How irony depends on a hearer

From the opening

Inside

Sources

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