We explain what irony is and the types of irony that are usually used. Also, examples of this figure of speech and what sarcasm is.
What is irony?
An irony is known as Figure of speech which consists of transmitting the information completely contrary to the message that is said or written. It can be used both so that the receiver recognizes the ironic twist and thus generate a certain sense of humor or complicity, or that it cannot be detected and the expression constitutes a kind of offense.
In this sense, irony is not usually accompanied by explicit indicators that clarify the real meaning of what is said, although it may well be used by gestures or, in written communication, in quotation marks, emo icons or a sign specifically used for irony in certain contexts: (?).
The word irony comes from the Greek wordand goöneia, which can be translated as dissimulation or pretense, since whoever uses it would simulate an ignorance that he does not possess. An equivalent would be the Hispanic expression "play dumb."
It also happens that, being a complex turn of the language, usually requires a cultural background or knowledge of the use of the language to be able to detect it in most cases. This is why it is so difficult to translate into other languages, or so complex to detect by foreign speakers.
Types of irony
In literary texts Y narrations, irony can be used as a stylistic or poetic figure, beyond the verbal irony of everyday language. This occurs to the extent that a character is made to say something that contradicts the knowledge common of readers or audience.
For example, it is ironic that a character fervently express a point of view that will later suffer, or incur attitudes which he normally rejects. This is how situational irony is produced.
It is also possible for a character to take for granted something that the public knows to be false and act accordingly, as Juliet does inRomeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, committing suicide after believing his lover dead. This figure is known as tragic irony.
Examples of irony
- To reject a threat: "Oops, I'm shaking with fear" (verbal irony).
- A burning fire station (situational irony).
- InKing Oedipus of Sophocles, King Oedipus promises the people to punish with exile the murderer of the previous king, and the research they reveal that he has unknowingly been himself that he must banish himself (tragic irony).
- When referring to an enemy: "Juan and I are getting along wonderfully" (verbal irony).
- A character carefully prepares a trap and ends up falling into it (situational irony).
Irony and sarcasm
It is often difficult to distinguish between irony and sarcasm. Perhaps because the latter includes irony in certain cases, provided it is a particularly cruel one.
That is to say: while irony consists of expressing something with the opposite terms, sarcasm on the other hand consists of a form of cruel mockery or scathing irony with which one seeks to offend or mistreat someone.
In other words, sarcasm constitutes the highest and most obvious degree of irony, insofar as it has the more or less explicit intention of causing pain or becoming an affront.