Irony and sarcasm in literary text. Modern problems of science and education English humor in works and films

25.01.2022

Miscellaneous

comic- one of the main categories of aesthetics, which serves to assess those social phenomena, mores, customs, activities and behavior of people that completely or partially do not correspond, contradict the objective laws of social development and the aesthetic ideal of progressive social forces, and therefore cause condemnation in the form of ridicule. “There is mocking, caustic laughter, laughter from despair, etc. The comic, on the contrary, is characterized by infinite benevolence and confidence in its unconditional rise above its own contradiction, and not its sad and sad experience ”(G. Hegel). "Every contradiction is a source of comic and funny" ( V.G. Belinsky).

Satire- in translation: a crowded dish, a hodgepodge. A kind of fiction ridiculing and scourging those or other socially harmful phenomena of life or human vices. “In satire, reality as a kind of imperfection is opposed to the ideal, as the highest reality” (F. Schiller. S. is characterized by the sharpness of exposure; how the genre developed back in Roman literature. “In order for satire to be truly satire and achieve its goal, it is necessary, in - firstly, so that she makes her feel the ideal from which her creator departs, and, secondly, so that she is quite clearly aware of the object against which her sting is directed ... ”“ Satire escorts everything obsolete into the kingdom of shadows ”(M. Saltykov-Shchedrin) “Satire models its appearance, creating an image of a high degree of conventionality, which is achieved by “directed distortion” of the real contours of the phenomenon with the help of exaggeration, sharpening, hyperbolization, grotesque” ( A.Z. Vulis).

Humor- a special kind of comic, which, unlike satire, gently ridicules the shortcomings and weaknesses of society, however, one cannot draw a sharp line between humor and satire, they often converge. YU. very common in everyday life and in art, often found in works of folklore: in a song, a ditty, a fairy tale. This is also a literary direction, which reflects the funny, comic in life. “Humor is laughter at harmless comic contradictions, combined with pity for people who display this comicality” ( E.G. Rudneva). “In accordance with the etymology of the word, humor is obviously “wilful”, personally conditioned, marked by the imprint of the “strange” mindset of the “humorist” himself ( L.E. Pinsky).

irony - one of the tropes, a stylistic turn in which the opposite is pretended to be stated about what is said about the subject. Example. The donkey is asked: Where, smart, are you wandering, head? Krylov "The Fox and the Donkey"“Irony as an artistic principle must be distinguished from irony as a stylistic means. In the latter case, irony is contained in the speech of the characters or the author himself. Through such irony, a comic effect is created, since what is said here has a meaning that is directly opposite to what the author said. D.L. Chavchanidze).

Sarcasm - evil and caustic mockery, the highest degree of irony, excluding ambiguous interpretation. Half-my lord, half-merchant, Half-sage, half-ignoramus, Half-scoundrel, but there is hope, What will be complete at last. Pushkin (epigram on gr. Vorontsov)“If the essence of irony is in allegory, in a subtle allusion, in sarcasm, the main thing is the extreme degree of emotional attitude, the high pathos of denial, turning into indignation” ( A.S. Suleimanov).

Grotesque- "fancy", "intricate". A type of artistic figurativeness that generalizes life phenomena with the help of an excessive, bizarre sharpening of a particular topic. G. violates the boundaries of plausibility, gives the image a conventionality, a fantastic character, exposing the essence of phenomena to the limit. G. it is a combination of the real and the beyond, the tragic and the comic, the beautiful and the ugly. “Bringing together the distant, combining the mutually exclusive, violating the usual ideas, the grotesque in art is akin to a paradox in logic. At first glance, the grotesque is only stupefying and amusing, but it holds great potential” (L.E. Pinsky). “The grotesque image characterizes the phenomenon in the state of its change, still unfinished metamorphosis, in the stage of death and birth, growth and formation. The relation to time, to becoming is a necessary constitutive (defining) feature of the grotesque image" ( MM. Bakhti).

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...3

Chapter 1. Theoretical understanding of irony ………………………………...…7

1.1. Definition of the concept of "irony"………………………………..…………...7

1.2. Types of irony.…………………………………………………………………..11

1.3. Means of expressing irony…………….……………………………………15

Conclusions on chapter 1………………………………………………………………….19

Chapter 2. The role of irony in the works of O. Henry…………………………………20

2.1. Creativity O. Henry…………………………………………………….......20

2.3. The language of O. Henry and the means of expressing irony in his stories…………...32

Conclusions on chapter 2………………………………………………………………….39

Chapter 3. Classification of the means of expressing irony in the stories of O. Henry ... .41

3.1 Lexical means…………………………………………………………..41

3.2 Syntactic means………………………………………………………45

3.3 Rhetorical means…………………………………………………………49

Conclusions on Chapter 3………………………………………………………………….56

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….58

References…………………………………………………………………61

Introduction

As a linguistic phenomenon, irony is a deliberate expression of a discrepancy between the literal and implied meaning of a word or statement for the purpose of ridicule, mockery or joke. That is, irony is able to reflect a wide range of feelings and emotions of the speaker - both negative and positive.

Irony finds a vivid expression in the work of the American writer O. Henry, who became widely known as the author of short stories. The writer's works are characterized by a mocking or ironic tone. The development of the action and the behavior of the characters, and sometimes very serious phenomena in O. Henry's short stories, always come down to a joke, to a funny denouement.

O. Henry subtly notices the comical in people, in their behavior, in those situations that develop in the process of clashes between the characters. Laughter O. Henry is good-natured, there is no rudeness and cynicism in it. The writer does not laugh at the physical defects of his characters, at their real misfortunes. He is deeply alien to that cruel humor, which is sometimes inherent in the writers of the West.

The irony of O. Henry is often created by the discrepancy between the behavior of the characters and the situations in which they find themselves. In O. Henry's humor, therefore, there is a significant amount of irony in relation to the order of life that gives rise to such inconsistencies. Behind this irony lies the sadness that is so characteristic of the humor of humanist writers, depicting both the funny and tragic sides of life.

When considering the issue of irony, the most important aspect that requires a detailed analysis is the means of its expression. Relevance research is due to the need to generalize the existing data on the means of expressing irony in the English language, as well as their little study in the works of O. Henry. Most authors studying the writer's work note the importance of irony in his works, while there are practically no works devoted to the study of the means of expressing irony in his stories. Since irony is O. Henry's favorite technique for creating comical situations and is present in most of his stories, in our opinion, there is a need to identify and describe the means that prevail in its implementation.

When getting acquainted with the work of O. Henry, it is impossible not to pay attention to vivid metaphors, numerous allusions and hyperbole, colorful comparisons and other rhetorical means that emphasize and enhance the comical nature of certain situations. Based on these observations, at the beginning of the study, hypothesis, according to which the predominant means of expressing irony in the works of O. Henry are a variety of rhetorical means.

object research is irony as an effective way to create comic in fiction.

Item research is a means of expressing irony in the works of O. Henry.

aim research is the analysis of irony in the works of O. Henry.

To achieve the goal, the following tasks:

- reveal the essence of the concept of "irony", highlight the main types and means of expressing irony;

- to study the work of O. Henry, to consider and compare the author's irony and the irony of the characters in his stories;

- identify and classify the lexical, syntactic and rhetorical means by which irony is created in the works of O. Henry;

Give specific examples of the identified means of expressing irony from the stories of O. Henry.

The set goal and objectives determined the choice scientific research methods:

- literature analysis;

- continuous sampling method;

- comparison;

- method of linguistic analysis;

- classification.

Theoretical significance of the study determined by the fact that the presented classification of the means of expressing irony in the works of O. Henry allows expanding theoretical ideas on this issue and contributes to the enrichment of data on the style of the English language.

Practical significance research lies in the fact that its materials and results can be used in the process of teaching a number of linguistic disciplines: in the course of language theory, lexicology, text interpretation, stylistics, as well as for conducting practical classes and seminars in these disciplines.

Material The research was based on the texts of the works of art by O. Henry: the stories "Gifts of the Magi", "The Last Leaf", "Babies in the Jungle", "Peaches" and "The Leader of the Redskins".

Work structure. This work consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion and a list of references.

The introduction substantiates the relevance of the chosen topic, its practical and theoretical significance, formulates the purpose and objectives of the study.

The first chapter defines the concept of "irony", describes the types of irony and the main means of its expression.

In the second chapter, the work of O. Henry and the language of his works are studied, cases of the author's irony and irony from the characters in his stories are revealed.

The third chapter analyzes examples of irony from O. Henry's five stories and classifies them based on the means of their expression.

In conclusion, the main conclusions and results of the study are presented.

Chapter 1. Theoretical understanding of irony

1.1 Definition of "irony"

Translated from the ancient Greek "irony" ( eironia) means "pretense, mockery". For the first time the term "irony" appears in Greek literature in the 5th century BC. BC. In the comedies of Aristophanes, irony is used in a negative sense, denoting "deceit", "mockery", "cunning", etc. In "Wasps" Klenoslav acts "cleverly" ( eironicos), selling a donkey, in "Clouds" Strepsiades calls an ironic ( eiron) a liar. The history of the term "irony" was studied by many researchers, in particular P. Shenzhes (2001), V. Yankelevich (2004).

Attempts to define the concept of "irony" were made in the era of antiquity. Ancient philosophers considered irony as a category of aesthetics. The most complete theory of irony was developed in the works of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. According to Plato, irony means not just deceit, but that which outwardly resembles deceit, in fact is deep knowledge. Socrates used irony to prove his opponent wrong. He pretended to be ignorant of the subject of discussion, asked "naive questions" in order to bring the interlocutor to the consciousness of his delusion. This method was called "Socratic irony". Further development of the concept of irony is contained in Aristotle, who considers irony as pretense, meaning the exact opposite of boasting.

The understanding of irony after Aristotle loses its depth. Irony is defined either as indecision and secrecy (Theophrastus, "Characters"), then as boasting and arrogance (Ariston, "On the weakening of arrogance"), then as an allegorical device of oratory (Quintilian, "Rhetorical Instructions").

In the Renaissance, along with the growth of free-thinking, fertile soil arises for the flourishing of artistic practice and the aesthetic theory of irony. In the treatises of this time, irony is considered exclusively as a rhetorical device, as a turn of speech that helps to avoid "personalities" and expose someone to ridicule in the form of a hidden allusion.

Irony received a detailed theoretical justification in the era of romanticism in the works of K.V.F. Solger and F. Schlegel. K.V.F. Solger sees in irony a kind of duality, which, on the one hand, helps a person to discover the “divine idea” for himself, on the other hand, to destroy what awakened it to life. From the point of view of F. Schlegel, irony was the fundamental principle of the work of romantics, a kind of response to reality, limited by selfish, material interests. A. Smirnov, in turn, clarifies that the essence of romantic irony lies in the recognition of the limitations and conventionality of any, even one's own, point of view and values [Smirnov, 2004:19].

In contrast to the subjectivist romantic theory, the literature of the 20th century substantiated the concept of objective irony. The most famous of them is the "epic theory" of Thomas Mann, who believed that irony is necessary for art as the most free from any moralizing view of reality.

Russian aesthetic thought of the 19th century did not bypass the problem of irony. From the point of view of N. Chernyshevsky, there is little purely comic in witticism, on the contrary - actually comic - belonging to mockery, and it is in irony that mockery reaches its highest degree.

The views of prominent linguists of our time on the essence of irony are largely the same. From the definitions they proposed, we can conclude that many authors understand irony as antiphrasis - the use of a word in a sense that is directly opposite to its main meaning. In addition, all definitions note mockery as the goal of irony, and almost all dictionaries point to the property of irony to express mockery under the guise of approval or praise. For example, N. Komlev's “Dictionary of Foreign Words” gives the following definition of irony: “firstly, it is a subtle mockery expressed in a hidden form; secondly, the use of a word or a whole expression in the opposite sense for the purpose of ridicule” [Komlev, 2006:301].

The well-known stylist I. Arnold, in turn, defines irony as “an expression of mockery by using a word in a meaning that is directly opposite to its main meaning, and with directly opposite connotations, feigned praise, behind which in reality there is a censure.” Arnold explains that “the opposite of connotation consists in changing the evaluative component of positive to negative, affectionate emotion to mockery, in the use of words with a sublime and poetic coloring in relation to trivial and vulgar objects in order to show their insignificance” [Arnold, 2002: 66].

Similar definitions are found in O. Akhmanova, I. Galperin and many other authors.

Based on the works of prominent philosophers and linguists involved in the theoretical development of irony, we formulated the following definition:

Irony is an oratorical or literary device in which words are used in a sense that is directly opposite to the literal one for the purpose of ridicule. In other words, irony is characterized by a discrepancy between what is expected and reality.

Through irony in any word, the interaction of two types of lexical meanings appears: subject-logical and contextual, based on the relationship of opposites (contradiction). Thus, these two meanings are actually mutually exclusive [Galperin, 1997:133].

For example, "It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one"s pocket." Word "delightful", as can be seen from the context, has a meaning opposite to the main subject-logical meaning. The stylistic effect is created by the fact that the main subject-logical meaning of the word "delightful" is not destroyed by the contextual meaning, but coexists with it, clearly showing the relationship of inconsistency.

Emphasizing the feigned tone is a necessary condition for the implementation of irony. Irony is achieved if the diametrical opposition of the affirmed and the real is given in a deliberately emphasized form, so that the speaker demonstrates his pretense. This condition is achieved either with the help of the whole context, suggesting an ironic, and not a literal understanding of this or that passage, or with the help of a special ironic intonation. In written speech, quotation marks can indicate such intonation.

It must be emphasized that irony should not be confused with humor. As you know, humor is a quality of action or speech that necessarily arouses a sense of humor. Humor is a psychological phenomenon. Irony does not necessarily cause laughter. In a sentence "How clever it is", where the intonational design of the whole sentence gives the word "clever" the opposite meaning (stupid), does not cause a sense of humor. On the contrary, a feeling of irritation, discontent, regret, etc. can be expressed here.

Although speech irony always indicates a meaning opposite to the statement, it has many gradations, and only the simplest forms of speech irony have a meaning completely opposite to the statement. More complex forms of irony can have both the opposite meaning and the most common, direct meaning of the statement, and such coexistence can manifest itself and be expressed in different ways.

Types of irony

After analyzing the approaches to the classification of irony proposed by domestic and foreign authors, we have identified the following most important types of irony:

1) Situational irony

This is a relatively modern use of the term, which expresses a clear discrepancy between the expected and actual outcome in a particular situation.

Following Lars Ellestr, we mean by situational irony primarily a situation that contains contradictions or strong contrasts.

An example of situational irony is O. Henry's story "The Gift of the Magi". According to the plot, a young couple is in poverty and cannot afford to buy each other Christmas gifts. The wife decides to sell her luxurious hair to buy her husband a watch chain. At the end it turns out that the husband, in turn, sold the watch and bought his wife a set of expensive hair combs, which she had long dreamed of. "The double irony lies in the way in which their expectations were betrayed".

2) Irony of fate (cosmic irony)

The origin of the expression "irony of fate" or "cosmic irony" is associated with the view that the gods (or Fate) amuse themselves by playing with the minds of mortals for a deliberately ironic purpose. Closely related to situational irony, irony arises from sharp contrasts between reality and human ideals, or between human intentions and actual results. The result is exactly the opposite of what was expected or planned.

The plot of the whole story by O. Henry "The Pharaoh and the Choral" is built according to the type of irony of fate. This is the case when the hero strives for something very much, but the more efforts he makes, the farther he gets from his goal. And, on the contrary, as soon as the hero gives up the idea of getting what he aspires to, fate itself presents him with what he wants.

3) Verbal irony

“A glossary of literary terms” edited by M. Abrams and J. Harfam considers this kind of irony as a statement in which the meaning used by the speaker is fundamentally different from the meaning that is allegedly expressed.

The irony of a statement often depends on the context. For example, if a person looks out of the window into the downpour and says to his friend: “Wonderful day, isn't it?”, Then the contradiction between the fact and the statement will create irony.

It should be noted here that the difference between verbal irony and situational and dramatic irony lies in the fact that it is created intentionally by the speaker. For example, if a person exclaims “I "m not upset!” , but the voice betrays his depressed emotional state while he tries to claim that he is not upset, then this will not be considered verbal irony.However, if the same speaker says the same words and acts like he is upset, while stating that this is not so, then it will be verbal irony.

One of the forms of verbal irony is ironic comparisons, through which the speaker seeks to express the opposite of what they really mean. For example:

· as soft as concrete;

as clear as mud;

as pleasant as a root canal;

as pleasant and relaxed as a coiled rattlesnake

In each case, irony is recognizable only when mastering the original concepts (dirt is not transparent, and concrete is soft), which allows you to identify the discrepancy.

4) Dramatic irony

A kind of irony in which the reader (viewer) is given information that at least one of the characters does not own. Thus, he is one step ahead of at least one of them.

When using dramatic irony, words and actions have a meaning that the readers (viewers) understand, but the characters do not. For example, one of the characters says to the other “I’ll see you tomorrow”, while the viewer knows that the hero will die by morning.

Dramatic irony is found in Shakespeare's plays, where the hero, guided by an illusory understanding of what is happening, commits acts that lead him to collapse. In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is already married to Romeo, but her parents don't know it. In the crypt, most of the characters are sure that Juliet is dead, although the audience is aware that she only took sleeping pills. Romeo is in the same delusion when he kills himself.

In the tragedy Othello, the viewer knows that Desdemona was faithful to her husband. Othello, believing the slander of his enemies, kills her.

5) Tragic irony

The term was introduced in 1833 by Connop Firlwal, who substantiated it based on the difference between the three main types of irony: verbal, dialectical and practical; is a special category of dramatic irony. In tragic irony, the words and actions of the characters contradict the real situation, which the audience, in turn, is fully aware of.

Tragic irony is especially characteristic of ancient Greek drama, as the audience was well acquainted with the legends underlying most of the plays. This is also noted by the Australian theorist K. Colebrook, who writes that "the public watched the development of the drama, already knowing the predetermined denouement" .

Sophocles' play Oedipus the King is a classic example of tragic irony. The audience sees what Oedipus does not see. He kills his father, but does not know about it. Oedipus further vows to find the killer and curses him for the crime he committed, not knowing that the killer he cursed and vowed to find is himself.

The author's irony is understood as an ironic description, commentary and remarks of the author or narrator. At the same time, following M. P. Brandes, we include in the concept of “author” three meanings of the word “author”, which are organically interconnected:

7) Irony from the characters

This kind of irony consists in ironic remarks and assessments of the characters themselves and is found in dialogues. By placing an ironic remark in the mouth of the hero, the writer tries to abstract from the narrative, to be less noticeable. Consequently, the reader acts more as an outside observer and can give his own assessment of both the personality of the hero and his actions.

Means of expressing irony

Speaking about the means of expressing irony, first of all, their diversity should be noted. Irony can be created by almost all known language means. In addition, this or that statement often becomes ironic only thanks to the right context.

Before offering a classification of the means used to express irony, let's consider what ways of implementing irony were given by various researchers. A. Rozsokha calls one of the most famous ways of creating irony in a literary text antiphrasis- the use of a word or phrase in the opposite sense. Antiphrasis, according to him, is often built on the contrast between the meaning of a particular word or expression and the meaning of the entire statement [Rozsokha, 2000:128]. As an example, the author cites lines from a poem by A.S. Pushkin "Coquette":

We know: eternal love

Lives barely three weeks.

According to Rozsokha, in literary works one often observes rethinking stereotypical combinations, which is also a means of creating irony. In the following example from the story of O. Henry, the ironic image is created by violating the generally accepted lexical content of the stable expression “to assume the burden”:

I never knew there was so many large-hearted but indigent men in the country who were willing to acquire a charming widow and assume the burden of investing her money (“The Exact Science of Matrimony”).

In addition, irony can be based on gross exaggeration or obvious contradiction.

As the researcher notes, in literary texts one can also find examples of irony that occurs only when repeat words of the interlocutor [Rozsokha, 2010:129]. Here we should add that the irony arising from the repetition of someone's words is often used not only in literary texts, but also in everyday speech. It can be expressed by imitating someone, when a person, as it were, plays the role of his interlocutor, repeating the words of the latter.

Another way to create irony is paraphrase- retelling, retelling the text in your own words. When using a paraphrase, the speaker tries to interpret the opponent's words in a new way, thus going beyond the permissible scope of the interpretive sphere of someone else's statement. The main difference in using paraphrase and quotation to create irony lies precisely in the fact that the quotation accurately reproduces the statement of the interlocutor, but considers it in a new context, changing its meaning. A paraphrase, on the other hand, conveys the statement changed externally, and not internally.

Rozsokha also refers to the means of creating irony homonymy(words that have different meanings but the same spelling) polysemy(polysemy words) and paronymy(words that are partially similar in sound, but not the same in meaning).

V. Pivoev, in turn, highlights grammatical And morphological means of expressing irony. So, for example, irony can be expressed through the use of emotionally expressive words that have diminutive suffixes [Pivoev, 2000:69].

As a means of expressing irony, Pivoev also lists epithets, neologisms, archaisms, mixing of styles, tale forms of narration, paraphrase And allusion[Pivoev, 2000:68]. For example, the title of O. Henry's story "Hostages to Momus" ("Hostages of Momus") contains an allusion to a mythological hero (Momus is the god of mockery in ancient Greek mythology). Calling the unlucky kidnappers "Momus's hostages", the author means a bizarre course of events, as a result of which they themselves turn out to be fooled.

In addition to the mentioned means, the researcher refers to the ways of implementing irony quote, quotation marks, italics And puns.

K. Shilihina adds to the above means a violation of lexical compatibility and a play on words [Shilikhina, 2008: 13].

Means of expression of irony can be divided into the following categories:

I. Lexico-semantic means of expressing irony

Using homonymy and polysemy to create an ironic effect (play on words)

Contrasting the real with the depicted (antiphrasis)

Lexical repetitions

Using the symbolic meaning of words

The use of words in individual meaning

Use of the ironic meaning of the word

Creating an ironic image

II. Logical and syntactic means of expressing irony

Inconsistency of verbal chains

Replays

Parallelisms

Antithesis

gradation

III. Rhetorical means of expressing irony

Metaphors

Hyperbolas and litotes

Ironic epithets

allusions

Comparisons

personification

IV. Grammatical means of expressing irony

Use of the plural

Use of the subjunctive

Using the past tense

V. Style means of expressing irony

- intentional overestimation of the style background

a) Use of archaisms

b) Use of pathetic vocabulary

- deliberate understating of the style background

a) Use of jargon

b) Use of reduced vocabulary

As we can see, there are quite a lot of means of expressing irony, and the techniques we have listed do not fully describe all the variety of ways to create irony. We have chosen and described the methods that are most important from the point of view of our subsequent analysis of the means of expressing irony in O. Henry's stories.

Chapter 1 Conclusions

Irony is a powerful tool for the formation of a literary style, built on the opposition of the literal meaning of words and statements to their opposite meaning. Irony has attracted the minds of philosophers, linguists, literary critics since ancient times. Various authors considered irony as an aesthetic category or rhetorical device, process or means (Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Schlegel). Modern linguists understand irony as antiphrasis and call mockery as the goal of irony (Komlev, Arnold, Akhmanova). The universality of irony, the unflagging interest in this phenomenon on the part of almost all the humanities is partly due to the active principle that lies in irony; in all its manifestations, irony is the engine.

There are many types of irony that are successfully used both in oral speech and in literary texts. We have selected and described those types of irony that are most often found in literature and will be needed for us in the subsequent analysis of the works of O. Henry.

Many means are used to express irony. Among them, A. Rozsokha includes antiphrasis, repetition, paraphrase, homonymy, polysemy and paronomy. V.Pivoev, in turn, lists the grammatical and morphological means of expressing irony, epithets, neologisms, archaisms, mixing styles, tale forms of narration, paraphrase, allusion, etc. K. Shilikhina adds to the above means a violation of lexical compatibility and a play on words.

Similar information.

Tragic and comic. Humor, irony, satire, sarcasm, grotesque

tragic - (from Greek tragodia - goat song< греч. tragos - козел и ode - песнь) - эстетическая категория, обозначающая принципиальную неразрешимость конфликта в художественном произведении, трагическое противостояние личности и мира влечет за собой гибель или тяжелейшие страдания героя, достойного глубокого сочувствия и уважения. Однако эта гибель вызывает не только отчаяние, но и просветление, очищение, катарсис, возвышает душу читателя. Трагическое может быть свойственно произведению любого жанра. Классическим примером трагического является монолог Гамлета:

To be or not to be, that is the question.
Is it worthy
Humble under the blows of fate
I must resist
And in mortal combat with a whole sea of troubles
Do away with them? Die. Forget yourself.

W. Shakespeare "Hamlet"

comic - (from the Greek komikos - funny, cheerful) - an aesthetic category that reflects the contradictions of reality and contains their critical assessment. At the heart of the comic is a contradiction, a discrepancy between the ugly and the beautiful, the insignificant and the sublime, the real and the ideal, etc. Types of the comic: , , , , .

Humor - kind of comic: a way of manifestation of the comic in art, which consists in good-natured mockery; laughter, which has as its task not a denunciation, but an indication or allusion to shortcomings that are not in the nature of vices.:

He is from foggy Germany
He brought the fruits of learning:
freedom dreams,
The spirit is ardent and rather strange,
Always an enthusiastic speech
And shoulder-length black curls.

A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin"

Irony - kind of comic: ridicule containing a negative, condemning assessment of what is being criticized; subtle, hidden sneer. Not to be confused with irony as a means of expression. The comic effect is achieved by saying exactly the opposite of what is meant:

The police chief was in some ways a father figure and benefactor in the city. He was among the citizens just like a native in the family, and he visited the shops and the gostiny yard as if he were in his own pantry.

N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls"

Satire - a kind of comic: a way of manifestation of the comic in art, which consists in annihilating ridicule of phenomena that seem to the author to be vicious. Satire is the sharpest form of denunciation of reality. If humor is a mockery of the "private", then satire, as a rule, is a ridicule of the "general", an denunciation of social and moral vices and shortcomings:

But the Foolovites were also on their own minds. With great resourcefulness they countered the energy of action with the energy of inaction.
- What do you want with us! - said some, - if you like - cut into pieces; if you like - eat with porridge, but we do not agree!
“From us, brother, you won’t take anything!” - said others, - we are not like the others who have acquired a body! us, brother, and there is nowhere to stab!
And stubbornly stood at the same time on their knees.

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin "History of one city"

Sarcasm - a kind of comic: an evil, caustic mockery, a mockery containing a devastating assessment of a person, object or phenomenon, the highest degree of irony. The essence of irony lies in allegory, a subtle hint, while sarcasm is characterized by an extreme degree of emotional openness, pathos of denial, turning into indignation:

You will die surrounded by care
Dear and beloved family
(Looking forward to your death)...

ON THE. Nekrasov

Grotesque - (from Italian grottesco - bizarre) - a kind of comic: a depiction of people, objects or phenomena that violates the boundaries of plausibility in a fantastically exaggerated, ugly comic form. The grotesque is based on the combination of the real and the unreal, the terrible and the funny, the tragic and the comic, the ugly and the beautiful. Grotesque is close to farce. It differs from other varieties of the comic (humor, irony, satire, etc.) in that the funny in it is not separated from the terrible, which allows the author to show the contradictions of life in a particular picture and create an acutely satirical image:

Fury overcame him: with all his strength he began to beat the old woman on the head, but with each blow of the ax, laughter and whispers from the bedroom were heard louder and louder, and the old woman was swaying all over with laughter.

F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment"

Sarcasm ( Greekσαρκασμός, from σαρκάζω, literally "tear [meat]") - one of the types satirical denunciation, caustic mockery, the highest degree irony, based not only on the heightened contrast of the implied and the expressed, but also on the immediate intentional exposure of the implied.

Sarcasm is a mockery that can open with a positive judgment, but in general it always contains a negative connotation and indicates a lack of a person, object or phenomenon, that is, in relation to what it is happening.

Like satire, sarcasm involves the fight against hostile phenomena of reality through ridicule them. Ruthlessness, harshness of exposure - a distinctive feature of sarcasm. Unlike irony, the highest degree of indignation, hatred finds its expression in sarcasm. Sarcasm is never a characteristic technique of a comedian who, revealing the funny in reality, depicts it always with a certain amount of sympathy and sympathy.

In sarcasm, indignation is expressed quite openly. M. Yu. Lermontov about his generation: “we are rich, barely from the cradle, by the mistakes of the fathers and their late mind ...”, and concludes his "Duma" a caustic comparison of the attitude of future generations towards him with "a bitter mockery of a deceived son over a squandered father."

Due to its direct emphasis, sarcasm is a form of incrimination equally journalism, controversy, public speaking, fiction. That is why sarcasm is especially widely used in conditions of acute political struggle. Developed political life Greece And Rome gave rise to high samples of sarcasm in Demosthenes, Cicero And Juvenal.

Deep sarcasm was imbued with the work of the great fighters of the young bourgeoisie against feudalism. F. Rabelais, a humanist who fought against the constraint of consciousness by theology and scholastic science, directs arrows of sarcasm against scholastic scientists, producing mocking “sorbonates”, “sorbonides”, etc. from the word “Sorbonne”.

Sarcasm is extremely diverse J. Swift in his exposure of various aspects of the social life of his contemporary England.

Examples of sarcasms that have become aphorisms:

The capitalists are ready to sell us a rope on which we will hang them ( Vladimir Lenin)
If the patient really wants to live, doctors are powerless ( Faina Ranevskaya)
Only the Universe and human stupidity are infinite, while I have doubts about the infinity of the first of them ( Albert Einstein)

Irony - pretense, expresses mockery, when irony is performed, the word acquires in the context the meaning opposite to it. # he loves you like his own

irony (from other Greekεἰρωνεία - "pretense") - trope, in which the true meaning is hidden or contradicts (opposed) to the explicit meaning. Irony creates the feeling that the subject matter is not what it seems.

A-priory Aristotle, irony is "a statement containing a mockery of those who really think so"

Irony is the use of words in a negative sense, directly opposite to the literal one. Example: “Well, you are a brave man!”, “Smart-smart ...”. Here positive statements have a negative connotation.

Forms of irony

Direct irony is a way to belittle, give a negative or funny character to the described phenomenon.

Anti-irony is the opposite of direct irony and allows the object of anti-irony to be underestimated.

Self-irony is irony directed at one's own person. In self-irony and anti-irony, negative statements can imply a reverse (positive) connotation. Example: "Where can we, fools, drink tea."

Socrates irony is a form of self-irony constructed in such a way that an object, to which it is addressed, as if independently comes to natural logical conclusions and finds the hidden meaning of the ironic statement, following the premise of "one who does not know the truth" subject.

ironic outlook- a state of mind that allows not to take on faith common statements and stereotypes, and don't take the various "common values" too seriously.

irony as a means comic presentation of material, is a powerful tool for the formation of literary style, built on the opposition of the literal meaning of words and statements to their true meaning (“The bullet turned out to be poisoned after it hit the poisonous body of the leader” - Georgy Alexandrov)