Just to keep everyone abreast of the updates I make to the site, I decided I should announce them in separate posts, under Ramblings.
This update is to Traditional Verbal Irony; two passages, as follow:
Booth describes irony in terms of two binary relations: stable/unstable and local/infinite. In stable ironic texts, the alternative interpretation is clear to a “reasonable,” “qualified reader” (Gournelos, 2). Unstable irony, on the other hand, is less clear; clearly the literal meaning must be rejected, but multiple interpretations are possible. Local irony deals with specific events, places and times, whereas infinite irony deals with subjects that span space and time, such as life or the world in general.
And later:
Claire Colebrook has further suggested that all language is ironic as it is potentially unstable. [This is a concept I will discuss soon.] It’s not just that we can take any statement as a joke – we can guffaw, or laugh it off – but that we can take any statement as ironical, as having a different meaning that the one stated. This is the benefit of studying humor, as it reveals the limits and possibilities of all communication.
