修辭：Irony.ppt

1、Irony,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. (馮翠華，1995： 213),2.Irony is the expression of ones meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for

2、 humorous or emphatic effect.,Classifications 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.,Generally speaking, Irony can be divided into four categories on the basis of Genre: 1.Verbal Irony (語言倒反)

3、2.Stylistic Irony (風(fēng)格倒反) 3.Dramatic Irony (戲劇倒反) 4.Situational Irony (情景倒反),1.Verbal Irony What a noble illustration of the tender law of his favored country! they let the paupers go to sleep! (Dickens) 這是證明他那可愛的國家的仁慈法律的一個(gè)多么漂亮的例證！ 他們?cè)试S窮人睡覺！,b. It is incredible that mere ignorance should have achieve

4、d such masterpieces of horror. (H. L. Mencken: The Libido for the Ugly) 很難想象人們僅僅出于無知會(huì)搞出這些可怕的杰作。 (masterpieces here means the opposite the extremely ugly building),c. 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 cen

5、tury when bigots lighted faggots 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 ),用不了多久，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)人與人，宗教與宗教之間的相互爭(zhēng)斗，直到我們退回到16世紀(jì)那個(gè)輝煌的年代，那時(shí)偏執(zhí)的教徒們點(diǎn)燃柴堆活活燒死那些敢于給人類帶來智慧、啟迪和文明的人。 (glo

6、rious here means the opposite dark),Background Information,Eighty 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,

7、 but the questions it raised are as divisive now as they were back then.,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) 現(xiàn)在他一名不文，也不必操心午飯吃什么了，真棒！ (wonderful means the opposite bad; here it

8、is used in a rakish manner) e. This diligent student seldom reads more than an hour per month. 這個(gè)勤奮的學(xué)生每個(gè)月讀書時(shí)間不超過一小時(shí)。,f. 根據(jù)報(bào)紙上官方介紹，他是天底下頭等大好人，渾身上下毫無缺點(diǎn)，連肚臍眼都沒有。（宗福先于無聲處） 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.

9、Why, he doesnt even have a belly-button!,Note that: Some 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.

10、,Light Irony: a. We are lucky. Its the other side on the thirteenth 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 s

11、ide of the Pacific to fight in the Vietnam War, they dont feel good at all),b. 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 He

12、adquarters with equal fervor. (Joseph Heller: Catch 22) (This passage implies that 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),Heavy Irony: A famous example of heavy irony is Mark Antonys spee

13、ch at the burial ceremony of Caesar in Shakespeares Julius Caesar:,“Friends, Romans, 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 Brutus Hath told you Cae

14、sar was ambitious. If it were so, it was a grievous fault; And grievously hath Caesar answerd it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest For Brutus is an honorable man;,So are they all, all honorable men Come I to speak in Caesars funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me; But Brutus says

15、 he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honorable man.,(Antony means exactly the opposite of what he says. By 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.),2. Styl

16、istic Irony 指用與內(nèi)容相反的風(fēng)格來表現(xiàn)主題的一種手法。比如敘述一件小事時(shí)故意虛張聲勢(shì)，講述滑稽故事時(shí)板著面孔，處理嚴(yán)肅的主題時(shí)冷諷熱嘲。 A case in point is “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” written by Jonathan Swift. 他一本正經(jīng)地以“建議者”的

17、身份，提出了一個(gè)十分殘忍的“建議”把孩子養(yǎng)肥，屠宰后運(yùn)送到英國市場(chǎng)上出售。,3. Dramatic Irony: 主要指小說或戲劇中的人物的語言或動(dòng)作表明他們不知道某些情況，而讀者或觀眾卻一清二楚。這種手法在于人物所表達(dá)的意義和讀者或觀眾所知道的的不同意義之間的對(duì)比。 比如在Romeo and Juliet 中。讀者/觀眾清楚地知道Juliet 并沒有死，而劇中Romeo卻并不知道，他以為自己的心上人已經(jīng)死去，悲痛萬分，甚至于徇情自殺。,4. Situational Irony 常常用來描寫事物的現(xiàn)象與本質(zhì)的矛盾，行為與反應(yīng)的矛盾，預(yù)料與結(jié)果的矛盾，常理與現(xiàn)狀的矛盾。作者通過這些矛盾的揭露和描

18、繪來表現(xiàn)世情的顛倒和荒謬。 情景倒反有助于反應(yīng)復(fù)雜的現(xiàn)實(shí)，準(zhǔn)確地展示作者對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的分析，從而更有說服力地表現(xiàn)主題。,It was an immaculately(perfectly) planned crime by three Norwegian 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

19、 bang and a whole wall washed down round the trio on a roar of flying bricks and mortar. The safe did not contain money. It contained explosives.,The second case of the classification of Irony is based upon the Form, mild or not: A. Innuendo A mild form of Irony, hinting in a rather roundabout way a

20、t something disparaging or uncomplimentary to the person or subject mentioned.,“The weatherman said it would be warm. He must 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

21、.),B. Sarcasm While Innuendo is a mild form of Irony, Sarcasm is just the opposite. It attacks in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage, ridicule and wound the feelings of the subject attacked.,1. From Jonathan Swifts “A MODEST PROPOSAL for Preventing the Children of Poor People

22、in Ireland from Being Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public”:,Background Information,It is nevertheless 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 i

23、t 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 wages meant workers would work less.,Furthermore, “in the mercantilist view no child was too young to go into industry.” We can better understand Swifts satiric

24、al 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 attacked the English mistreatment of the Irish poor.,A Modest Proposal,I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to t

25、he 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 year 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 fr

26、icassee or a ragout.,I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty 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 reas

27、on 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 four females.,That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the

28、 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 dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned

29、with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.,在此請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我冒昧的提出我的拙見，希望不會(huì)遭到異議。 我在倫敦結(jié)識(shí)的一個(gè)博學(xué)的美國朋友曾經(jīng)向我保證，一個(gè)被細(xì)心的看護(hù)至一歲大的年幼的健康的小孩是最美味、滋補(bǔ)和健康的食品，無論是用燉、烘烤或是煮的；而且我毫不懷疑，將這樣的小孩做成燉肉丁或菜燉肉都會(huì)一樣美味。,因此，請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我冒昧的向公眾提出我的拙見，將記錄在冊(cè)的120，000孩童中留下20，000個(gè)用來繁殖后代，其中1/4須是男孩。這個(gè)數(shù)目比我們養(yǎng)的羊、黑牛和豬

30、多多了。我的理由是，這些孩子大部分都不是婚姻的結(jié)晶，而既然我們這些野蠻人并不注重婚姻這種形式，那么一個(gè)男人足以應(yīng)付4個(gè)女人。對(duì)于剩下的100，000個(gè)孩子，可以在他們一歲時(shí)賣給上流社會(huì)人士（食用）；叫他們的媽媽在出售前一個(gè)月喂足奶，讓他們又肥又胖可以賣個(gè)好價(jià)錢。（一般而言）一個(gè)孩子可以做成兩個(gè)菜招待朋友，而當(dāng)家庭自己聚餐時(shí)，身體的前后1/4段就足夠提供一盤好菜色，如果加少許胡椒粉和鹽，在第四天下鍋就能煮出美食，特別是在冬天。,Analysis,Swift appears to suggest in his essay that the impoverished Irish might ease

31、 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 Irish. Swifts specific strategy is twofold, using a “trap” to create sympathy for the Irish and a dislike of the narrator.,Swift has his

32、 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 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”.,2. 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 struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumber