Филологические науки/2. Методика преподавания языка и
литературы
Белорусский
Национальный Технический Университет, Беларусь
Linguistic ways of expressing irony in short stories by O’Henry
This is an important topic of discussion for many
reasons. Among various phenomena that exist in cultures there are some which
still haven’t been studied or depicted properly even though they have a long
history of use. One of them is irony.
It is a very common literary device often used by writers and is regularly
identified in literary studies recognizable for text interpretation. However
attempts to reveal its true meaning always entails certain difficulties. There
are a variety of definitions and explanations for irony, both old and new. As a
result there are some areas of debate.
This piece attempts to define linguistic ways of
expressing irony in literary fiction.
Through research, we are able to formulate its general
objectives as follows:
1.
To study theoretical material on the
subject in order to define the notion of irony and its stylistic peculiarities.
2.
To study key figures of speech employed in literary fiction;
3.
To analyze short stories to identify
irony and stylistic devices employed in the text to create ironic effect
The object
of the present research is irony. An ironic utterance is regarded as any
utterance (a word, a word combination, a sentence) which realizes ironic
effect, i.e. all cases of contradiction between two logical meanings –
dictionary and contextual – of the utterance.
The factual material
is taken from the authentic works by O’Henry. In the course of the research
twelve short-stories have been examined by means of the method of contextual
analysis which concentrates on studying the functioning of linguistic units in
the text depending on their linguistic and extralinguistic context.
A close study of different approaches to the term irony leads us to the following conclusion:
The term of irony
goes back to the Greek word Eironeia which
literary means simulation or pretence.
It happens when people pretend to be a bit more stupid than they are. The verb eirein is probably derived from the Indo-European work which means speak.
"To say one thing but to mean something
else" - that may be the simplest definition of irony. But in truth there's
nothing at all simple about the rhetorical concept of irony. The problem with
trying to provide a simple definition of irony is the fact that irony is not a
simple phenomenon.
Irony is an expression or utterance marked by a
deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
Context is arranged so that the relevant word in irony
reverses the direction of the evaluation, and the word positively charged is
understood as a negative qualification and (much rarer) vice versa.
Irony mustn’t be confused with humour although they
have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter. The function of irony
is not limited to producing humorous effect. It conveys a sense opposite to its
literal signification. Irony doesn’t cause a ludicrous effect. It rather
expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret.
On the other hand, irony must not be confused with
sarcasm, which is direct: sarcasm means precisely what it says, but in a sharp,
bitter, cutting manner.
O’Henry is famous for his unforgettable short stories.
He is a master of surprise endings and irony is quite prevalent in his works.
An examination of irony in short stories confirms our assumption that ironic
effect in literary fiction is mostly realized at the lexical level. It is
created either by means of neutral vocabulary or by use of various stylistic
devices. After reading and analyzing a number of his stories, we’d like to
devote considerable attention to the most vivid examples of employing irony in
the text.
In the story, “No Story”, O’Henry describes the main
character, Ada Lowery, in the following way:
«I tell you, she's a beauty that would take the hydrogen out of all the peroxides in the world. She stopped
me on the street and asked me where she could find George Brown. Asked me where
she could find George Brown in New York City! What do you think of
that?»
The author calls her a beauty and mentions the peroxides
implying the fact that she was a blonde. It’s generally accepted that a
beautiful blonde can’t be a girl of a great intellect. It’s proved further in
the text: she asked where she could find George Brown in New York.
In the story, “A Double-Dyed
Deceiver”, the author says the following about one of the characters:
«Thacker, the United States consul at Buenas Tierras, was not yet drunk. It was only eleven o'clock. »
Here the reader is supposed to take the hint that
Thacker had a liking for strong drinks. The ironic effect is achieved here by
means of neutral vocabulary.
As previously stated, the author employs various
stylistic devices to express irony as well.
Thus, in the story “The Complete Life of John
Hopkins”, O’Henry uses an oxymoron to intensify Freshmayer’s pessimism:
«Joy surged in Freshmayer's
heart. Here was corroboration of his belief that the world was rotten and man a
peripatetic evil»
The combination of the two contradictory terms creates
ironic effect as only an extremely pessimistic person could be so content to
know that the world was rotten and man a peripatetic
evil.
In the story, “While the Auto Waits”, the ironic effect is based on exaggeration, i.e.
a hyperbole, of the role of such a trivial conversational topic as weather in
society’s life making it responsible for the world’s unhappiness.
«In a
pleasant voice, he risked an inconsequent remark upon the weather that introductory topic responsible for so much of the world's unhappiness-and stood poised
for a moment, awaiting his fate».
Here is a passage from the story “Little
Speck in Garnered Fruit” where an allusion is made to Cleopatra and Anthony:
«"Precious",
said she, with the air of Cleopatra
asking Antony for Rome done up in
tissue paper and delivered at residence, "I think I would like a
peach"»
In this case the ironic effect is created
by the comparison of such a down-to-earth request with the images of great
historical figures.
Thus, in order to create ironic effect in the short
stories O’Henry employs the following stylistic devices: an oxymoron, a
hyperbole, an allusion, a metonymy, a periphrasis, a zeugma, a gradation, an
epithet, meiosis, an understatement and paronomasia. It should be noted that
such stylistic devices as an epithet, a periphrasis, an allusion and an
oxymoron are used in this function more often than the others.
In conclusion it can be said that this work is both of
theoretical and practical value. It can be used in the process of teaching text
analysis or as an alternative method of working with texts for senior students.
The material and the results of the analysis can be used for teaching such
elective courses as “British and American Literature”, “Basis of Literary
Translation” and some others.
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