"This book adopts a broad cognitive-pragmatic perspective on irony which sees ironic meaning as the result of complex inferential activity arising from conflicting conceptual scenarios. This view of irony is the basis for an analytically productive integrative account capable of bridging gaps among disciplines and of recontextualizing and solving some controversies. Among the topics covered in its pages, readers will find an overview of previous linguistic and non-linguistic approaches. They will also find definitional and taxonomic criteria, an exhaustive exploration of the elements of the ironic act, and a study of their complex forms of interaction. The book also explores the relationship between irony, banter and sarcasm, and it studies how irony interacts with other figurative uses of language. Finally, the book spells out the conditions for "felicitous" irony and re-interprets traditional ironic types (e.g., Socratic, rhetoric, satiric, etc.), in the light of the unified approach it proposes"--.

• Modeling Irony
• Editorial page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1. In search of a unified framework
  • 1.1 Contextualizing the research
    • 1.1.1 Core conditions
    • 1.1.2 A unified framework
    • 1.1.3 On common analytical categories for verbal and situational irony
    • 1.1.4 On systematization
    • 1.1.5 On the felicity of irony
  • 1.2 A note on methodology
    • 1.2.1 Adequacy criteria
    • 1.2.2 The qualitative approach
    • 1.2.3 Data collection and analysis
  • 1.3 The structure of the book
• Chapter 2. Theoretical pre-requisites
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Perspectives on irony
    • 2.2.1 Irony in rhetoric
    • 2.2.2 Irony in literary theory
    • 2.2.3 Irony in philosophy
    • 2.2.4 Irony in inferential pragmatics
    • 2.2.5 Irony in Cognitive Linguistics
    • 2.2.6 Irony in psycholinguistics
    • 2.2.7 Irony in artificial intelligence
    • 2.2.8 Conclusions
  • 2.3 In search of a unified framework
    • 2.3.1 Previous integrated approaches to irony
    • 2.3.2 The pretended agreement
    • 2.3.3 The epistemic scenario
    • 2.3.4 Revisiting previous perspectives
  • 2.4 Irony types
    • 2.4.1 Communicated and non-communicated irony
    • 2.4.2 Sequenced and delayed non-communicated irony
  • 2.5 Conclusions
• Chapter 3. The epistemic and the observable scenarios
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 The epistemic scenario
    • 3.2.1 The epistemic scenario in verbal irony
      • 3.2.1.1 Agreement markers
      • 3.2.1.2 Echo-formation strategies
      • 3.2.1.3 The elaboration of cultural and sociohistorical references
      • 3.2.1.4 Echoic compounding
      • 3.2.1.5 Echoic chains
      • 3.2.1.6 Cumulative echoes
      • 3.2.1.7 Multi-operational echoes
    • 3.2.2 The epistemic scenario in situational irony
  • 3.3 The observable scenario
    • 3.3.1 The observable scenario in verbal irony
    • 3.3.2 The observable scenario in situational irony
  • 3.4 The interaction between the epistemic and the observable scenario
    • 3.4.1 The interaction between the epistemic and the observable scenario in verbal irony
    • 3.4.2 The interaction between the epistemic and the observable scenario in situational irony
  • 3.5 Chained reasoning schemas
    • 3.5.1 Chained reasoning schemas in verbal irony
    • 3.5.2 Chained reasoning schemas in situational irony
    • 3.5.3 Differences between reasoning schemas in situation-based implicature and in irony
  • 3.6 Conclusions
• Chapter 4. Structural elements in irony
  • 4.1 The ironist
  • 4.2 The interpreter
  • 4.3 Combinations of ironist and interpreter types
  • 4.4 The target
  • 4.5 The felicity of irony
  • 4.6 Irony and related figures of speech
    • 4.6.1 Irony and banter
    • 4.6.2 Sarcasm, antiphrasis, satire, and prolepsis
  • 4.7 Conclusions
• Chapter 5. Ironic uses
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 A typology of ironic uses
    • 5.2.1 Basic uses of irony
      • 5.2.1.1 Socratic irony
      • 5.2.1.2 Rhetoric irony
      • 5.2.1.3 Satiric irony
      • 5.2.1.4 Tragic irony
      • 5.2.1.5 Dramatic irony
      • 5.2.1.6 Metafictional irony
    • 5.2.2 Re-adapted uses of irony
      • 5.2.2.1 Re-adapted Socratic irony
      • 5.2.2.2 Re-adapted rhetoric irony
      • 5.2.2.3 Re-adapted satiric irony
      • 5.2.2.4 Re-adapted tragic irony
      • 5.2.2.5 Re-adapted dramatic irony
      • 5.2.2.6 Re-adapted metafictional irony
  • 5.3 Conclusion
• Chapter 6. Conclusions
  • 6.1 A summary of findings
  • 6.2 Theoretical implications
  • 6.3 Prospects
• References
• Index