The Cambridge Handbook of Irony and Thought

A cross-disciplinary overview of irony as it exists within interpersonal communication, cognitive science, philosophy, art, and more.

Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr (Edited by), Herbert L. Colston (Edited by)

9781108833318, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 December 2023

438 pages
26 x 18 x 2.5 cm, 1.056 kg

The Cambridge Handbook of Irony and Thought offers the first comprehensive collection of chapters in multidisciplinary irony scholarship. These chapters explore the significance of irony, both verbal and situational, in language, thought, human action, and artistic expression. They cover five main themes: the scope of irony in human experience; irony's impact (both personal and in social life); irony in linguistic communication; irony and affect, and irony in expressive contexts. Contributions come from a wide range of academic disciplines, including psychology, linguistics, philosophy, literature, computer science, film and media studies, and music, making this a truly cross-disciplinary collection of benefit to a wide range of students and researchers.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Irony and thought: the state of the art Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr. and Herbert L. Colston
Part II. The Scope of Irony: 2. Kinds of irony: a general theory Gregory Currie
3. Irony and cognitive operations Francisco Ruiz de Mendoza
4. The varieties of ironic experience Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., Patrawat Samermit and Christopher Karzmark
Part III. Irony's Impact: 5. Irony as social work: opposition, expectation violation, and contrast Herbert Colston
6. Rorty, irony and neoliberalism Claire Colebrook
7. Irony and its consequences in the public sphere Paul Simpson
Part IV. Irony in Linguistic Communication: 8. Constructions in verbal irony production: the case of rhetorical questions Angeliki Athanasiadou
9. Tracking the ironical eye: eye tracking studies on irony and sarcasm Salvadore Attardo
10. Inferring irony online Francisco Yus
11. Irony and thought: developmental insights Penny Pexman
12. Vocal strategies in ironic communication Gregory Bryant
13. Great expectations and EPIC fails: a computational perspective on irony and sarcasm Tony Veale
Part V. Irony, Affect and Related Figures: 14. Irony and humor Marta Dynel
15. Emotional responses to sarcasm Ruth Filik
16. Irony, exaggeration and hyperbole: no embargo on the cargo! John Barnden
17. Irony and its overlap with hyperbole and understatement Laura Neuhaus
18. Irony and satire Christian Burgers
19. Hypocrisy and situational irony Cameron Shelley
Part VI. Irony in Expressive, Nonlinguistic Media: 20. Ironies in film James McDowell
21. An ear for irony Katherine Turner and Sabatino DiBernardo
22. Pictorial irony and sarcasm Albert Katz.

Subject Areas: Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR]