This thesis takes as its subject Paul’s use of sarcasm, using 2 Corinthians 10–13 as a case study. While there has been some work done on the related subject of irony in the Pauline corpus, scholarship has not addressed the issue of sarcasm specifically. For this reason, not only is a dedicated work on sarcasm useful for its own sake, but it also has the potential to nuance previous work on irony, as it can be difficult to generalize when dealing with such a broad rhetorical category. Due to the paucity of previous work on sarcasm – or related subjects – in Paul, the second major contribution of the study will be methodological. The goal of this discussion is to generate a working definition of sarcasm and to develop techniques for sarcasm recognition in ancient texts. To this end, I will survey ancient and modern thought on sarcasm so as to benefit from the insights of contemporary research while grounding the work in categories relevant to a Pauline context. Following the question of method, the final task will be an analysis of 2 Cor 10–13. Here the aim is threefold: to identify and analyze sarcastic statements, to address instances where the presence of sarcasm can contribute to the discussion of exegetical issues, and finally, to draw broader conclusions about the rhetorical effects of Paul’s use of sarcasm. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This thesis analyzes Paul’s use of sarcasm in 2 Corinthians 10–13. To this end, the first two chapters seek to answer the questions: What is sarcasm? And, how do we find sarcasm in ancient texts far removed from our own culture? We approach these questions by surveying both ancient and modern thought on sarcasm. The goal at this point is to draw as straight a line as possible from classical to contemporary discussions, so that our analysis of Paul can benefit the insights of recent work while remaining grounded in terms current to Paul’s day. With this background, it is then possible to address Paul’s use of sarcasm in 2 Corinthians 10–13. The primary aims of this chapter are to identify sarcastic statements and analyze how they contribute to Paul’s overall argumentation. Additionally, instances where our analysis can contribute to scholarly debates over certain passages are also addressed.

<p> This thesis examines how Ernest Buckler's literary style, particularly in his presentation of the theme of isolation and his characterizations, is detennined by his intentional use of irony. By examining all of Buckler's work, including both unpublished and often neglected writings, this thesis offers critical analysis of the author's entire literary career. Unlike other critical discussions which have concentrated narrowly on the role of the artist figure and recognize irony only in limited areas, my criticism focusses on the pervasive ironies which effect the content of Buckler's fiction. I discuss irony as a structural device which unifies the Buckler canon and demonstrates the author's creative development. Through detailed analysis of the works, I offer internal evidence for my theory, and from The Buckler Collection I offer external evidence about Buckler's intentions and beliefs concerning irony. My thesis argues that critical evaluations of Buckler's writing must consider how his conscious use of irony determines our interpretation and understanding of his work.</p> <p> Irony as used in this study involves the recognition of incongruities, the contrast between appearance and reality. It manifests itself in Buckler's perspective of irony, his vision of the world as characterized by irreconcilable tensions and contradictions that are tolerated by mankind only through htmlan relationships. The role of irony in his fiction is to elucidate this attitude as it affects his themes, characterizations, plot structures and writing techniques. When applied to his beliefs and perceptions, the term irony no longer identifies only the literary genre or stylistic devices of fiction, but refers to the kinds of themes and subject matter explored by Buckler. Therefore, this thesis explains how Buckler emphasizes in his work the recognition of incongruities and uses irony to thematically structure his work. </p> <p> According to Buckler, one tragedy of modern society is alienation caused by the contradiction between man's idealized expectations and his disillusioning experiences. Buckler's perspective of irony concentrates on this discrepancy which isolates man from his community and forces him into absolute isolation, Buckler's tenn for bitter loneliness and irreversible alienation. This bleak process can only be prevented by each man acknowledging the presence of local ironies, accepting them as part of the universal human condition and reaching out to share that awareness with other men equally doomed and troubled by absurdities and contradictions. Together, through love and honest human relationships, they will face life's disturbing inconsistencies and cruel disappointments. As well, they will reject the despair of nihilism when they find truth and meaning in such human relationships. </p> <p> In this thesis I examine how Buckler expresses his perspective of irony in the fonn and content of his fiction, but I concentrate on his subject matter, themes and characterizations. The chapter discussions explain how Buckler's intentional use of irony affects his central theme of isolation. Chapter One discusses the short stories in The Rebellion of Young David and Other Stories (1975) as well as other pieces of short fiction, published and unpublished from The Buckler Collection. These selections illustrate how tensions in family relationships cause misunderstandings and feelings of rejection until a demonstration of family loyalty expressing love reunites family members. We see Buckler creating irony by juxtaposing opposites, contrasting different narrative voices, shifting time frames and manipulating images and symbols. All of these techniques develop over the period of Buckler's career.</p> <p> Chapter Two discusses The Mountain and The Valley (1952) in relation to the central theme of isolation, the artist as an ironic figure, the disintegration of the Canaan family and the conflict between various perceptions of reality. I focus on the power of language, the creative process and metaphor and the ultimate meaning of David's death. My criticism explores the entire scope of Buckler's handling of irony as it relates to David's character and to Buckler's own commentaries and plans.</p> <p>Chapter Three examines irony as Buckler's challenge to nihilism in The Cruelest month (1963), the use of verbal irony, the highly intellectual style of writing, the confirmation of love as the only solution to the modern condition and the treatment of the ironic artist figure in the characters of Paul Creed and Morse Halliday.</p> <p> Chapter Four includes a discussion of Ox Bells and Fireflies (1968), a nostalgic, poetic memoir of the way it was. This work contrasts the ideal past with the disillusioning present to illustrate how man lives in a sterile, alienating environment. The presence of unintentional irony involving the conflicting perceptions of the reader and Buckler weaken the overall effectiveness of the work. In Nova Scotia: Window on the Sea (1973), Buckler jlLxtaposes contrasting ways of life, values and characterizations to emphasize how his Nova Scotian home embodies ironic contrasts. The isolation that Buckler describes is, for the most part, associatc<l with geography and physical solitude rather than a sense of alienation. Whirligig (1977) demonstrates how irony can evolve into satire and parody while continuing to contrast appearances with reality. Isolation occurs as a mild form of loneliness and alienation, an inescapable part of modern society made tolerable by man's sense of humour and absurd comedy.</p> <p>As a modern writer of ironic literature, Buckler focusses on the complex ironies of human existence and the tragedy of alienation. His ironic perspective views man as fated in his struggle to survive in an indifferent universe where the phenomenal world thwarts his aspirations toward the ideal and his longing for perfection. But Buckler believes that human relationships give ultimate meaning to life and tritunph over the ironies and isolation suffered by mankind. Although often imperfect and subject to the perversities present in the modeni world, love remains man's only hope. While recognizing the ironies inherent in life, Buckler affirms in his fiction the significance of life itself, the human family and human love. This thesis examines the Buckler canon in the light of his philosophy and demonstrates that Buckler writes from an ironic perspective which modulates the reader's understanding of his work.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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The thesis offers an interpretation of Shelley's poetry which focuses on his treatment of external nature. Its main argument is that a subject-object dialectic lies at the basis of his thought and style. Manifesting itself as a tension and oscillation between dualist and monist tendencies, this dialectic underlies the opposing strains of thought associated with his sceptical idealism; it informs the relationship between various contraries with which he is recurrently concerned, such as reason and feeling, necessity and freedom, language and thought; and it accounts for some major characteristics of his style--for example, its self-reflexiveness, indeterminacy, and restless forward momentum. Nature is found to play a complex dual function in this dialectical process: first, as the circumference to the circle of which mind is the centre, it provides the material of thought and poetry; secondly, through its cyclic processes, it serves as an emblem of the mind's dynamic relationship with that material. In finding the characteristic thought-pattern of his poetry to be constituted of a creative-destructive interplay of contraries, the thesis contends that Shelley is a significant exponent of Romantic irony. Such a reading of his work mediates between an earlier tradition of interpreting him as a Platonising poet of nature and the more recent emphasis that has been given to his philosophical scepticism and political radicalism. Throughout, attention is given to the interacting influences of his direct experience of nature (as recorded mainly in his letters) and the representations of nature he encounters in his reading. The following poems, chosen for their importance in Shelley's canon and as clear illustrations of his treatment of nature, are discussed chronologically in successive chapters: Queen Mab, Master, the 1816 odes, Prometheus Unbound, Adonais, and The Triumph of Life.

Individuals with Asperger’s Disorder (AD) have difficulty with social interactions and understanding sarcasm. One source of these deficits is the deficient use of pragmatic language. Right hemispheric (RH) dysfunction has been linked to trouble understanding sarcasm and using pragmatic language. This study attempted to determine the role of the RH in sarcasm comprehension by using a computerized dichotic listening task. Participants with AD were matched with typically developing participants and completed a dichotic listening task, brief intelligence assessment and a perceived accuracy questionnaire. The results showed participants from both groups performed similarly on the dichotic listening task. Interestingly, those with AD did not appear to have insight into their ability to identify sarcastic or sincere tones while the typically developing group did. / Department of Psychological Science

The objective of this study was to examine Polish and Canadian children’s and adults’ attention to two potential cues to ironic intent: 1) interpretive perspective (addressee versus bystander), and 2) parties present (speaker, addressee, and bystander). Polish participants were 36 9- to 10-year-olds and 36 adults recruited from schools in Poland. Canadian participants were matched from an existing dataset. Participants watched 9 videos containing ironic criticisms, literal criticisms, and literal compliments. Video characters criticized/complimented a present or absent addressee either with or without a bystander in three conditions: private evaluation, public evaluation, and gossip. Participants judged speaker’s intent and humour from the addressee’s perspective, and/or the bystander’s perspective. Interpretative perspective served as a cue to verbal irony only among Canadian adults, who rated ironic criticisms more mean and more serious when interpreting these statements from the addressee’s perspective versus the bystander’s perspective. The number of parties present influenced interpretation of irony’s seriousness for Polish adults, but not their Canadian counterparts. Polish adults rated public ironic criticisms as less serious compared to private ironic criticisms, while Canadian adults rated the conditions similarly. The results show that the relevance of cues in interpreting ironic criticisms is influenced by age and culture. / October 2016

The main thesis of this study is that the translation of irony from English into Arabic in commentary texts in Australia is not amenable to traditional translation theories. The way Arabic and English speakers employ irony to express themselves reflects the linguistic and cultural distance between both languages. To tackle this problem, the study ventures into a contrastive analysis with reference to a number of linguistic and non-linguistic devices and concepts. It concentrates on the interpretation and the linguistic realisation of irony in both languages by utilising a number of contemporary linguistic models. The research takes the view that ironic devices are the foundation of the structural development of the texts in question. To demonstrate this, the speech act and conversational theories are used. The interaction between the ironic devices and the text development constitute a framework for the overall rhetorical meaning of the text. After an overview of the relevant literature of translation, contrastive analysis and comparative stylistics, an analysis/translation model is devised and implemented. A thorough contrastive analysis is made of English and Arabic commentary texts. Similarities and differences between the Arabic and English texts are found. Discrepancies were observed in the form, function and the number of ironic devices used in both languages. Based on the findings seven general strategies are proposed for the translation of irony in Australian commentary texts from English into Arabic. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Anyone who has read Douglas Adams’ novel cycle, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the </p><p>Galaxy, will probably agree that it is saturated with irony, but few people would </p><p>manage to define how or why. Irony can be used as an indirect but clear communicative strategy, by which the true meaning of a text is eventually eradicated. There are many different types of irony, and all types can be used for miscommunication. In this essay I have tried to establish what Adams' text is telling the reader and I have found that it is not simply a science fiction story about the humorous travels of Arthur Dent. In fact, what the text is not telling </p><p>the reader is at least as interesting. Adams' text is a multi-layered ironic </p><p>miscommunication, telling the reader that there is no truth or meaning in existence.</p>

Anyone who has read Douglas Adams’ novel cycle, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, will probably agree that it is saturated with irony, but few people would manage to define how or why. Irony can be used as an indirect but clear communicative strategy, by which the true meaning of a text is eventually eradicated. There are many different types of irony, and all types can be used for miscommunication. In this essay I have tried to establish what Adams' text is telling the reader and I have found that it is not simply a science fiction story about the humorous travels of Arthur Dent. In fact, what the text is not telling the reader is at least as interesting. Adams' text is a multi-layered ironic miscommunication, telling the reader that there is no truth or meaning in existence.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: J.A. Leo Lemay, Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references.