Verbal Irony in the Czech Discourse and its Perception Mgr. Dominika Rýparová Abstract This thesis sets the verbal irony into a broader context of human communication and supports the tendency to understand the irony as a communication strategy - not only as a speech figure or a tool to make our way of speaking more attractive. The aim of this work is to remind that irony is an integral part of our everyday communication, and a prerequisite for its use and understanding is built on the particular language experience. The experiment was examining the function of the four forms of irony, which differed in the degree of engaged humour or, conversely, expressed criticism. During the research one was able to get answers from a total of 3,167 respondents. Their analysis revealed that the major motivation for use of the selected types of irony is the humour, but the more humorous the statement is, the more the speaker takes a risk of not being completely understood, because he/she plays with reality too much. Further the results showed that the perception of irony-related emotions is influenced by our age. Younger people are more sensitive to the humorous points of irony, while the older are more tolerant of its critical part. The evaluation of irony is also affected by the communication role of the respondent...

Cette thèse examine les différentes façons utilisées pour construire de l’humour en interaction dans deux séries américaines contemporaines—/Dr. House/ et /The Big Bang Theory/. A travers les différentes techniques d’écriture, nous observons les éléments utilisés pour construire des énoncés humoristiques. Le dialogue entre les personnages occupe une place fondamentale puisqu’il est centré sur les points de convergence et donc sur l’idée d’intersubjectivité entre les interlocuteurs.Cette étude est basée sur une expérience originale qui implique l’examen de la gestuelle utilisée par les personnages dans les deux séries pour créer des effets humoristiques. Les gestes et les différentes techniques humoristiques ont été annotés dans le logiciel vidéo ELAN qui permet une vision plus large sur les processus créant l’humour en interaction.Les résultats montrent une visible préférence pour le sarcasme en tant que catégorie de l’humour la plus utilisée dans le corpus. De plus, le corpus montre aussi une prédilection pour l’utilisation de certaines expressions du visage (haussement et froncement des sourcils) ainsi que certains mouvements de la tête (inclinaison et hochement). Ces éléments sont repris et expliqués en fonction de leur rôle dans le contexte et dans l’attitude des locuteurs pour une meilleure compréhension de l’humour en interaction. / This dissertation examines the different techniques used to achieve humor in interaction in two contemporary American television-series—/House M.D./ and /The Big Bang Theory./ Through different writing techniques, we observe the elements that are used in the process of humorous meaning construction. The dialogue between interlocutors plays a central role since it centers on intersubjectivity, and hence, the common ground between speakers.This original study also implies the investigation of the different gestures used by interlocutors in the two series to create humorous effects. These /gestural triggers/ as well as the different humor types have been annotated in ELAN, which allows a more holistic view of the processes involved in humor.The results show an evident preference for sarcasm as well as a preference for certain facial expressions (raising eyebrows and frowning) and head movements (head tilts and head nods). These elements are explained in accordance with a given context and with the speakers’ attitude for a better understanding of humor in interaction.

I denna studentuppsats har jag valt att lägga fokus på ironi och dess förekomst i de lägre åldrarnas klassrum. Syfte med studien är att undersöka om det förekommer ironi i dagens Fk–3 klassrum och i vilka former det i sådana fall är. Undersökningen bygger på en observationsstudie i dels en årskurs 1, dels en årskurs 3, på en skola i mellansverige, där de frågeställningarna i arbetet ligger till grund. Resultatet i studien visar en indikation på att ironi förekommer, att det är något som förekommer både från lärare–elev och elev–lärare. Valet av litteratur har gjorts dels utifrån föreställningen att ironi anses vara opassande i de lägre åldrarnas klassrum, dels för att se barns förståelse för fenomenet. / This student paper focus on irony and its occurrence in the lower age class-room. The purpose of this study is to examine if there is irony in today’s Fk–3 classrooms and if so, what forms are there. The survey is based on a observa-tional study in a year one classroom and a year three classroom located in the middle of Sweden and it’s the issues in this work that form the basis. The results show an indication that irony exists, that there is something that exist between teacher–student and student–teacher. The choice of literature was made based on the notion that irony is considered inappropriate in the lower age classroom and to see children’s understanding of concept and phe-nomena.

Previous research has studied toxicity in World of Tanks game with a focus on precursors of toxicity, player performance in the game from the perspective of gender-performance gap or observing the players' major behaviors instigated by various situations within the game. This research focuses on player's behavior in the game chat with an emphasis on toxic behavior by using participant observation ethnography, thematic analysis, content analysis and autoethnography. Contrary to the predicted belief that game mechanics could instigate toxic behavior in the game, results showed that the major forms of toxicity were regarded as gamesplaining, ableism, sarcasm, male preserve concept and fragile masculinity concept.

In the Apartheid South Africa, repression and the heightening of the Blacks' struggle for political emancipation, prompted artists to challenge the system through their music, oral poetry and writing. Most produced works of protest in English to reach a wider audience. This led to the general misconception that literatures in the indigenous languages of South Africa were insensitive to the issues of those times. This study seeks firstly to put to rest such misconception by proving that there is Commitment in these literatures as exemplified in the poetry of S.F. Motlhake. Motlhake not only expresses protest against the political system of the time, but also questions some religious and socio-cultural practices and institutions among his people. The study also examines his selected works as genuine poetry, which does not sacrifice art on the altar of propaganda. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

In the Apartheid South Africa, repression and the heightening of the Blacks' struggle for political emancipation, prompted artists to challenge the system through their music, oral poetry and writing. Most produced works of protest in English to reach a wider audience. This led to the general misconception that literatures in the indigenous languages of South Africa were insensitive to the issues of those times. This study seeks firstly to put to rest such misconception by proving that there is Commitment in these literatures as exemplified in the poetry of S.F. Motlhake. Motlhake not only expresses protest against the political system of the time, but also questions some religious and socio-cultural practices and institutions among his people. The study also examines his selected works as genuine poetry, which does not sacrifice art on the altar of propaganda. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy v Praze DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Daniela Theinová LIMITS AND LANGUAGES in Contemporary Irish Women's Poetry "Irish poetry" is an inherently equivocal concept characterized by two fissures, one linguistic (Irish-English; standard English-Hiberno English) and the other chronological (oral-written; Old Irish-modern Irish). Central to my project is to show how this bifurcate cultural identity, prominent in Irish literature due to Ireland's history and the politicized concept of "national language," figures in poetry by Irish women of the last forty years. While I account for the significance of the hyphen in Anglo-Irish as well as in Gaelic-Irish poets, contradictory tensions are traced not only across and along the linguistic divide. In attending to the shift from feminism (Eavan Boland, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Paula Meehan, Medbh McGuckian, and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill) to post-feminism in Irish poetry (Biddy Jenkinson, Vona Groarke, Caitríona O'Reilly, and Aifric Mac Aodha), I illustrate the role that the border between English and Irish has played in these processes. The dissertation falls into two parts each of which consists of two chapters. Part One explores some of the ways in which poets have confronted the inherited tradition and the feminine stereotypes therein. My...