Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education
“Chuvash State Pedagogical University
them. I.Ya.Yakovleva”

Faculty of Foreign Languages
Department of English Philology and Translation Studies

Topic
irony like stylistic device

Coursework in theory and history of English language

4th year students of group “B” of the English department
Faculty of Foreign Languages
Sergeeva Maria Sergeevna

Scientific adviser:
Docent
Candidate of Philology
Shugaeva N. Yu.

Cheboksary 2012
Content
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………..3
1. Irony………………………………………………………………………..4

1.3 Spheres of functioning of irony………………………………......11 -12
1.4 Types of irony………………………………………………… ..........13 -16
2. Irony as a stylistic device…………………………………….17
2.1 The definition of irony as a stylistic device………… …..... 17-18
2.2 Irony in a literary text…………………………………19 -20
2.3 Means of expressing irony………………………………………….21-23
3. Analysis of irony in the work of I. S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" ... 24-26
Conclusion………………………………………………………………….28
List of used literature…………………...…………...... 29 -31

Introduction
Since ancient times, people have tried to make their statements comical effect to attract special attention or to achieve some other goal. People from ancient times and in many areas use irony to create a comic effect. Irony can be found everywhere in a work of art, in advertising, in a political text, even in ordinary conversation. V. G. Belinsky wrote “in order to understand the comic, one must stand at a high degree of education.” So irony is sometimes difficult to understand not only for foreigners who study the language, but also for people who are native speakers. The relevance of my work lies in the fact that people from the very early times are "carried away" by irony, trying to hurt each other in a sophisticated way, to create a comic effect or to make themselves ironic. Sometimes irony can be very difficult to understand, especially in a work of art.
The purpose of my work is to understand what irony is and how it is used in works of art on the example of Turgenev's work "Fathers and Sons".
My work tasks:
- to study the concept of "irony" and its history;
- to determine the types and means of expression of irony;
- identify irony as a stylistic device;
- explain the use of irony in a literary text;

Dictionaries and various sources record different meanings of irony:
Irony - speech, the meaning and meaning of which is opposite to the literal meaning of words; derisive praise, approval expressing reprimand
Irony is a rhetorical figure in which words are used in the reverse sense of the literal, with the aim of ridicule. Subtle mockery, covered by a serious form of expression or outwardly positive assessment.
In everyday consciousness, the most common idea is when irony is understood as a caustic intonation of a statement, which is often identified with mockery, hidden mockery, or they see it as just playfulness, laughter under the guise of feigned seriousness.
Irony is often formally defined as an expression of the opposite of what they think about the subject, a definition close to this - irony is a statement that has a hidden meaning, the opposite of that which is directly expressed. This definition is supported by Z. Freud, V.P. Shestakov, B. Dzemidok and other researchers. Giambatista Vico defined irony as a lie "in the mask of truth".
The formal and logical specificity of irony was most successfully expressed by A.F. Losev: “Irony, unlike deception, not only hides the truth, but also expresses it, only in a special allegorical way. Irony arises when I want to say “no”, I say “yes”, and at the same time I say this “yes” solely to express and reveal my sincere “no”. Imagine that there is only the first: I say “yes”, but in fact I think to myself “no”. The essence of irony lies in the fact that when I say “yes”, I do not hide my “no”, but rather express, reveal it. My "no" does not remain an independent fact, but it depends on the expressed "yes", needs it, asserts itself in it, and without it has no meaning.
In irony, they often see only a form of the comic, a technique or a way of comic reduction, losing sight of the content side, the specifics of the emotional-value attitude, the experience of irony. Shpagin believes that it is necessary to distinguish two meanings of the term "irony": 1) the reception of rhetoric or comic; 2) an ideological-emotional assessment, or, more precisely, an emotional-value, aesthetic attitude, a kind of comic.
Irony is also distinguished as a form of the comic. Here Irony is expressed in the imaginary praise of what deserves destruction and destruction, but still clings to life and inspires fear.
Here we can conclude that there are many different approaches to the definition of irony. It is defined both as a rhetorical form and as a form of the comic, it is also considered from the point of view of ordinary, everyday communication.

1.2 The history of irony and irony as a value of culture.

It is believed that irony appeared in ancient Greece. So in ancient Greek "to ironize" began to mean "to tell a lie", "to mock", "to pretend", and "ironic" is a person who "deceives with the help of words". The question has always arisen as to what irony and deceit are aimed at. In Plato, "irony is not just deception and idle talk, it is something that expresses deception only from the outside, and something that essentially expresses the exact opposite of what is not expressed. This is some kind of mockery or mockery that contains a very clear seal aimed at achieving the highest just goal under the guise of self-humiliation. In "Nicomachean Ethics" Aristotle defines irony in the following series of concepts "bragging - truth - irony". Pretense towards exaggeration is boasting, and its bearer is a braggart. Pretense towards understatement is irony, and its bearer is an ironist." "Those who tell a lie about themselves, in a light that is unfavorable for him, but not without knowledge (about this), that ironist; if he embellishes, he is a braggart. "But he who adheres to the middle, being himself as a man of truth both in life and in glory, recognizes in relation to himself only what is characteristic of him, does not exaggerate it and does not diminish it."
So Socrates used irony in disputes with the sophists, exposing their conceit and claims to omniscience. She opposed the complacency and limitations of the ordinary consciousness of antiquity. Irony received a certain development in ancient comedy and satirical genres of literature. She also played an important role in folk laughter culture.
Socratic irony emerges as "moralizing subjectivity" (in Hegel's words) as opposed to "objective" - "irony of fate". The peculiarity of Socrates' irony was its bidirectional nature, which is why it deserved the name of "moral" irony. Laughing at the claims and limitations of his interlocutors, Socrates did not spare himself either, presenting himself as a simpleton and an ignoramus.
In the Middle Ages, irony was used most actively in folk culture of laughter. The irony of folk laughter culture has a bimodal ambivalent character, since laughter is directed at the laughers themselves.
In the Renaissance, irony was used in the traditions of comic, festive folk culture, by jesters at crowned persons, as well as in everyday speech. So, J. Burkhardt wrote about irony, wit and mockery in the Italian culture of the Renaissance. Irony is beginning to be used as a rhetorical device, “as a figure of speech that helps to avoid “personalities” and expose someone to ridicule in the form of a hidden allusion,” as jesters often laughed at their masters. In Shakespeare, the problem of irony arises as a problem of morality and "the irony of history." In his opinion, a crime against humanistic morality is punished by the "irony of history." This is the finale of King Lear. Relying on living colloquial, Shakespeare used the polysemy of words and expressions and the metaphors and puns based on this to express humor and irony. Intended for the stage, for oral expression, they were supported by gestures and intonation, which served as pointers to the topical context of irony close to contemporaries.
But wit acquired a special role in the Baroque era, because in its aesthetics there appeared a desire to compare the different and unexpectedly reveal the similarity of the dissimilar, which was considered the most significant in this culture, so wit can be considered the most important element baroque culture.
Renaissance laughter was a wonderful tool for cultural creation and reassessment of values. By ridiculing himself, a person was cleansed of the hardened scales of outdated and harmful habits, while ridiculing others, he exalted himself above their shortcomings.
Describing romantic irony, I. Pasi notes that irony arises from “unsatisfied subjectivity, from a subjectivity that is always thirsty and never satisfied. Irony reveals a secret, intimate gap between the creator and creativity, and this creator can never be completely objectified in creativity, the trace of the creation of which remains his personal property. Irony hovers over everything and everyone, rises above our own love and does not allow what we ourselves adore to be destroyed in thought. But from this absolute freedom of the artistic individual, who represents irony and with whom it is identical, comes joy. The joy of the mind from overcoming the object, nature, necessity. Joy of the spirit from action, intoxication with the pleasure of creativity. F. Schlegel wrote about this, emphasizing the ambiguous, dual nature of irony, which is similar to a theatrical performance. According to him, she "looks at all things from a height, towering infinitely above everything conditioned, including here her own art and virtue and genius."
Thus, irony among the romantics is a playful form of subjective freedom, removing the seriousness and responsibility of life, from which you need to free yourself in order to fly away into the transcendental world of creative fantasy. Irony is a shield that covered the intimate and pure ideals of the romantics from the vulgar and dirty "paws" of the philistines, it is a mask under which a sensitive and vulnerable soul hides. Irony shields from philistines innermost, transcendental values, dreams and ideals, including religious ones.
AT late XIX century, there was a further complication of the picture of the world, for which the consciousness of society was not ready. This caused controversy. Some were fascinated by the opening opportunities of scientific and technological progress and enthusiastically welcomed the new century. Others were alarmed by the destruction of the usual foundations of a simple and clear value picture of the world. From here came decadence and fatigue, languor and pretentiousness of irony.
So looking through the entire "history of the existence of irony" we can conclude that irony existed from the earliest times and was of great importance, both psychological and literary. With the help of it, the great ancient Greek philosophers tried to offend their colleagues, pointing out their stupidity and using self-irony to draw more attention to themselves, the jesters tried to ridicule their masters so that they would not understand that they were actually offended. Writers in their texts tried to show their dissatisfaction with the government using irony or simply to describe a character or situation in a brighter and more colorful way.

1.3 Spheres of functioning of irony.
There are certain differences in the use of irony in various spheres of human culture, the main ones are: 1) everyday communication;
2) pedagogical activity;
3) ideological activity;
4) artistic culture.
When examining the functioning of irony in each of these areas, one must also keep in mind the specific historical and national characteristics of various cultures. The latter are especially noticeable in the sphere of everyday communication and in art. Historical features are better expressed in ideology. Pedagogical irony is more conservative.
In everyday interpersonal communication, irony performs regulatory and polemical functions. With the help of irony, the interlocutors criticize the point of view of the opponent, tell him their own, trying to persuade the opponent and the audience to the same position. Irony contributes to the creation of a special character of interpersonal relations, softens the sharpness of negative critical judgments, their offensive, humiliating nature, without reducing, but in some cases even strengthening the critical assessment. Irony also plays a conventional role, it helps to establish special trusting relationships between interlocutors, understandable only to them. Irony is a convenient means of conventional communication also because it simultaneously performs the function of group self-affirmation through the projective transfer of negative qualities to the object of irony and an increase in its relative value.
Street jargons, secret thieves' dialects, slang are distinguished by special irony, in them, with the help of irony, a negative attitude towards generally accepted moral standards is often expressed. Irony in some cases acts as a way of "aesthetic" behavior. Such behavior is especially characteristic of romantics and has taken the form of a game that combines serious and frivolous, objective and subjective (“Lucinda” by F. Schlegel).

Among the few attempts to systematize the types of ironic attitudes, the typology of irony proposed by the English scientist R. H. Brown is of particular interest, although his concept is difficult to fully accept. He suggested highlighting: a) rhetorical irony; b) irony of behavior; c) the irony of events; d) dramatic or dialectical irony. This typology is based on a sociological approach and practically does not take into account the differences in the types of irony used in other areas of culture.
According to the strength of the ideological and emotional assessment, M. V. Lomonosov distinguished three types of irony:
1) sarcasm;
2) Charientism (irony about the strange, funny and obscene);
3) asteism (polite mockery). In general, M. V. Lomonosov attributed irony to the form of a rhetorical trope.
Similar to this division of irony into species can be found in other researchers. First, it is a soft or good-natured irony.A. F. Losev found an example of such irony in Homer, when Hera seduced her powerful husband. Secondly, mocking irony.
This is the most common type of irony, it can consist, for example, in the fact that "a trait that is missing is attributed to someone or something, and thereby its absence is only emphasized." Thirdly, sarcasm, which Losev defined as "ironism with some mockery."
Depending on the context on which irony relies, functioning in various areas, two main types can be distinguished: 1) irony, in which reason prevails over feelings (this irony is cautious, as if covering its tracks, relies on a narrow context that is understandable to a few, and barely hints at the context of the true assessment - a veiled irony); 2) irony, in which feelings dominate reason (it relies on a wide context, does not hide its assessment, stigmatizes the object with a caustic smile and at the same time doubts the possibility of eliminating the identified shortcomings - open irony). They differ in the degree of revealing the main meaning. In covert irony, the subject hides his negative assessment and at the same time reveals it through the context; the degree of mediation of this allusion is quite high. Open irony does not hide its negative assessment, it is pointed out through a direct well-known context, although the meaning of the statement formally contradicts it. Both types of irony have subspecies, varieties.
Covered irony should include humorous irony, in which condemnation, exposure, criticism are subordinated to the functions of entertainment, optimization, jubilation, and mocking irony, which is the most characteristic type of covert irony. In it, socially critical pathos makes itself felt more strongly, although it hides under the guise of approval and praise.
Among the varieties of covert irony, conventional irony deserves special attention. Long-term communication of people in a microenvironment, unchanged in its composition, leads to the fact that a context arises. common places, the range of topics discussed, which in the course of communication can be pointed out, hinted at, knowing that there is no need to explain in more detail, a certain conventionalism arises, like a well-known joke, where all the jokes have already been retold more than once and even numbered, so it is not necessary to do it again, you can just call the number and hear laughter in response. In such an environment, irony easily arises, based on this general context, a conventional irony that serves the task of distinguishing "us" from "them".
The most common type of open irony is rhetorical irony. It is not addressed to anyone and to everyone around them together, it is theatrical, the subject of irony, as it were, argues with himself. Therefore, rhetorical irony relies on an indefinite broad context that is understandable to others. She does not so much ridicule as express surprise at a paradox that should not be.
I. Pasi spoke about the duality of irony in terms of its activity: the range of its activity extends from apathy to aggressiveness, to sarcasm.
You can also distinguish tragic, dramatic irony and sarcastic irony. The essence of dramatic irony is that people's actions are guided by "ignorance and confidence in the opposite of what will actually happen, is happening, or even has already happened." Dramatic irony is found in Shakespeare's plays, where the hero, guided by an illusory understanding of the value system and the meaning of life, commits acts that lead him to collapse. Sarcastic irony is “a malicious and bitter mockery, when the one who is being laughed at, or together and the one who is laughing, is in a position least of all conducive to laughter”
According to the nature of criticism and its completeness, two types of irony have historically developed: negative (antinomic) and ambivalent (dialectical). According to the direction of ironic criticism, one can distinguish between introverted irony, self-irony directed at one’s “I”, extraverted, directed at objects and phenomena external to the ironic, and harmonic (bimodal).
Thus, we can conclude that there is a huge number of classifications and approaches to the classification of irony. Since irony, as we have already found out, manifests itself in many areas of communication, in various types texts, then it can be classified in different ways, taking into account either the area where it is used, or the shade that it carries in itself.

Irony is a stylistic device by which an interaction of two types appears in a word. lexical meanings: subject-logical and contextual, based on the relation of opposites (contradiction). For stylistic irony, a wide context is sometimes needed. The term "irony", as a stylistic device, should not be confused with the common word "irony", denoting a mocking expression.
Also, irony should not be confused with humor. As you know, humor is a quality of action or speech that necessarily arouses a sense of humor. Humor is a psychological phenomenon. Irony does not necessarily cause laughter. In the sentence "How clever it is", where the intonation of the whole sentence gives the word clever - the reverse meaning - stupid does not evoke a sense of funny. On the contrary, a feeling of irritation, dissatisfaction, regret, etc. can also be expressed here. Humor can use irony as one of its methods, and in this case irony will naturally cause laughter.
The funny is usually the result of an unjustified expectation, some collision of the positive and the negative. In this sense, irony as a language device has much in common with humor. The use of contextual meanings that are the opposite of the main subject-logical ones is also a kind of collision of positive and negative, and this collision is always unexpected. That is why most often irony evokes a sense of humor. Thus, the main function of irony (although, as mentioned above, not exclusive) is to evoke a humorous attitude towards the reported facts and phenomena.
Irony is sometimes used to create more subtle, subtle shades of modality, that is, to reveal the author's attitude to the facts of reality. In this case, irony does not so straightforwardly realize the relation of the contextual meaning of the word to the subject-logical one.

2.2 Irony in a literary text.
In the sphere of artistic culture, irony performs its own artistic functions. One of the essential features of irony used in fiction is its penetration into the artistic method, where it has important row-forming functions. One of the first to discover this feature was K. Solger.
In artistic creativity, the subjective ideas, feelings and moods of the artist are objectified, accompanied by a kind of psychological alienation, a sense of the author's distance in relation to the completed work, as was typical for the romantics. The objectified idea begins an independent life, independent of the author, determined by the logic of the hero's character, by the truth of life. We know the testimony of A. S. Pushkin about the “unexpected” act of Tatyana for him. In the attitude of the artist to the hero, feelings of admiration for his offspring and irony are mixed. B. G. Reizov notes that "the hero broke away from the author, from the spokesman of his feelings, he turned into the object of his ridicule, he became a phenomenon of objective reality, which must be studied and described in order to overcome."
V. Mayakovsky, with his keen sense of falseness, aversion to pretense, false pathos, irony was needed to “calcine everything that exists in fire, burn it from all sides, so that everything false, all slag and garbage, all false decorativeness of objects burnt”, therefore, his irony "does not kill ... the inner plus, but, as it were, disinfects the image, frees it from the sentimental crust."
Magnificent irony often lies in epigraphs. The well-known medievalist historian M. I. Steblin-Kamensky used the following quote from A. P. Chekhov in his book about the “Myth”: “From the notes of an old dog: “People do not eat slops and bones that cooks throw away. Fools!
Irony plays an important role in art criticism. Irony was actively used by Russian critics, who sought to educate the artistic tastes of the public in the light of the value systems that they adhered to. Thus, in the struggle for positivist-populist ideals, Belinsky often used irony, because it provided rich opportunities for literary and socio-political polemics in the conditions of the censored press.

2.3 Means of expressing irony.
The main means of expressing irony are:
1) In oral interpersonal communication, paralinguistic means - gestures or kinesics (facial expressions, pantomime, gesticulation), intonation (stress, pauses, timbre, melody of speech) G. V. Kolshansky highlights such features of paralinguistic phenomena as conditionality (conventionality) and naturalness, arbitrariness and involuntary, universality and national specificity. Paralinguistic means of interpersonal communication, as sound speech develops and improves, recede into the background as exponents of rational information. They are almost completely ousted from official forms of communication, however, they are widely used in colloquial, common speech. They are used to express emotional and value attitudes, relationships, and often this happens involuntarily.
The manifestation of irony in oral interpersonal communication is predominantly verbal-paralinguistic in nature, and pseudo-information is transmitted through the verbal channel, while the main, true information (or the key to it) is transmitted through the paralinguistic channel.
2) In oral and written interpersonal communication, linguistic ones are often used, for the most part stylistic means, such as constant epithets, neologisms and archaisms, mixing of styles and tale forms of narration, but they are often supported by paralinguistic means, when there is no certainty that the recipient interlocutor owns the context, the corresponding parainformation, supplementing the main one and allowing to correctly understand the second plan of irony.
To express irony, grammatical and morphological means are also used. So, for example, irony can be expressed through the use of emotionally expressive words that have diminutive suffixes (for example: “workers”, “building”)
In works of art that mediate interpersonal communication between the author and the public, there are specific means of expressing irony, such as author's instructions, remarks, quotations, quotation marks, italics and puns. In A.P. Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya, Astrov says to Voinitsky: “Here you look at me with irony, and everything I say seems frivolous to you and ... perhaps this is really an eccentricity, but when I pass peasant forests that I have saved from being cut down, or when I hear my young forest rustling, planted by my hands, I realize that the climate is a little in my power, and that if in a thousand years a person will be happy, then in I'm a little to blame for this as well. When I plant a birch and then see how it turns green and sways from the wind, my soul is filled with pride, and I ... (seeing a worker who brought a glass of vodka on a tray). However... (drinks) I have to go...” Here, in one case, Astrov himself points to the irony of Voinitsky, in another, it arises from the contradiction between his grandiloquent reasoning and a glass of vodka, which is mentioned in the remark.
From a superficial point of view, an ironic statement, perceived outside the context of an ironic attitude, as a rule, contains a comparison of the value positions of the subject and object of evaluation and a conclusion in favor of the subject, the ironist, because he is the highest judge who appropriated the right to both execute and pardon. He considers his taste to be an infallible and absolute measure for any evaluation.
Exist various forms expressions of irony: allegory, Aesopian language, allegory, parable, translucent pseudonym, paraphrase, allusion, citation. It is not possible to give examples for each of these forms.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in the novel "Fathers and Sons" uses different artistic techniques: portraiture, antithesis, landscape sketches. All of them help to more fully reveal the characters' characters.
In addition to the listed artistic techniques, in the novel "Fathers and Sons" the author also resorts to an ironic description and assessment of events.
The author ironically tells us about Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, a hero who was once famous in the highest metropolitan society. And now, left to live in the village with his brother, he does not forget to look after his appearance: he is always impeccable and elegant. But elegant lacquered ankle boots, a shirt starched to whiteness, mustaches perfumed with cologne, namani-kyuren hands - all this looks at least ridiculous in the countryside, far from the noise of the capital. “And your uncle is an eccentric,” says Bazarov to Arkady, noticing with his characteristic perspicacity the absurdity of such decoration in the village. Here we see an emotionally expressive expression of irony.
It is on Pavel Petrovich that Turgenev directs the edge of his irony for the first time in the novel: “... Having made a preliminary European “baipiz”, he kissed him (Arkady) three times, in Russian, that is, he touched his cheeks with his fragrant mustache three times " . Isn't it funny: in the old noble Russian family of the Kirsanovs, along with traditional Russian kisses, European customs coexist. Here we can clearly see the use of the negative effect, which is used to express irony.
Let us further pay attention to the author's remarks in chapter 6, which describes the first clash between Pavel Petrovich and Bazarov. “Pavel Petrovich’s face took on such an indifferent expression, as if he had gone to some sky-high heights” or “Pavel Petrovich slightly raised his eyebrows, as if falling asleep ...” But the argument flares up in earnest, and Pavel Petrovich’s behavior changes: at first he “ turned a little pale", and then "slowly turned on his heel and slowly walked away." By the time of the second argument, Pavel Petrovich is already irritated, and his irritation is growing every minute. Either he “mumbles in amazement”, then he interrupts Bazarov, and, finally, his patience comes to an end, and he “shouted”. With this verb (note that Pavel Petrovich did not cry out, did not exclaim, but cried out), the author emphasizes his ironic attitude towards the former secular lion.
Let us now turn to the duel scene, because it is the final one in the ideological dispute between liberals and democrats. It is in this scene that Pavel Petrovich, a military man, is destined not only to miss, but also to faint at the sight of blood. There is something absurd in this. Turgenev ironically over Pavel Petrovich, thereby
etc.................

The stylistics of text interpretation (stylistics of decoding), which has been developing in Russia since the 60s, is an integrating phenomenon that combines the provisions of poetics, literary stylistics, semasiology, communication theory and other sciences. Such an approach to text interpretation comes from the traditions of Russian linguistics, in particular, from the works of L. V. Shcherba (explication du texte), V. V. Vinogradov, M. M. Bakhtin, B. A. Larin. Contrast, irony, text formation, intertextuality occupy an important place in the circle of concepts of this stylistic theory. Irony has occupied a significant place in literature since ancient times, when the concepts of dramatic irony and irony of fate arose. Fr. Schlegel defined irony as "a mood that looks at everything from a height and infinitely rises above everything conditioned, including one's own art, virtue or genius" [Schlegel 1983:283].

Irony is a subjective category, sometimes difficult to grasp, "it is such a living and complex phenomenon that cannot be driven into a rigid scheme" [Pivoev 2000: 5]. Common dictionary definitions of irony as an aesthetic category - "hidden mockery", "rhetorical trope", "figure of speech" (witty language used to convey insults of scorn, a trope) - do not provide a basis for its description in the texts of different authors. The question of irony linguistic phenomenon is the subject of research in the works of many linguists; at the same time, irony is considered either as a trope, consisting in a contradiction between the literal and hidden meaning, or as a conceptual category associated with the structure of the entire literary text and allowing the author to implicitly convey his attitude to the depicted (S. I. Pokhodnya, E. M. Kaganovskaya, A. V. Sergienko and others). Features of text-forming irony as a decoding style are described in the works of many foreign scientists. So, L. Perrine notes that the word "irony" has meanings that go far beyond the concept of figures of speech, F. Bohlen and P. Pavi reveal irony within the framework of a holistic dramatic work, etc. . A variation of text-forming irony is the so-called tragic irony (the “irony of fate”) inherent in ancient theater, theoretically realized only in modern times: the hero is confident in himself and does not know (unlike the viewer) that they are preparing their own death with their actions. In the dictionary of the English language, the concept of "dramatic irony" is fixed. ": (theatre) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.

A large number of works are devoted to the study of the essence of irony as a kind of comic. From the studies of recent years, one can point to the dissertation of T. F. Limareva, in which irony and related mentalities were considered as a holistically concrete formation in its semantic and logical-axiological certainty, boundaries and internal connections were established between irony and satire, irony and a joke, irony and sarcasm, a classification of ironic statements in English and Russian is given [Limareva 1997]. A comprehensive description of the conceptual-linguistic and functional ontology of irony as one of the modes of the comic within the framework of human existence, as well as the typology of speech strategies that the speaker follows when expressing an ironic attitude to reality, is presented in the study "Linguistic Portrait of the Phenomenon of Irony" [Palkevich 2001]. Irony as a component of A. P. Chekhov's idiostyle is the subject of Yu. V. Kamenskaya's works.

Two major varieties of irony can be distinguished: irony as a stylistic device (ironic mockery) and irony as an effect on the reader (or viewer, since this type of irony is often found in dramatic works). Such an understanding of irony is presented in the work of S. I. Pokhodnya [Pokhodnya 1989], where it is noted that irony as an effect is characteristic of dramatic texts. On the stage, the contrast between what the viewer knows and what the hero thinks is most vividly presented. The difference between irony-device and irony-effect should be emphasized once again: the traditional understanding of irony as a device presupposes the presence of some kind of mockery, while the irony-effect of such ridicule is in most cases devoid of. S. I. Pokhodnya makes an attempt to distinguish between these two types of irony: "The approach to irony as a way of perceiving the world led both literary scholars and linguists to the need to distinguish between two concepts: irony as a means, technique, stylistic device and irony as a result - an ironic meaning created a number of multi-level means of the language" [Pokhodnya 1989: 16].

Abroad, there are quite a few works devoted specifically to text-forming irony. In the well-known and many times published work of L. Perrine "Sound and Meaning", it is said that the word "irony" has meanings that go far beyond the concept of figures of speech. The simplest form of speech irony is the use of a word in a statement that is opposite to the meaning of the statement. Therefore, speech irony is often mixed with sarcasm and satire. Sarcasm is originally designed to touch feelings, to hurt. No wonder the name "sarcasm" comes from Greek word meaning "to tear flesh". The term "satire" is more applicable to written language than to spoken language, and usually implies high aspirations: ridicule of human follies and shortcomings in order to remake a person, or at least protect him from such vices. Irony may or may not serve the purpose of sarcasm or ridicule. Irony is confused with satire and sarcasm because irony is often used as a tool for satire and sarcasm. But irony can be used not for the purpose of ridicule, and sarcasm and satire can exist without irony.

Although speech irony always indicates a meaning opposite to the statement, it has many gradations, and only the simplest forms of speech irony have a meaning completely opposite to the statement. More complex forms of irony can have both the opposite meaning and the most common meaning, the direct meaning of the statement, and such coexistence can manifest itself and be expressed in different ways.

Further, L. Perrine notes that, like all speech figures, irony can be misunderstood, and the consequences of such a misunderstanding can be very serious. If the irony is not understood or misunderstood, then this leads the reader to a completely different idea, and not to the one that the author wanted to convey. For example, in conversation we call a person a scoundrel, and this can have the most detrimental consequences. However, if we, for example, wink at the moment of such an ironic expression, then the irony will be understood correctly. Therefore, it is important to use irony with great skill, and the reader, in turn, must always be ready to see the most insignificant signs of irony. It is interesting that no matter how clear and obvious the irony is, there will always be people who do not understand this irony. Irony is admirable and most effective when it is subtle, almost imperceptible. Irony establishes a special bond between author and reader. If the irony is too obvious, it may seem simply rude. With the effective use of irony, additional ones are added to the main meaning. Thus, we are again convinced of the difference between irony-device and irony-effect, irony overt and covert.

F. Bohlen's work "Irony and Self-Knowledge in the Creation of Tragedy" is dedicated to precisely the type of irony that is presented on the theater stage. In a real tragedy, according to the author, a person who has come to "recognize" the situation suffers because everything could have turned out better, but the opportunities were lost through his own fault. The moment of recognition is the climax of the play, when a person passes from a state of "ignorance" to a state of tragic self-knowledge. In the course of the play, the tragic irony grows, and at the moment of climax the hero no longer suffers from illusions, but from reality, i.e. recognition takes place. The sign of the tragic hero is his limited knowledge, and the sign of tragic irony is the contrast between the hero's "ignorance" and what the public knows. In the greatest tragedies, the self-recognition that the heroes go through suddenly changes all the meaning and all the consequences of the actions performed by the heroes, changes the meaning of the words they uttered. The heroes find themselves in the place of the audience and see what the audience has already seen, what was previously hidden behind a veil of irony and their own ignorance. If the tragic hero is not able to understand the irony of his overthrow, then there will be no tragedy in the modern sense of the word. Until the climax of recognition, irony is based on the ignorance of the hero, on the truth, which until a certain moment is inaccessible to him. At the moment of self-knowledge, the hero begins to understand this irony. The hero's ignorance, which creates the most tragic form of irony, is ignorance of the whole truth about himself. At this point, a tragic effect occurs. Irony becomes the main element of tragedy, as it accompanies its victim in the world of illusions. Recognizing and completely transforming the situation in which the victim found himself is a complete contrast to the irony that hides the truth. This contrast between what seemed to be reality and what reality really is creates a tragic effect.

The opinion of Patrice Pavy is very similar to the above point of view. In the "Dictionary of the Theater" [Pavie 1991], he points out that a statement is ironic when another deep, and sometimes directly opposite meaning (antiphrase) is revealed behind an explicit and direct meaning. Separate signs (intonation, situation, knowledge of the described reality) more or less directly indicate the need to replace the explicit meaning with its opposite. Recognition of irony is a pleasure, because in this way a person demonstrates his ability to extrapolate and rise above ordinary meaning. P. Pavi distinguishes 3 types of irony on stage:

1. The irony of the characters. Using the means of language, the characters are able to resort to verbal irony: they laugh at each other, declare their superiority over a partner or a situation. This type of irony does not have specific dramatic characteristics, but adapts well to stage interpretation, since the situation should reveal the characters who have fallen into error, or refute the obvious message contained in the text with a gesture, intonation, facial expressions.

2. Dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is often associated with a dramatic situation. The viewer feels irony when he perceives elements of intrigue that are hidden from the character and do not allow the latter to act competently. The viewer always, but to varying degrees, feels the dramatic irony to the extent that the seemingly independent and free selves of the characters are in reality subordinate to the central self of the playwright. Irony is in this sense in the highest degree dramatic situation, because the viewer constantly feels superior to the stage action. The inclusion of internal communication - between the characters - in the context of external communication - between the stage and the audience - opens up the possibility for any comments on the topic of the situation and the protagonists. Despite the presence of a "fourth wall" that is supposed to keep fiction from the outside world, the playwright is often tempted to appeal directly to the accomplice public, appealing to its knowledge of the ideological code and its hermeneutical activity in order to make it understand the true meaning of the situation. Irony plays the role of an element of estrangement, destroying the theatrical illusion and urging the audience not to take the content of the play literally. The irony indicates that the bearers of the story (actor, playwright, author) may in the end only tell tall tales. She invites the viewer to realize the unusualness of the situation and urges not to perceive anything as a common coin, without first subjecting it to critical reflection. Theatrical fiction seems to be preceded by the mark "use at your own peril and risk", it seems to be subject to a potential ironic judgment: the irony that fits into the text is read more or less clearly, but it is recognized only through the external intervention of the viewer and always retains a certain ambiguity (negation). The dramatic structure is sometimes built in accordance with the opposition between the main intrigue and the secondary buffoonery, which are in constant rivalry. In more modern authors, such as Chekhov, irony organizes the structure of dialogues: it is based on the continuous reproduction of subtext, which makes possible mutually exclusive interpretations.

3. Tragic irony. Tragic irony (or irony of fate) is a special case of dramatic irony, when the hero is completely mistaken about his position and is on the way to death, although it seems to him that a way out can be found. The most famous example is the story of Oedipus, "leading the investigation", during which he discovers his own guilt. But not the character, but the audience is aware of the duality of language, moral and political values. The hero makes a mistake because of an excess of trust, as well as an error in the use of words and the semantic ambiguity of the discourse. The tragic irony may lie in showing how, in the course of the drama, the hero is literally caught in a word that turns against him, bringing a bitter experience of meaning, which he stubbornly refused to understand. This is the same recognition that we talked about above. Note that tragic irony can be explicated in the text of a small prose form: for example, Ch. I. Glicksberg in one of the chapters of the book "The ironic vision in modern literature" refers to the text of L. Tolstoy's story "The Death of Ivan Ilyich ".

M. V. Nikitin, discussing irony in the book "Fundamentals of the Linguistic Theory of Meaning" [Nikitin 1988], notes that the intentional conflict of the explicit meaning of statements (texts) with their meaningful background is used by the addresser as a way of implicitly identifying pragmatic meanings, his subjective-evaluative relations to the subject of speech, addressee, etc. The resolution of the conflict in favor of the implicit meaning concretely manifests itself as irony, hyperbole, litotes and false evaluation. Irony is the case when a statement with a positive assessment obviously comes into conflict with pre-textual pre-knowledge about the object of assessment or with post-knowledge about it, arising from the text.

An important feature of M. V. Nikitin's approach is that he proposes to distinguish between irony and a false assessment, because, unlike irony, where the declared positive sign is obviously absent, with a false assessment, its positive assessment is present, but its positive assessment is obviously false: in reality, the sign is regarded as negative to both the speaker and the listener. So, the exclamation: "How did you get better!" would hardly be taken as a compliment these days. In general, contextual semantics can be of great help in terms of decoding various meanings (especially ironic). The study of the problems of vertical context, background knowledge, which is so important for the adequate perception of a work of art, should be inextricably linked precisely with contextual semantics.

An interesting, in our opinion, position is stated by Irena Bellert in her 1971 work "On one condition for the coherence of a text" ("O pewnym warunku spójności tekstu") [Bellert 1978: 172-207]. It uses the notion of discourse (coherent text, discourse) – such a sequence of statements S1, …, Sn, in which the semantic interpretation of each statement Si (for 2=

Anna's eldest son went to the Sorbonne to study.

And then he gives a number of possible consequences:

a). Anna has a son;

b). Anna has at least two children;

c). Anna's eldest son had previously been in Warsaw;

d). Anna's eldest son went to France;

e). Anna's eldest son is a student, researcher, artist or writer;

f). Anna's eldest son graduated from high school.

Based on this statement, a large number of consequences follow. The essential thing is that we can draw consequences not only from a limited class of statements that can be held true, but also from any statements with different modal positions expressed in them, since the premise of correct use concerns both messages and questions, orders , wishes, etc.

Of the above statements, (a) is the most obvious, and (f) comes to mind not immediately. Bellert goes on to give another illustration of the use of messages containing implication:


Ian quit smoking	Jan used to smoke
Yang started a new hunger strike	Yang used to go on a hunger strike
Jan helped Anna with her dissertation	Anna worked
Yang woke up	Yang was sleeping

If we assume that the sender correctly uses the statements from column (a), then we can also use the concept of implication in this case. Namely, the correct use of the statement (a) implies, respectively, the judgments corresponding to (b). In other words, the sender correctly uses (a) only when he believes that (b).

There is a dependence of the semantic interpretation of the text on the knowledge of the world that the recipient of the text has, since we received many consequences not only on the basis of the rules of the language and deductive reasoning, but also on the basis of judgments related to knowledge about the world, which are necessary as intermediate links in the interpretation of connected texts. When interpreting a connected text, we use not only deductive reasoning. We use some implicit generalizations (which we learn about inductively, based on our knowledge of the world) in order to obtain some consequences that are necessary for the interpretation of the text, or to fill in missing, not explicitly expressed connections. The sender's knowledge of the world may dictate that he accept the implication as a highly probable condition that may have no support from the receiver. Such facts explain the high degree of arbitrariness in the interpretation of texts. This allows you to interpret some texts in different ways, and there is always the possibility of your own interpretation, which may differ slightly from the interpretation conceived by the sender.

I would like to note that such a phenomenon as "irony" is closely related to textual implication, as pointed out, for example, in the work of A. V. Sergienko. "Linguistic possibilities of irony realization as a kind of implication in literary texts" [Sergienko 1995]. The mechanism of implication, as it seems to us, is close in many cases to the mechanism of creating irony. In general, irony can probably be considered as one of the forms of implicit content of the text. K. A. Dolinin [Dolinin 1983] believes that the implicit content is associated with the presence in the text of certain "lacunae" - omissions, reticences, contradictions, violations of some norms. Guided by the "presumption of relevance", the recipient seeks to understand the text segment containing the anomaly, to find its hidden meaning.

The information needs of the recipient are the leading moment in the process of perception. However, the search for hidden meaning may indeed be due to an anomaly in the message itself, especially since this kind of subtext is usually intentional and, therefore, most likely relevant to the addressee.

The impulse to search for subtext (very often ironic subtext) can be any real or apparent deviation from the general principles and situational norms of speech, as well as any violation of the norms of the language. Here are just a few examples of such anomalies:

A gap in the text is an implication of a fact. The more I see people, the more I admire dogs (M. de Sevigne. Letters). This aphoristic statement in content and form is ironic. Guided by the presumption of the relevance of speech (in this case, the presumption of meaningfulness and coherence), the reader tries to justify this statement, to find meaning in it. He is looking for a missing link - an unnamed third fact, which, logically following from the first, would at the same time be in a given relation to the second - something like "... the more I find fault with them."

The lacuna in the text is the implication of a logical connection between the statements and the reported facts: One thing is for sure - the dryers were started up in three days. The combine operators stood over the electricians and put up pickets (from newspapers). The unexpressed connection between two neighboring statements is implied by their very contiguity, and the nature of the connection (cause and effect, premise and conclusion, general position and specific example, similarity of facts, etc.) is derived from the facts themselves and from the communicative situation. In this case, the second statement answers the question of how the result reported in the first was achieved. In addition, two consequences follow from the second statement: 1) the start-up of dryers depended on electricians; 2) the work of electricians could be hindered by their tendency to visit food stores.

The inconsistency of the statement or the sequence of statements with the activity situation is the implication of the addresser's personal attitude to the situation of communication and / or to what is hushed up. A classic example of such a discrepancy is the last conversation between Astrov and Voinitsky at the end of Act IV of Uncle Vanya, when both talk not about what worries them, but about a lame horse and other minor things. Particularly characteristic is Astrov's famous remark at the end of the dialogue: "Ah, it must be hot in this very Africa now - a terrible thing!" The situation is characterized by the fact that the action is essentially over, the passions have died down, the horses have been served, Astrov has already said goodbye to everyone and does not leave just because he is waiting for a glass of vodka offered to him by the nanny to be brought to him. This is a typical "empty time", when everything has already been said, communication is internally completed, but the contact is still ongoing. A conversation about a lame horse arises only from the need to fill a pause, because in such situations it can be awkward to be silent, and there is neither desire nor strength to return to what has already been discussed. It is this feeling of the impossibility and uselessness of returning to what has just been experienced and said that constitutes the general subtext of the entire dialogue - both for the characters themselves and for the viewer. The final remark about the heat in Africa is, in essence, nothing more than a variant of a conversation about the weather, typical of forced phatic communication. But if in a conversation about the weather there is at least some semblance of relevance, then the phrase about the weather in Africa testifies only to the complete impossibility of saying anything on the merits of the matter and creates a feeling of the irreversibility of everything that happened. And at the same time - no longer for the characters, but only for the viewer, in the context of not an everyday dialogue, but a performance - this phrase, like the map of Africa in the office of the Russian estate, appears as an image of the absurdity, awkwardness of their entire existence, perhaps is a sign of the author's ironic attitude to the situation. There is, apparently, one more thing: Africa, especially at that time, is a distance, exotic, clearly opposed to the everyday space in which they are now enclosed. So in that unimportant, as if accidental, what is said, the features of that important, but painful, which are silent, are visible.

The inconsistency of the statement with the activity situation is an implication of the facts and the purpose of the message. E. Bazin's novel "The Owl's Cry" begins with the fact that his mother arrives at the house of a famous writer and father of a large family (the story is told on his behalf), who once poisoned her sons' childhood with suspicions, prohibitions and even physical torture. The son and mother did not see each other and did not maintain any relationship for more than 20 years. The opening phrase of the following passage is the first one addressed by Madame to her son:

"How's your liver?" says Madame Rezo, turning in my direction. - "The attacks are over? Notice, they did not surprise me at all - heredity! Your gallbladder is mine."

The hint of the operation I recently underwent is obvious and immediately plunges me back into the atmosphere of the Rezo clan, where it has always been considered a sign of good form to express one's thoughts in plain terms. What has been said means, first of all: "I have always been aware of your affairs." There are at least three consequences from this: 1) "I have my own agents"; 2) "I did not cease to be interested in you"; 3) "You and only you are to blame for the fact that we have not met for so long."

The subtext of the character's remark, including the obviously ironic attitude of the son to the mother, is accurately and fully explicated by the narrator, i.e. by the author behind it, and it only remains for us to explain how it arises. The very fact of Madame Rezo's unexpected appearance dictates the question "why?", and, according to the unwritten norms of verbal communication, she had to start by answering it. But she speaks and generally behaves as if there was no gap and they broke up a month ago. Characteristically, the operation is not directly mentioned - as if what she knows about it were something taken for granted. The allusion to the operation is contained in the question and is based on what can be called a presupposition of sufficient reason: if the addresser assumes that some state of affairs has changed ("Are the seizures over?"), then he believes that some event took place, which could or should have led to its change. From the hint at the operation - the demonstration of awareness - stretches a chain of logical conclusions, which are formulated in the author's commentary, and each follows from the previous one. Here you can see the similarity of the views of K. A. Dolinin and I. Bellert, since I. Bellert paid close attention to a large number of possible consequences from the statement. But the mother's verbal behavior as a whole, irrespective of these implications, carries a very definite subtext: by talking to her son as if relations between them had always been normal, thereby demonstrating the role of a "normal" mother, she thereby proposes to establish precisely such relations. In this regard, the mention of the hereditary nature of the son's illness should also be interpreted: this is a statement of family ties. Thus, a statement, quite trivial at first glance, turns out to be loaded with rich, complex and highly relevant content for partners. At the same time, the very loading of the statement with deliberate overtones enters as a characteristic feature of the image of Madame Rezo, i.e. as a personality factor.

The interpreter imposes his historical, sociocultural and individual paradigm on the text, and the hidden meaning of the message is deciphered in a specific situation, by a specific recipient, taking into account general background knowledge in the presence of special authorial intentions. Let's consider an episode from a contemporary novel, which reproduces the well-known situation of the Soviet period, when in the Baltic States (in this case in Lithuania) local residents do not use the Russian language in the presence of "occupiers"; The action takes place at a scientific conference:

[...] Further hours spent in a crowded auditorium became an ordeal: the organizers made reports in their native language, not condescending to translation, and the small Leningrad delegation languished on the front benches [...]. Masha caught attentive glances: it seemed that the owners were waiting for the first discontent in order to besiege the Russians. Until the end of the scientific debate, they sat out with honor, but when the hosts, approaching the guests, started talking about the evening program, Masha was worth the effort to agree [...].

Realizing that her refusal could not remain without consequences, Masha agreed, reluctantly.

The hosts spoke Russian. Their Russian was free. The conversation touched on the insignificant; everyone sitting around the table carefully avoided today's events (Elena Chizhova. Criminal).

The text interpreter easily restores the text element relating directly to the "evening program" (this program turned out to be dinner in an informal setting). However, the recipient of information, who is not familiar in all the subtleties with the peculiarities of national relations in the Soviet space, may not fully understand the intentions of the author; these textual implications are completed by an interpreter with a common socio-cultural experience, a common background knowledge. At the same time, he also knows a fact that is not known to the misguided "owners": the heroine is not entirely Russian by nationality, which gives rise to additional ironic overtones.

Textual implication is associated with ironic overtones quite often, irony can be present as an additional connotation of an implicit statement, especially in cases where irony is the dominant feature of the text or the writer's idiostyle. We have analyzed excerpts from Valery Popov's story "Third Wind" - a text saturated with the deepest tragedy and at the same time irony and self-irony. In the center of the story is the disintegration of the personality of a middle-aged alcoholic heroine and the suffering of her husband who loves and hates her. Let's give some examples.

1. After a family scene, one of those that are characterized by the narrator as a "nightmare", he turns to his aged father:

- Let's go eat ... or something!

He grinned at my desperate "or something": he understands everything.

As we can see, the author conveys the situation extremely "economically"; it is assumed that the reader-interpreter must fill in the meaningful gaps: he understands everything - that is, everything that the hero can experience, who himself participated in the creation of this situation all his life. Speech violation (desperate "what if") makes it possible to make a chain of interpretations based on the combination of two meanings of the word "desperate": desperate - uttered in a situation of despair, by a desperate person; desperate - recklessly bold, emphasizing the resilience of the hero, despite everything striving to return life to its normal course, to ordinary household chores, etc.

2. Of interest to the interpreter are those micro-contexts of the story that are associated with the hero's trip to Africa (sic!). They provide an opportunity for free and numerous interpretations, demonstrate the boundless flexibility of a literary text.

The African heat is contrasted with the cold and damp Petersburg (the action takes place in late autumn and winter):

Do you want to fly to Africa? Kuzya said casually.

I looked at the wet kingdom outside the window ... Do I want to go to Africa!

Africa - as a "backward" continent, on which the countries of the "third world" are located, is contrasted with Paris - the brilliant European capital (from which the hero recently returned to a series of family troubles): Anyone who loves to travel to Paris should also love to travel to Africa. The almost aphoristic form helps the interpreter to restore a number of missing links in the implicit statement: I helped you go on a business trip to Paris, and although Africa is not Paris, you are obliged to meet me halfway and go to Africa with my order.

In the text of the story, we also find allusions to the well-known Chekhov's statement, which was discussed above (And, it must be, in this very Africa now it's hot - a terrible thing!), cf. Well, the air-conditioned frost, in this booth, in sultry Africa! etc.

A wide lacunar field opens before the interpreter of the text if the technique of estrangement is used and the narration is conducted on behalf of a "naive", "simple-hearted" narrator. So, in the short story "Morning" by Russian emigrant Irina Muravyova, the situation "a girl abandoned with a child" is given through the eyes of her young friend, who accompanies the heroine (Ritka) to the apartment of an unfaithful lover, an older man who lives with the same gray-haired lady, but apparently with his mother. The girls' morning wanderings end in Rita's home, where her mother and grandmother are waiting for her with the baby, loving and ready to meet. In the absolute finale of the story, a description of the interior of this modest dwelling is given, and in this context there is such a deep post-knowledge that the entire text of the story is "reread" in a new way:

Ritkin's desk was moved to the window (to fit a crib - M.O.), and on it lay a stack of books relating to the eighteenth century of European literature in perfect order. I remember that Faust in Pasternak's translation caught my eye. We studied in the 2nd year, and Faust was included in the program.

All the "gaps" in the text, associated with the naive view of the narrator, are filled in: Ritka is read as Margarita, and the gray-haired man - as Faust; a carefree sophomore became a mother (previously, the reader only learned that the heroine is young); the girl on whose behalf the story is being told, apparently, is also already wiser by experience, has experienced a lot and forgot and remembers only what caught her eye at that moment. Thus, at the end of a simple-hearted and calm narrative, a number of hermeneutic indicators of sad irony appear.

It is safe to say that irony in its most diverse manifestations is an integral part of the writer's artistic world. Linguists and literary critics have repeatedly considered irony and its originality in the structure of Chekhov's narrative. A. I. Kamchatnov and A. A. Smirnov in their work "A. P. Chekhov: Problems of Poetics" indicate that the fundamental principle of Chekhov's poetics is the so-called. "Socratic irony", representing the opposition of the real and the imaginary: the figures of aladzon and eyron are necessary in this genre: the first gives the imaginary as genuine, the second, allegedly agreeing with this, tests the hero, reveals the true content of the hero's ideas to the viewer or reader. "The role of an eyron, a 'simple-hearted' sage in Chekhov's works is played by the author, the role of a self-confident aladzon, who does not doubt his imaginary ideas, is played by the hero" [Kamchatnov, Smirnov http://www.textology.ru/kamch/chehov_4_5.html]. Socratic irony reveals itself in Chekhov both in the form of subjective irony (in the early stories) and in the form of objective irony, or the irony of reality (in later works). In the early stories, the hero is a person who is completely confident that he has the right ideas about himself, about those around him, about the course of events. These beliefs turn out to be false; "the author, by constructing provocative plot situations, leads the hero to the fact that he [the hero - M. O.] expresses opposite views or does not act as he was going to do." The author conveys the self-confidence of the character in an exaggerated way, the irony of the author hiding under the mask of an ingenuous eyron is obvious. In the works of the late Chekhov, the time frames of the genre are being extended, the “pointy” time of early stories becomes the line of life along which the hero moves, who, instead of knowing and real mastering reality, builds illusions, masters the world in an illusory form. Laughter turns from open mockery into bitter irony. The author-eyron fades into the background, the main means of provoking and exposing the illusions of the hero becomes the plot (that is, reality itself), the objective course of life. In fact, A. I. Kamchatnov and A. A. Smirnov are talking about the delusion of the character, which shows irony as a plot-forming (and text-forming) category.

Thus, it finds manifestation in Chekhov's poetics of "objectivity" in the story "Tosca": a certain distance between the narrator and the hero gives rise to a kind of internal, hidden irony, which allows Chekhov to avoid melodrama, excessive "sensitivity" in the transfer of the tragic situation [Yu Won Ke 2002 :].

Irony as a stylistic technique is in demand in critical eras, when old foundations are crumbling, disappointment in ideals sets in. This was the case, for example, at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries in the works of romantics, in whose works irony emphasized the illusory nature of all life ideals. The existing definitions of romantic irony are based on the arguments of August and Friedrich Schlegel, according to which irony is a universal property of poetic reflection, generated by the independent position of a romantic hero in creativity and in society. Genius, as the German romantics understood it, does not create according to "frozen rules", but imitating nature, which in the process of its development feeds on its own "life forces", it is free from any real and ideal interest "its creations are possible only based on" arbitrariness poet" [The Literary Theory of German Romanticism: 255]. Irony is here the main content and condition of genuine poetic reflection, it is "a mood that looks at everything from a height and infinitely raises above everything conditioned, including above one's own art, virtue or genius" [ Schlegel 1983: 283]. Thanks to romantic irony, the poet achieves spiritual freedom, the goal of any creativity. Irony is "a magnificent slyness that laughs at the whole world" [The Literary Theory of German Romanticism: 173]. Romantic irony in many ways anticipated "nihilistic" irony, decadent irony literature of the early 20th century, expressed "in the total parody and self-parody of the arts a" [Literary Encyclopedic Dictionary: 132]. The fact that at the beginning of the 20th century Russian symbolists again picked up romantic irony made A. Blok express his fears about this in the article "Irony" (1908), where he wrote: "In the face of accursed irony, it's all the same ... good and evil, clear sky and stinking pit, Beatrice Dante and Nedotykomka Sologub" [Blok 1971: 270]. The question of the relationship of romantic irony with "nihilistic" irony and the literature of "absurdity" is considered in I. Slavov's work "Irony, Nihilism and Modernism" [Slavov 1974:277-303].

Irony can be considered as one of the fundamental features of the artistic language of the 20th century, since the ironic principle, understood as the principle of distancing from what is directly expressed, the principle of uncertainty about the possibility of direct utterance, is a constitutive feature of the thinking of the 20th century. This feature is associated with the feeling of “captivity of language”, the captivity of illusions, stereotypes of perception, ideologies and myths that stand between the subject and the object, obscure the living person, destroying the identity of the experience of experiencing reality, which is characteristic of the spiritual situation of the era.

In the 20s of the twentieth century, in the post-revolutionary period, irony showed its ability to reflect and evaluate reality in the works of various writers: at the genre level - in the dystopian novel by E. Zamyatin; in the caustic satire of M. Bulgakov, who did not accept the absurdity of the new reality; in the merry but precise laughter of V. Kataev and I. Ilf and E. Petrov; in a sad smile M. Zoshchenko and others [Posadskaya 2004]. It should be noted that in the last two decades of the twentieth century, irony has become the main stylistic dominant in our literature, which, of course, is associated with a new social breakdown at the turn of the century, and with the spread of the poetics of postmodernism in world and domestic literature. We mentioned this above (1.4.), When we talked about fundamentally new phenomena in the syntactic organization of a literary text, associated with the linguoculturological paradigm of postmodernism, this drew the attention of not only many scientists, but also translators, who were the first to face the difficulties of conveying postmodern irony: "The vagueness of the boundary between the serious and the overly serious, when the overly serious flows into the ironic, is one of the signs of the type of creativity that is called postmodernism" [Kostyukovich 2004: 302]. Many features of postmodern irony make us turn again to the romantic understanding of this aesthetic category, with which it is related by similar attitudes. Irony is associated with the manifestation of creative freedom and non-engagement, artistic relativism, which emphasizes the relativity and limitations of all rules and attitudes. Like the romantics, postmodernists have a noticeable desire to get away from value and style certainty, which can manifest itself in the conscious indistinguishability of the content and intonation aspects, seriousness and pretense, high and low, beautiful and ugly.

Finally, recently the term "counter-irony" (counter-irony, trans-irony) has been introduced into philological use - an ironic estrangement of irony itself, characteristic of the stage of "farewell to postmodernism". If irony "turns the meaning of a direct, serious word, then counter-irony twists the meaning of irony itself, restores seriousness - but without the former directness and unambiguity" [Epshtein 2004].

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1.3. Irony as a stylistic device

Irony is a stylistic device through which an interaction of two types of lexical meanings appears in any word: subject-logical and contextual, based on the relationship of opposites (contradiction). For stylistic irony, a wide context is sometimes needed. The term "irony", as a stylistic device, should not be confused with the common word "irony", denoting a mocking expression.

Irony is sometimes used to create more subtle, subtle shades of modality, that is, to reveal the author's attitude to the facts of reality. In this case, irony does not so straightforwardly realize the relation of the contextual meaning of the word to the subject-logical one. Forms of irony:

Direct irony is a way to belittle, give a negative or funny character to the described phenomenon.

Socratic irony is a form of self-irony, constructed in such a way that the object to which it is addressed, as if on its own, comes to natural logical conclusions and finds the hidden meaning of the ironic statement, following the premises of the “not knowing the truth” subject.

An ironic worldview is a state of mind that allows one not to take common statements and stereotypes on faith, and not to take various generally recognized values too seriously. We also find an excellent interpretation of irony as a stylistic device and irony as an ideological and emotional assessment in the linguistic dictionary . The corresponding dictionary entry reads: "1) the irony of a stylistic means expressing mockery or slyness. An allegory in which, in the context of speech, the statement acquires the opposite meaning; 2) irony is a kind of comic (attire with humor and satire), an ideological and emotional assessment, the prototype of which is stylistic irony . The first dictionary interpretation describes a stylistic device referred to in other sources as antiphrasis, antonomasia. Such an interpretation has a tradition, at the origins of which are the theoretical arguments of ancient authors about "imaginary praise" and "imaginary humiliation", about "deception of simple-minded fools. It must be said that the extensive practice of the ironic in literature is not reduced to a case of simple "speaking inside out".

Examples of pure antiphrasis are rather rare in it. Antiphrasis has long been a means of verbal comedy, trivial jokes such as "It is unlikely that anyone will be flattered by such a beauty", "A piece the size of a cow's toe", "Your trotter can barely move its legs." The second dictionary interpretation in LES characterizes irony as a kind of comic. It cannot be called exhaustive, but it is good because it tries to combine antiphrasis with later varieties of the ironic. The way to a unified definition of the essence of various phenomena associated with irony is not such a distant prospect of modern aesthetics. In this manual, we will adhere to the idea of the essential relationship of these phenomena.

2.1 Irony as a stylistic device in the work of Jasper Forde

In stylistics, irony is a trope in which the true meaning is hidden or contradicts (opposed) to the explicit meaning. Irony creates the feeling that the subject matter is not what it seems. In other words, this is a clearly feigned image of a negative phenomenon in a positive way, so that by bringing to the point of absurdity the very possibility of a positive assessment to ridicule and discredit this phenomenon, to draw attention to its shortcoming, which in the ironic image is replaced by a corresponding dignity.

Depicting a negative phenomenon in a positive way, irony thus contrasts what should be with what is, ridicules the given from the point of view of what should be. In this function, irony is its resemblance to humor, which, like I., also reveals the shortcomings of various phenomena, comparing two planes - given and due. Like irony and in humor, the basis, the signal for comparing two plans - given and due - is the frankly, emphatically demonstrated pretense of the speaker, as if warning that his words cannot be taken seriously. However, if irony pretends to portray the due as given, then humor, on the contrary, pretends to portray the given as due. Both in irony and in humor, two attitudes of the author to the depicted are given: one is feigned, the other is genuine, and in irony and humor, intonation is opposed to the literal meaning of the statement, but in irony, intonation carries a genuine discrediting attitude, in humor - a feigned respectful attitude. relation. Distinguishable theoretically, irony and humor often merge into each other and become indistinguishably intertwined in artistic practice, which is facilitated not only by the presence of common elements, commonality of functions, but also by the general intellectualistic nature of these two methods of artistic discrediting: playing with semantic contrasts, opposing logically opposite concepts require clarity of thought in the process of its creation and appeal to it in the process of reader's perception.

Leading to the discrediting of the phenomenon, i.e., expressing the act of evaluation, humor only prompts this evaluation with the help of a grouping of facts, makes the facts speak for themselves, while irony expresses an evaluation, conveys the attitude of the speaker in intonation.

Since irony considers phenomena from the point of view of what is due, and the idea of what is due is not a constant value, but grows out of social conditions, expresses class consciousness, a number of words and expressions can lose or acquire an ironic meaning when moving to a different social environment, to a different ideological context.

Irony not only emphasizes shortcomings, that is, it serves the purpose of discrediting, but also has the ability to ridicule, expose unfounded claims, giving ironic meaning to these claims themselves, as if forcing the ridiculed phenomenon to be ironic over itself.

It is natural, therefore, that from ancient times to the present day, irony has predominantly performed a polemical function, serving as one of the favorite means in the struggle on the ideological front.

As a rule, the original author's literature, replete with puns, idiomatic expressions, fresh metaphors, is incredibly difficult to translate. Not always translators, even the most experienced, manage to convey the original style of the writer. Perhaps, Jasper Fforde is one of the hard-to-translate masters of the word. First, it owes its origin to this. Everyone knows a special English humor based on paraphrasing, puns, sharp irony and word play. Secondly, the writer had a big task to clothe several literary realities into a single whole and weave them organically into the real world. The most striking stylistic detail of the Thursday Next series is undoubtedly the speaking names.

So surnames speak of suitable or inappropriate properties of potential life partners. Or:

The name is Schitt," he replied. "Jack Schitt .

There is a bad character of the anti-hero.

The main character of the literary cycle is a veteran of the Crimean War, 36-year-old Thursday Nonetot very often uses ironic puns in her statements, often in dialogues with other characters. Thus, the author lifts the veil over her personality, which is hardened by years of service in the army and prefers directness and skeptical puns.

1. `True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good--and we all know how rare that is...

2. `- Did he…ah… come back?

`- Most of him. He left a leg behind.

3. `If you expect me to believe that a lawyer wrote A Midsummer Nights Dream, I must be dafter than I look.

4. `Ordinary adults dont like children to speak of things that are denied them by their own gray minds.

5. `Cash is always the decision factor in such matters of moral politics; nothing ever gets done unless motivated by commerce or greed .

6 ` The industrial age had only just begun; the planet had reached its Best Before date .

8.`The youthful stationmaster wore a Blue Spot on his uniform and remonstrated with the driver that the train was a minute late, and that he would have to file a report. The driver retorted that since there could be no material differene between a train that arrived at a station and a station that arrived at a train, it was equally the staionmasters fault. The stationmaster replied that he could not be blamed, because he had no control over the speed of the station; to which the engine driver replied that the stationmaster could control its placement, and that if it were only a thousand yards closer to Vermillion, the problem would be solved.

To this the stationmaster replied that if the driver didnt accept the lateness as his fault, he would move the station a thousand yards farther from Vermillion and make him not just late, but demeritably overdue? .

9. `Dont move, said Sprockett.Mimes dont generally attack unless they are threatened .

English humor often brings things to the point of absurdity, bordering on insanity:

1. `To espresso or to latte, that is the question...whether tis tastier on the palate to choose white mocha over plain...or to take a cup to go. Or a mug to stay, or extra cream, or have nothing, and by opposing the endless choice, end ones heartache... .

2. Mr. Pewter led them through to a library, filled with thousands of

antiquarian books.

`Impressive, eh?

Very, said Jack. How did you amass all these?

Well, said Pewter, You know the person who always borrows books and never gives them back?

Im that person`.

3.Ill-fitting grammar are like ill-fitting shoes. You can get used to it for a bit, but then one day your toes fall off and you cant walk to the bathroom .

4. `Have you ever wondered how nostalgia isn't what it used to be?.

Thus, it is clearly seen that the stylistic devices described above are the best way to help the author create images of the heroes of the story and reflect their bright personal qualities, which is important for understanding the true nature of their nature.

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