The role of verbal irony in conflict talk among relatives and friends in an Argentinian community
This article shows the role of verbal irony in conflict talk among relatives and friends. Excerpts from ten naturally occurring
multiparty conversations among relatives and friends were analyzed. The analysis shows that the introduction of verbal irony in
the conversation by one of the participants can: (1) end the conflict between two other participants by switching the topic of the
interaction; (2) extend the conflict; (3) fail to alter the trajectory of the conflict sequence because one of the participants
does not acknowledge the irony; (4) defuse a dispute about an unpleasant topic for one or two of the participants; or (5) initiate
a dispute among relatives and/or friends whose relationship is not a friendly one. The analysis in this article is qualitative
rather than quantitative; the tendencies presented are not based on frequency.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Methodology
- 2.1Data
- 2.2Subjects
- 2.3Identification of ironic instances
- 3.Analysis
- 3.1Verbal irony ends the conflict
- 3.2Verbal irony extends the conflict
- 3.3Irony fails to alter the conflict
- 3.4Verbal irony defuses the conflict
- 3.5Verbal irony initiates the conflict
- 4.Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
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