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Part of
Pragmatics and Literature
Edited by Siobhan Chapman and Billy Clark
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 35] 2019
► pp. 45–71

Chapter 3
A Levinsonian account of irony in Jonathan Coe’s The Rotters’ Club

Article outline
  • 3.1Introduction
  • 3.2Accounts of irony
    • 3.2.1The Gricean approach
    • 3.2.2Relevance theory and irony
  • 3.3Irony and the use of Levinson’s principles
  • 3.4Application of Levinsonian analysis to ironies from TRC
    • 3.4.1Example 1: “Such dazzling repartee”
      • 3.4.1.1Inferential steps
    • 3.4.2Example 2: “showing a lack of judgement and an absence of patriotic decency that can scarcely be credited”
      • 3.4.2.1Inferential steps
    • 3.4.3Example 3: “With these and other such pleasantries”
      • 3.4.3.1Inferential steps
    • 3.4.4Example 4: “a drink which differed hardly at all”
      • 3.4.4.1Inferential steps
    • 3.4.5Example 5: “I can safely say that those two won’t be seeing each other again”
      • 3.4.5.1Inferential steps
    • 3.4.6Example 6: “The fervour of my gratitude is well-nigh inexpressible”
      • 3.4.6.1Inferential steps
  • 3.5Summary
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 December 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.35.03pat
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Statham, Simon
2020. The year’s work in stylistics 2019. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 29:4 ► pp. 454 ff. DOI logo

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