The ironist's intentions

What is it about?

This paper shows that ironic speakers have multiple parallel intentions when producing an ironic utterance. Thus, each ironic utterance conveys a number of different meanings (sometimes even contrasting - e.g. both positive and negative evaluations). So instead of analysing irony as saying one thing and meaning another (typically the opposite), this paper establishes that research into the phenomenon should look at it as a case of saying one thing and meaning a whole bunch of other things all at once. For example, saying "you sure messed this one up!" to a student who just received an excellent mark for an assignment they kept worrying about/proclaiming they messed up, can mean all at once: (1) You did really well (2) Well done / I am pleased, (3) You had no reason to worry/whine, (4) You whine too much. The paper provides an overview of all the possible combinations of (positive and negative) intentions and meanings depending on the strategy used by the ironic speaker.

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Why is it important?

This paper provides a more complex view of how irony works in context than the one commonly adopted. It also contributes to the general philosophical discussion about speakers intentions and the ways these are expressed both directly and indirectly.