A relevance-theoretic approach to verbal irony: A case study of ironic utterances in Pride and Prejudice

The present study is devoted to elaborating a relevance-theoretic framework for verbal irony, especially the ironic utterances in literary texts. The identification of irony can be speeded up with the multiple activation of contextual sources, and may be easier or more difficult, depending on the number (and quality) of incompatibilities detected by the addressee in the multiple mental activation of the available contextual sources (Yus, 2000a). The activation of a particular context is determined by the search for optimal relevance. The more contextual assumptions are activated, the more effort is required. Therefore, the addressee is entitled to expect some increased reward in exchange. On the basis of the framework, I have conducted a case study of verbal irony in Pride and Prejudice in an effort to show the effectiveness of the framework in discourse analysis and to provide a new perspective on the unique charm of Austen's art of irony, making a significant attempt to the combination of cognitive pragmatics and literary criticism.