Petit éloge de l'ironie. Actes du colloque international Journées de la Francophonie XXIVe édition, Iași, 29-30 mars 2019
A little eulogy of irony. Proceedings of the international symposium Journées de la Francophonie XXIVth edition, Iași, 29-30 March 2019
Contributor(s): Felicia Dumas (Editor)
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Economy, Media studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Communication studies, French Literature, Theory of Communication, Marketing / Advertising, Stylistics
Published by: Editura Junimea
Keywords: irony; Francophonie; Ludus; Rachid Mimouni; Milan Kundera; Irony of fate, irony of the body; Philip Kaufman;
Summary/Abstract: This volume represents a collection of texts presented in the form of scientific interventions during the annual French-speaking colloquium organized for the XXIVth consecutive time by our French Department of the Faculty of Letters of the University "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" of Iași. In 2019, the general theme of this international event was that of irony. Laughter, questioning of seriousness, withdrawal from the gravity and implacability of fate, humor and other literary and linguistic forms of irony are therefore the main subjects of our book.
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-973-37-2315-8
- Page Count: 474
- Publication Year: 2019
- Language: French
Petit éloge de l’ironie
Petit éloge de l’ironie
(Little praise of irony)
- Author(s):Simona Modreanu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Cultural Essay
- Page Range:10-11
- No. of Pages:2
L’ironie suppose un moral d’acier
L’ironie suppose un moral d’acier
(The irony supposes a morale of steel)
- Author(s):Jaques de Decker
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Philosophy, Philosophical Traditions, Existentialism
- Page Range:15-20
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:iron-irony; distance; intelligence; culture; humanism;
- Summary/Abstract:Irony prevents tears, bursts of anger, bursts of laughter. It implies cold blood, a capacity for retreat, an affective solidity, a "morale of steel". Irony, in other words, demands resistance - word that rhymes with distance. Resistance to immediate perception, and automatic reflex, which presupposes a passage, a detour, a deferment as well. This slowdown, this pause between the trigger agent and its consequence, which implies a passage through a mysterious area that is inhabited only by subjectivity, is what sets it apart from what one persists in calling intelligence.
Ludus et ironie dans Le Livre des Cent Ballades
Ludus et ironie dans Le Livre des Cent Ballades
(Ludus and irony in The Book of One Hundred Ballads)
- Author(s):Maria Helena Marques Antunes
- Language:French
- Subject(s):History, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Middle Ages, 13th to 14th Centuries
- Page Range:21-32
- No. of Pages:122
- Keywords:Livre des Cent Ballades; competition; courtly ideal; debate; irony; poetic ludus;
- Summary/Abstract:The Livre des Cent Ballades, a poem dating from the end of the 14th century, is a collective text elaborated by four knight-poets - Jean le Sénéchal, Boucicaut, Philippe d'Artois and Jean de Crésecque - even if one admits that Sénéchal was the main author. The playful nature of the Livre des Cent Ballades, and especially the answers given to the question asked, is conducive to irony. Indeed, several poems reveal that the exercise was considered a pleasant literary entertainment. The structure of the poems is also ironic. Enjambements, highlighting a word or an expression, allow to introduce a disruptive note. Similarly, the introduction of a refrain that contradicts the assertion of submission to the lady is part of this ironic movement, reflecting the rejection of a courtly ideal deemed out of date. The thirteen answers are representative of the competitive and social nature of court poetry. Thus, the poets who took part in this challenge had to be ingenious. In this sense, irony, which requires the mastery of rhetorical codes and relies on subtlety, is characteristic of the poetic ludus.
Parlez-vous « l’inclusif »? La nouvelle terreur dans les lettres : le politiquement correct
Parlez-vous « l’inclusif »? La nouvelle terreur dans les lettres : le politiquement correct
(Do you speak “inclusive”? The new terror in letters: political correctness)
- Author(s):Simona Modreanu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Communication studies, Lexis
- Page Range:33-43
- No. of Pages:11
- Keywords:sensitivity readers; politically correctness; "inclusive"; censorship; freedom; irony;
- Summary/Abstract:Politically correctness is ever more visible as a censorship form, invading a space which is usually that of a free thinking and expression: the literary fiction. Especially in the Anglo-Saxon world, the question of the cultural appropriation leaves little space for the subversive spirit of literature, which has always been one of its main characteristics. This dangerous chain of thought is trying to take over the publishers' strategy and to manipulate the authors' freedom through all sorts of committees hired to help eliminate stereotypes, bias, potentially harmful content, and false information or inaccuracy from the literary manuscripts.
L'ironie (presque) involontaire des « élites » intellectuelles légionnaires : entre soumission politique totale et mobilisation infinie d’étudiants absentéistes
L'ironie (presque) involontaire des « élites » intellectuelles légionnaires : entre soumission politique totale et mobilisation infinie d’étudiants absentéistes
(The (almost) involuntary irony of the legionary intellectual “elites”: between total political submission and infinite mobilization of absentee students)
- Author(s):Traian Sandu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):History, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, History of ideas, Special Historiographies:, Fascism, Nazism and WW II
- Page Range:44-57
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:fascism; Romania; intellectuals; irony; Cioran, Eliade;
- Summary/Abstract:The subject of irony among legionaries may seem rather decontextualized, as the exclusive political faith, the total commitment, and the murderous consequences of the fascist ideology of the legionaries predispose their intelectuals to serious martial attitudes and rectilinear assertions rather than light approaches and multiple senses supposed by irony. Nevertheless, the situation of fascist intellectuals is ironic in itself, as they have to reconcile rational analyses and partisan obedience, which leads them to sacrifice their critical role and their intellectual superiority in front of mediocre fascist leaders. Fascist intellectuals as Mircea Eliade sometimes try to use ironical detachment in order to obtain some free space for critical mind, with no success; some of them do not try at all, as Emil Cioran, with huge spiritual collapse after the 1945 defeat and enormous success of their omni-ironic Weltanschauung afterwards.
Rachid Mimouni ou l’ironie qui met à nu tout un système politique
Rachid Mimouni ou l’ironie qui met à nu tout un système politique
(Rachid Mimouni or the irony that exposes an entire political system)
- Author(s):Elena-Brândușa Steiciuc
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, History, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Government/Political systems
- Page Range:58-62
- No. of Pages:5
- Keywords:Irony; Algeria; Rachid Mimouni; independence war; dictatorship; political system;
- Summary/Abstract:Rachid Mimouni, one of Algeria’s most prominent writers during the last decades of the XX thcentury, had a very ironical view of the political system on his country, during the years after the Independence war against France. Like Rachid Boudredra or Nabil Farès, during the same epoch, he criticized the corruption of the ruling class and the rising Islamism. This is why the article attempts to show the ironical side of two of his best-known novels (Le Fleuvedétourné, 1982 and L’Honneur de la tribu, 1989) in which dictatorship is pointed at, both of these writings being parables which mock, in an allegoric way, the political rulers.
Un Candide aux prises avec la 2nde Guerre mondiale. Ironie et réécriture dans La 25e Heure de Virgil Gheorghiu
Un Candide aux prises avec la 2nde Guerre mondiale. Ironie et réécriture dans La 25e Heure de Virgil Gheorghiu
(A Candide struggling with the Second World War. Irony and rewriting in The 25th Hour by Virgil Gheorghiu)
- Author(s):Olivier Ammour-Mayeur
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Romanian Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:63-74
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:Heterogenous Ironies; Voltaire; Gheorghiu; World War II; Shoah; The 25th Hour;
- Summary/Abstract:The structural core of Gheorghiu’s The 25th Hour narrative is deeply imbued with Voltairian irony. Taking up the narrative framework of Candide’s philosophical tale, Gheorghiu nevertheless profoundly modifies the symbolic significance of the ironic tone that feeds his story, as his main character finds himself caught up in the madness of the concentration camps of the Second World War. Through the analysis of similarities but more importantly differences regarding the understanding of the ironic style that feeds the texts of the two writers, this article aims to highlight the constitutive aporia of the notion of irony, while trying to identify some key points that could clarify the meaning of what this rhetorical principle implies as far as literature is concerned.
L’écriture de l’ironie et la crise des valeurs dans L’insoutenable légèreté de l’être de Milan Kundera
L’écriture de l’ironie et la crise des valeurs dans L’insoutenable légèreté de l’être de Milan Kundera
(The writing of irony and the crisis of values in The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera)
- Author(s):Atmane Bissani
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:75-83
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Value crisis' irony; modern times; postmodernity; kitsch; Milan Kundera;
- Summary/Abstract:In the present contribution, we aim at dealing with the value crisis as an immediate consequence of the crisis of modernity in the industrialised countries, starting from the part that irony plays as a critical and satirical stylistic device in relation to the Modern Times man and world. Our point of departure in this approach is the novel L’insoutenable légèreté de l’être (1989) by Milan Kundera, a text particularly emblematic of what the Modern Times man is, as well as of what one’s swift turnaround towards the kitsch in the age of technology is.
Héphaïstos l’africain
Héphaïstos l’africain
(Hephaestus the African)
- Author(s):Bessem Aloui
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Sociology, Studies in violence and power, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:84-93
- No. of Pages:10
- Keywords:Africain literature; Violence; Laugh; Irony; Tragic; Labou Tansi;
- Summary/Abstract:For Labou Tansi, literature is a process that takes form necessarily through laughter. Unlike the Nietzschean laughter which proposes the annihilation of all things, it is a creative laughter that calls into being the experience of reconstruction. Laughter does not only draw on the comic, but it digs into the tragic and weaves affinities with the demonic in a complicity that desacralizes the universe and establishes a joyful story of horror announcing an apocalyptic vision which haunts the fictional universe of this Congolese writer. We laugh because the violence associated with this laughter exceeds our consent. Laughing, for Labou Tansi, is a duty of / against violence. By its brilliance, it rejects the norms, meets the forbidden and wants to be excess and delirium. It is colorful, ambivalent and acts on a reader who, in front of this show of opposites, is always torn between crying and laughing.
Ironie du sort, ironie du corps chez Milan Kundera et Philip Kaufman
Ironie du sort, ironie du corps chez Milan Kundera et Philip Kaufman
(Irony of fate, irony of the body in Milan Kundera and Philip Kaufman)
- Author(s):Diana Gradu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Film / Cinema / Cinematography
- Page Range:94-100
- No. of Pages:7
- Keywords:irony; novel; Kundera; body; film; Kaufman;
- Summary/Abstract:It is rather rare that a film adaptation of a book is faithful, successful and rewarding. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the novel published by Milan Kundera in 1985 and transcribed cinematographically by Philip Kaufman in 1988, is an exception. The script benefits from Jean Claude Carrière's talented pen and Kundera's characters from the incarnation of Juliette Binoche (Tereza), Daniel Day Lewis (Tomas) and Lena Olin (Sabina). The rest is just a ceaseless play of lights, images, frames and replicas that value a very well written book, unanimously appreciated by the critics and the public. I will try to surprise in both versions - novel and cinematic - the differences and similarities that make them so special. The key, the irony, like a magic lantern that turns seriousness into derision and trifles into a tragic accident.
L’ironie, une complication mentale. À partir de L’insoutenable légèreté de l’être de Milan Kundera
L’ironie, une complication mentale. À partir de L’insoutenable légèreté de l’être de Milan Kundera
(Irony, a mental complication. From The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera)
- Author(s):Vasile Popovici
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Czech Literature, Stylistics
- Page Range:101-109
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Irony; Kundera; Literature; word; reality; ambiguity;
- Summary/Abstract:What is the irony, this sudden burst of a double consciousness within the speech? In all its forms, irony is a playful mismatch: between the word and the real, between the word of earlier and its incongruous sequel, between the apparent and the hidden… And every time irony is a matter of the mind.
Mort de rire : Roland dans sa Chanson
Mort de rire : Roland dans sa Chanson
(Laughing: Roland in his song)
- Author(s):Brînduşa Grigoriu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):History, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Middle Ages, French Literature, 6th to 12th Centuries, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:110-121
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:Roland; medieval hero; tragic irony; narrative instances; relativism; rhetorical success;
- Summary/Abstract:When a sacrificial hero ascends to Heaven in the company of archangels, and yet finds the resources to laugh away the death-sentence launched by his arch-enemy, it is an epic kind of irony, involving divergent instances of narrative encoding. The Song of Roland, in the celebrated version preserved by the Oxford manuscript, proposes a polemic code of wittiness transcending the contemporary paradigms of rhetorical success. Throughout the story, a pacifist kind of relativism irradiates the lances of courtesy and banter, while the spirit of “legerie” (lightness) instills in the protagonists an overwhelming sense of the vanity of human glory and divine imperatives.
Ironie ou sérieux du rire chez Michel Tournier dans Le Roi des Aulnes
Ironie ou sérieux du rire chez Michel Tournier dans Le Roi des Aulnes
(Irony or seriousness of laughter with Michel Tournier in Le Roi des Aulnes)
- Author(s):Evagrina Dîrțu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:122-131
- No. of Pages:10
- Keywords:Michel Tournier; Le Roi des Aulnes; ‘white’ humour; irony; seriousness; World War II;
- Summary/Abstract:“The more I’m laughing, the less I’m joking”, this is how Michel Tournier described the nature and the presence – an obvious one, he hoped – of humour in his whole work. What he aimed at, according to his own words, was a form of humour whose aggravating (as opposed to soothing) purpose was synonymous of a perturbation of all senses, a possibility therefore to reverse what is preestablished and what is anticipated at the same time. Our objective for the present paper is to see if (and how) “white” humour, the “serious” humour that Tournier defines, meets the meanings and the definitions of irony; we also aim at comparing Tournier’s perspective on humour and irony to other authors’ perspectives; and finally, we aim at analysing how this theoretical insight is reflected in his fiction, i.e. in one of his most famous novels, Le Roi des Aulnes.
L’expérience-limite du rire chez Georges Bataille
L’expérience-limite du rire chez Georges Bataille
(The limit-experience of laughter with Georges Bataille)
- Author(s):Wafa Ghorbel
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature
- Page Range:132-149
- No. of Pages:18
- Keywords:laughter; black irony; limit-experience; unknown; death; eroticism;
- Summary/Abstract:Laughter is a real "limit-experience", in Georges Bataille's work: it is a practice of the body coupled with a movement of thought that continues in and extends to the language itself. It is a tragic, black laughter, as opposed to Bergson's blank, innocuous laughter, of a paroxysmal moment of protest introducing the bursting into the text and into the characters. While shaking their bodies with uncontrolled jolts, he testifies to the stirring up of the commonplaces of their thoughts. Unmeasured and uncontrollable, major, sovereign, he releases the energies. Pure expenditure, like tears, it arises during transgressive moments of excesses, ecstatic and thanatic, dissolves the limits of being, ensures communication with the Other by opening on the unknown, the impossible, the non-knowing.
Auto-ironie, ironie en clin d’oeil et ironie du sort dans le roman de Margareta Miller-Verghy, Une âme s’ouvre à la vie. Blandine
Auto-ironie, ironie en clin d’oeil et ironie du sort dans le roman de Margareta Miller-Verghy, Une âme s’ouvre à la vie. Blandine
(Self-irony, irony in the blink of an eye and irony of fate in Margareta Miller-Verghy's novel, A Soul Opens to Life. Blandine)
- Author(s):Mihaela Bacali
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Romanian Literature
- Page Range:150-164
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:ironic communication; self-diegetic narrative; narrative perspective; discursive strategy; subjectivity; feminine irony;
- Summary/Abstract:What is irony? Can we give it a set definition, if its faces are so diverse and multiple? What can be stated is that literary irony involves a discursive strategy and narrative techniques such as focusing and free indirect discourse, which allow a change of perspective in the narrative. Our approach is to explore the modalities and elements necessary to talk about irony in the novel A Soul Opens to Life. Blandine. The different types of irony that we have identified are: self-irony, winked irony and irony of fate; they intertwine in many fragments and form the clues to textual polyphony. A rhetorical strategy is used to promote ironic communication and the narrative system is adapted to this kind of discourse. Thus the irony of fate appears as an attempt of self-evaluation, but also marks the reader's active position in the process of critical reflection.
L’ironie littéraire et artistique
L’ironie littéraire et artistique
(Literary and artistic irony)
- Author(s):Maria Tronea
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Studies of Literature, French Literature
- Page Range:165-185
- No. of Pages:21
- Keywords:irony; humour; satire, sarcasm; literature; painters;
- Summary/Abstract:The paper explores the evolution of irony in literature and its relationship to humour, the comical, parody, satire and sarcasm. In the latter part of the paper I expand my area of investigation to the fine arts and seek a common denominator of irony and satire in the works of such painters as Jérôme Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the old, Goya and others.
Jacques le Fataliste et son aventure littéraire
Jacques le Fataliste et son aventure littéraire
(Jacques le Fataliste and his literary adventure)
- Author(s):Cristina Poede
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Romanian Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:186-202
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:irony; digression; clichés; metadiscourse; Diderot’s strategies; I.L. Caragiale;
- Summary/Abstract:Jacques le Fataliste by Diderot represents an original reply to Laurence Sterne's novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy. The author resorts to a multiplicity of points of view, to the narrative solution of the interior stories and of the puzzle, while illustrating his remarks on the abstract game of destiny and free will. Throughout his (anti) novel, Diderot implements new strategies of irony destined to the reader (mechanisms of destabilization and misguidance, narrative leaps, exasperating digressions), to the conventions of the genre (revelation and disqualification of sentimental novel clichés) and to social conventions (criticism of bigotry and fatalism). An ironic pact of reading is thus established; these ingenious procedures of rewriting will seduce the Moderns, from Unamuno to Kundera. In Romanian literature, I.L. Caragiale practiced dialogical writing and the game of narrative virtualities. In the end, the reader has to rethink the literary space and to establish surprising intra-narrative complicities. The legacy of Diderot will include this biting irony of the author who, while attacking literary clichés, cultivates parody, counter-fiction and metadiscourse.
Visages de l’ironie dans Les Chaises d’Eugène Ionesco
Visages de l’ironie dans Les Chaises d’Eugène Ionesco
(Faces of irony in The Chairs of Eugène Ionesco)
- Author(s):Maria-Luisa Ţuculeanu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Romanian Literature
- Page Range:203-208
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:contradiction; irony; object; chair; society; interpretation;
- Summary/Abstract:The concept of irony is the subject of the pages that follow. This very term is often used to suggest the contradiction between what is said and what is done, so that the distance regarding the exterior reality can be easily identified in various contexts. Having this in view, Eugène Ionesco’s work highlights the identitarian dualism through the motif of the double, such as « black » and « white », « colour » and « noncolour », keywords for his drawings and lithographies on the whole. Besides, contradictions also refer to the relation between art and society, which may be defined in terms of a denial. With reference to this aspect, the artistic work is an object, a common one, refusing the existence of some social constraints. What’s more, the language has to do with the irony, consisting of repetitions, interruptions etc. However, our final concern is with visual arts as against theatre - two domains of activity which have significant elements in common - by analyzing the play The Chairs, as well as the lithography with the same title, from the perspective of the irony.
Attitudes poétiques et ironie dans Les Poésies premières de Philippe Beck
Attitudes poétiques et ironie dans Les Poésies premières de Philippe Beck
(Poetic attitudes and irony in The First Poems of Philippe Beck)
- Author(s):Fabiana Florescu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:209-223
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:Philippe Beck; poetry; experience; irony; defaçonnement; poetical experience;
- Summary/Abstract:In this paper I aim to analyse the way that irony represents a deconstructing and a reformulating mechanism of the poetical experience in the Poésies Premières by Philippe Beck, changing the relations between the poetical exercise and the contemporary, the world and the reader.
Nathalie Sarraute et l’ironie du Silence
Nathalie Sarraute et l’ironie du Silence
(Nathalie Sarraute and the irony of Silence)
- Author(s):Elena Simina Bădărău
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature
- Page Range:224-230
- No. of Pages:7
- Keywords:silence; anxiety; contradiction; irony; dramatic effect; Nathalie Sarraute;
- Summary/Abstract:Especially known as a novelist, Nathalie Sarraute is also interested in theatre, although she doesn't actually follow its traditional rules. Accordingly, there are no real characters in her writings, no discourse or linguistic identity. On the other hand, one can notice significant efforts to keep up with the reality, which is ironic, even dramatic. Moreover, the sole character who seems to have a name, Jean-Pierre, simply intensifies the endless void closing in upon characters, for he obstinately remains silent. In a word, this very silence ends up by losing its neutral, calm nature, making thus room for anxiety. Ironically, at the end of the play, the individual conscience, as well as the collective conscience, is about to collapse.
Ridicule et parodie dans Bruges-la-Morte
Ridicule et parodie dans Bruges-la-Morte
(Ridiculous and parody in Bruges-la-Morte)
- Author(s):Ștefana Gabriela Sîrbu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:231-236
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:irony; decadent movement; romanticism; modernism; Rodenbach; Bruges-La-Morte;
- Summary/Abstract:This article sets out to succinctly propose a different approach to the way Bruges-la-Morte can be read. Starting with a few words describing the author’s childhood and young adulthood, we underline some of the most important aspects that have shaped Rodenbach’s literary taste. Traditionally considered a tragic story, our proposition for the way this text can be read is that of a text written ironically. This idea comes from the fact that the decadent movement starts out as a response to romanticism and by turning against it and negating its core values, ends up turning the decadent texts into a sort of parody (which is in itself a modern aspect).
L’Ironie du sort dans L’archipel d’une autre vie d’Andreï Makine
L’Ironie du sort dans L’archipel d’une autre vie d’Andreï Makine
(The Irony of Fate in The Archipelago of Another Life by Andreï Makine)
- Author(s):Ana-Maria Roșca
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:237-242
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:fate; Slavic soul; identity; irony of fate; androgyny; Andrei Makine;
- Summary/Abstract:Two cultures hold the reigns in Andrei Makine’s novels – the Russian matrix and the French catalyst. His characters represent Slavic souls which adopt the French mentality. However, L’Archipel d’une autre vie encompasses the almost imperceptible difference between ideologies considering the manner in which those two people refer themselves to the notion of “fate” and, implicitly, to that of “irony of fate”; it is the Russian phrasing of this concept that unravels the mythical aspect in this universe. In Makine’s writings, this “irony of fate” brings wisdom. Pavel Gartsev rejects the life he had planned upon, a life with fears and beliefs, all the while the woman whom could’ve run away plenty of times proofs her never-ending loyalty and waits 10 days for the man she loves. In the end, these two humans don’t exist anymore. Far away from the world, in the archipelago of Shantar Islands, the animus manages to meet again his anima.
La dimension holistique de l’ironie chez Maupassant
La dimension holistique de l’ironie chez Maupassant
(The holistic dimension of irony in Maupassant)
- Author(s):Jean-Yves Michel
- Language:French
- Subject(s):History, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Social history, Middle Ages, French Literature, 19th Century
- Page Range:243-253
- No. of Pages:11
- Keywords:irony; Bel Ami; XIXth century; Maupassant; society of XIXth century; philosophy;
- Summary/Abstract:In the literary field, the nineteenth century seems to be the ironic century by excellence. Maupassant's work uses irony as a societal and intimate point of view, as much as a technique. It acquires an holistic dimension and is transformed into philosophy. The novel Bel Ami synthesizes his ironic vision.
Humour, ironie et auto-ironie chez Marie Desplechin, auteure de littérature de jeunesse
Humour, ironie et auto-ironie chez Marie Desplechin, auteure de littérature de jeunesse
(Humor, irony and self-irony in Marie Desplechin, author of children's literature)
- Author(s):Roxana Matei
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature
- Page Range:254-261
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:comic; humour; irony; satire; young readers; taboo topics;
- Summary/Abstract:The comic has been an integral part of youth literature since the 19th century, when Hetzel and Hachette began to publish books with the purpose of teaching through entertaining. It is difficult to give precise definitions to the comic, the comic being confused with humor. Nowadays, the comic is perceived by children from the earliest years of life, the authors taking into account the power of understanding of each age. The stories for the little ones are full of simple word games, provoking a colorful, naive, spontaneous laugh. The approach of young children is self-centered, they laugh and have fun, getting into the skin of the characters. The comic relaxes and surprises them, but it does not make them want to dig deeper or wonder why it suddenly intervenes in the story. As for the teenage readers, their relationships to the various facets of comics change. For them, the comic has no longer the role of just laughing. It can also boast of its power of dramatization and contest.
Métamorphoses de l’ironie féerique dans la pièce de théâtre Cendrillon de Joël Pommerat
Métamorphoses de l’ironie féerique dans la pièce de théâtre Cendrillon de Joël Pommerat
(Metamorphoses of magical irony in the play Cendrillon by Joël Pommerat)
- Author(s):Simona Locic
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Romanian Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:262-276
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:intertextuality; contemporary French literature; rewriting; Cinderella; theatre; fairy tale;
- Summary/Abstract:During the XXIth century, many writers show an important interest in rewriting the fairy tales. One of them is Joël Pommerat, a French contemporary stage director and playwright who, in 2011, reinvents on stage the very famous fairy tale of Cinderella. The paper below analyses the irony’s metamorphoses, important aspect of the traditional fairy tale’s scheme. Our main inspiration source is the study of Muguraș Constantinescu. She analyses the irony in Charles Perrault fairy tales and describes it as a “playfulness” writing way. Our purpose is to show how and why the irony identified by Muguraș Constantinescu transforms in the contemporary play of Joël Pommerat, Cendrillon. This new irony pick on the contemporary individual and contemporary reality but also the text’s lector.
L’avant-garde dans l’espace européen et roumain - Le roman Henrika d’Ilarie Voronca - un art ironique?
L’avant-garde dans l’espace européen et roumain - Le roman Henrika d’Ilarie Voronca - un art ironique?
(The avant-garde in the European and Romanian space - The novel Henrika by Ilarie Voronca - an ironic art?)
- Author(s):Cipriana-Manuela Frățilă-Nichita
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Romanian Literature, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:277-286
- No. of Pages:10
- Keywords:avant-garde; phenomenon; European literature; novelty; irony; playful dimension;
- Summary/Abstract:What we call today « the historic avant – garde » is a phenomenon which is internationally spread within the space of arts and European literature, in the first half of the XXth century, it is a state of mind relatively unitary (Pop Ion, 2006 : 9). Contrary to other literary movements of the XXth century in Romania, the information regarding our own artistic avant – garde are found on the same line as the European one. On one hand, certain themes were similar to those belonging to this part of the world, but, on the other hand, the writings had a different level of novelty and of liberation which, put together, express the fusion between word – meaning. Thus, we find at the writers belonging to the avant – garde different and precise subjects as the fantasy, the creative imagination, introspections, time obsession, the subconscious or the pursuit of perfect love. The irony is present under different forms.
La dérision, l’humour et l’ironie comme moyens de résistance pendant la Guerre de Cent Ans
La dérision, l’humour et l’ironie comme moyens de résistance pendant la Guerre de Cent Ans
(Derision, humor and irony as means of resistance during the Hundred Years War)
- Author(s):Robert Massart
- Language:French
- Subject(s):History, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Middle Ages, 13th to 14th Centuries
- Page Range:429-436
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:derision; mockery; irony; resistance middle; new poetic style; the One Hundred Years War;
- Summary/Abstract:Derision or mockery was always a good resistance middle for the less powerful people, the poor people, during bad periods. We have choosen as an example the new poetic style – fatras or fatrasies – that appeared during the more than one hundred years war between England and France.
Ironie, injonction et système de politesse
Ironie, injonction et système de politesse
(Irony, injunction and system of politeness)
- Author(s):Carmen-Stefania STOEAN, Carmen-Ștefania Stoean
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics
- Page Range:289-313
- No. of Pages:25
- Keywords:conversational implicature; conversational maxims; inference; injunctive statement; irony; injunction;
- Summary/Abstract:The purpose of my contribution is to describe the functioning of injunctive statements that express an ironic value. My approach consists in a brief presentation of the theoretical basis, followed by the description of certain pragmatic characteristics of irony and a description of this phenomenon’s mechanisms. I will close with the analysis of an ironic injunctive statement, using the data of the pragmatic approach. This analysis will emphasize the particular characteristics of the way the ironic injunctive statement is functioning.
L’ironie - un autrement dit pour en dire des vertes et des pas mûres »
L’ironie - un autrement dit pour en dire des vertes et des pas mûres »
(The irony - in other words to say green and not ripe”)
- Author(s):Sonia Berbinski
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Semantics
- Page Range:314-328
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:irony; strategies; antonymy; discourse; mechanism; linguistic factors;
- Summary/Abstract:Our article intends to observe the phenomenon of irony at the semantic discursive and rhetorical-argumentative level. We will insist on certain actualisation strategies, particularly discursive antonymy and defrosting. Irony is at the same time bearer of contradictions and trigger of semantic-lexical and discursive antonymy. Irony helps with the re-organisation of language and speech using both linguistic and extra-linguistic (semantic-pragmatic and discursive-argumentative) factors.
Quand les philosophes rient de la religion
Quand les philosophes rient de la religion
(When philosophers laugh at religion)
- Author(s):Anne Staquet
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Philosophy, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Theology and Religion, Theory of Literature
- Page Range:329-345
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:Philosophy; Modernity; Religion; Dissimulation; Rhetoric; Irony;
- Summary/Abstract:While the notion of irony is well suited to certain literary genres, often referred to as minors, it seems less obvious in philosophical discourse and especially when it comes to dealing with such important subjects as theology or the central issues of religion as the immortality of the soul, miracles or the greatness of God. However, in the 17th century, when the Inquisition and the imprimatur were still powerful institutions, surprisingly, there were many examples of the use of irony, particularly in speeches dealing with religious issues. More than political issues, however, it is probably the most monitored theme and should be used to increase respect. How is it that philosophers dare to use irony to deal with these subjects? How do they use irony? And above all, why do philosophers use irony to address certain themes? It is to these questions that I will propose to answer with an approach combining philosophy and rhetorical analysis of the texts. To do this, I will have to place the humorous excerpts in the dynamics of the works and in the historical context.
Paradoxe ou ironie ? Le développement de l’Orthodoxie dans l’Occident catholique et l’édition des livres de théologie orthodoxe en France
Paradoxe ou ironie ? Le développement de l’Orthodoxie dans l’Occident catholique et l’édition des livres de théologie orthodoxe en France
(Paradox or irony? The development of Orthodoxy in the Catholic West and the publication of books on Orthodox theology in France)
- Author(s):Larisa-Elena Alui-Gheorghe
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Theology and Religion, French Literature, Translation Studies
- Page Range:346-353
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:identity; Occidental Orthodoxy; irony; Occidental Christianity; theology; France;
- Summary/Abstract:Our paper aims to analyse a more recent and rather paradoxical phenomenon shown in Western Europe i.e. the publication of Christian Orthodox books, written or translated in French from a traditional Orthodox Christian language. And, as an irony, in a profoundly laic and secularized culture, one can notice the development of an Orthodox Christian terminology as a consequence of translating books with Orthodox Christian matter. Another paradoxical aspect for a strongly secularized country that we aim to analyze is the fact that in France there are many important educational establishments and research centres which are representative for the entire Christian Orthodox world: “St. Serge” Orthodox Theological Institute, “St. Genevieve” Centre, “Dumitru Stăniloae” Scientific and Interdisciplinary Research Centre. Is this a paradox or irony of the Providence, of God eliminated from France during the French Revolution?
Expression de l’ironie dans le discours concernant l’autocéphalie de l’Église orthodoxe d’Ukraine. Étude du syntagme « humour phanariote »
Expression de l’ironie dans le discours concernant l’autocéphalie de l’Église orthodoxe d’Ukraine. Étude du syntagme « humour phanariote »
(Expression of irony in the discourse concerning the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Study of the syntagm “Phanariot humor”)
- Author(s):Felicia Dumas
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, Language and Literature Studies, Theology and Religion
- Page Range:354-361
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:discourse; subjectivity; autocephaly; Ukrainian Church; « humour phanariote » (“phanariote humor”); irony;
- Summary/Abstract:This paper aims to study a series of subjectivity markers and discourse elements (the French phrase « humour phanariote ») of a irony illustrated in the texts published on two francophone orthodox websites regarding the granting of the autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in October 2018 (which culminated with the signing of the autocephaly Tomos at the beginning of January 2019), action which triggered a series of reactions in all the Orthodox environments, from both Orient and Occident. Keywords: discourse, subjectivity, autocephaly, Ukrainian Church, « humour phanariote » (“phanariote humor”), irony.
L’expressivité humoristique des formules gnomiques et des constructions figées comparatives
L’expressivité humoristique des formules gnomiques et des constructions figées comparatives
(The humorous expressiveness of gnomic formulas and fixed comparative constructions)
- Author(s):Mihaela Lupu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
- Page Range:362-374
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:expressiveness; irony; antiphrasis; gnomic phrase; fixed simile; rhetorical figures / figures of speech;
- Summary/Abstract:In this paper, we intend to analyse the expressiveness of a certain number of French fixed similes and gnomic utterances by focusing especially on the rhetorical figures / figures of speech that they contain (among which irony and antiphrasis). Such phrases, which encapsulate people’s centuries-long wisdom, express – sometimes humorously – conclusions about the human character and offer advice in an explicit or implicit way. The stock of French paremiology provides many examples of gnomic phrases that can serve as a guide in human relationships. A number of fixed similes have been added to this stock, some of which can be counted among gnomic utterances on account of their endurance, frequent use, purpose and / or colourful content. These various types of phrases are critical mirrors in which we can recognize our own vices, quirks, weaknesses, flaws, etc., which we can set right by using the lessons we can derive from them. Most of the examples analysed here are used to express the absolute superlative in a humorous way.
L’ironie comme technique argumentative dissociative
L’ironie comme technique argumentative dissociative
(Irony as a dissociative argumentative technique)
- Author(s):Marius-Octavian Munteanu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Philosophy, Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Rhetoric
- Page Range:375-399
- No. of Pages:25
- Keywords:irony; dissociation; pragmadialectics; advertising; pragmasemiotic; doxa;
- Summary/Abstract:The main purpose of this article is to prove that irony can be an efficient argumentative technique, more specifically, a dissociative one, built on logical and psycho-social grounds. From a theoretical point of view, dissociation as argumentative technique was first discussed by Perelman and Tyteca in their famous Treatise of Argumentation: The New Rhetoric and further analyzed and refined in a pragmadialectical approach by the Dutch linguists of University of Amsterdam (and especially Agnes van Rees). Irony can be described as an argumentative technique producing a break between the psychological and conceptual background of the receiver and the actualization of the message. It results therefore an epistemic clash at the receiver in the same way as the argumentative dissociation diverts the existing meanings of a concept carried by the message. Our attempt is to prove that the argumentative force of irony as argumentative technique seen as associative, apparently, but being in the same time deeply dissociative, leads to an epistemic renewal at the reception pole.
Chanteuses françaises des années 2010 : un comique « genré » ?
Chanteuses françaises des années 2010 : un comique « genré » ?
(French singers of the 2010s: a “gendered” comedy?)
- Author(s):Catherine Gravet
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Gender Studies, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Music, Sociology
- Page Range:400-418
- No. of Pages:19
- Keywords:Comedy; irony; song; women; gender studies; body;
- Summary/Abstract:The history of French song is a heritage of unforgettable texts very often written by men, sometimes for women. Female singers, authors, composers and performers, however, are taking on an increasingly important role, to the point that female researchers are talking about "matrimony". This emergence of women in French song often involves comedy: black humour, false naiveté, offbeat irony, even sarcasm impose a different vision of the world from that of men or put a distance from an alienating universe dictated by the patriarchal tradition. Yet, song, the art of incarnation, is a poem like no other, it needs the performer's voice, or even her body, and current recording and broadcasting techniques completely change the public's perception. A few case studies should enable us to better understand the specificity of some texts written and performed by women in terms of irony. Several themes closely linked to the body seem recurrent to us, such as motherhood, adoption, childbirth or abortion, in a firmly provocative stance: why are Laurie Peret's song, "Un, deux, trois" (2017); Laura Laune’s "La Rupture" (2017); GiedRé’s "Pisser debout" (2011) or "Ode à la contraception" (2014) so shocking? They are both provocative and subversive, they defy the rules of propriety, and their assumed vulgarity bewilders.
Ironie et humour populaire – de la critique sociale à la guerre politique
Ironie et humour populaire – de la critique sociale à la guerre politique
(Irony and popular humor – from social criticism to political war)
- Author(s):Mariana Anastasiei
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Language and Literature Studies, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Film / Cinema / Cinematography
- Page Range:419-428
- No. of Pages:10
- Keywords:humor; comedy; actor; Dieudonné; Charlie Hebdo; Islam;
- Summary/Abstract:Comedy, laughter, is both a presence and a social necessity. Irony, humor, joke, satire, caricature are all forms of manifestation of laugh in art and society. Art of relationing by excellence, comedy supposes, in order to achieve its purpose, an emitter and a receiver equally informed and competent. The purpose of this work is to follow the evolution of this relationship of complicity when the transgression of art frontiers occurs.
L’inconscient théologique de la traduction – ironie ou honnêteté d’un traducteur investi?
L’inconscient théologique de la traduction – ironie ou honnêteté d’un traducteur investi?
(The theological unconscious of translation – irony or honesty of an invested translator?)
- Author(s):Paula Ilaş
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Christian Theology and Religion, Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Theology and Religion, Translation Studies
- Page Range:437-447
- No. of Pages:11
- Keywords:translation; retranslation; Orthodox Christian religious text translation; translation errors; constraints; subjectivity;
- Summary/Abstract:Our article aims at presenting a few reflections on translating religious texts, more precisely texts of orthodox spirituality, giving some concrete examples of translation and retranslation, from French into Romanian, of a book written by Father Placide Deseille. Despite the secularization of contemporary society, religious translations are constantly increasing, which may contribute to a better understanding of the divine message and to a reconfiguration of the relationship between man and God.
Tudor Arghezi, traducteur de l’ironie de La Fontaine
Tudor Arghezi, traducteur de l’ironie de La Fontaine
(Tudor Arghezi, translator of La Fontaine's irony)
- Author(s):Oana- Gabriela Ichim
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Romanian Literature, Translation Studies
- Page Range:448-456
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:translation; poetry; French; Romanian; fables; humour;
- Summary/Abstract:Tudor Arghezi is a great poet who chose to put his talent at the service of translation too. He gave the fables of La Fontaine Romanian variants remarkable for the strength of the story and the humor. He considered the rhyme and the rhythm as very important poetic elements and translated the message of the French poet keeping the aesthetic form of the original. The dialogues of the translations are remarkable for their orality, their richness of images and their perfect adequation to the characters created by La Fontaine. He translated each fable as an entire poem and maintained the networks of meaning and images.
La remise en question ironique dans la vision de Jankélévitch
La remise en question ironique dans la vision de Jankélévitch
(Ironic questioning in Jankélévitch's vision)
- Author(s):Emilia Dolcu
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Theory of Literature, Stylistics
- Page Range:457-469
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:irony; the serious; the playful; explicit meaning; implicitmeaning; linguistic markers;
- Summary/Abstract:Many literary critics, philosophers and linguists have studied the concept of irony, but Jankélévitch not only devoted a specific book to it, he also placed the concept in a broader perspective which is at the same time philosophical, historical and literary. Even more, one of his major book, ‘The I Don’t Know What and AlmostNothing’, is the expression of an ironic relationship to the world. My aim is to make visible with Jankélévitch the internal structure of irony and the relation to reality that it establishes. I also intend to bring to light the functions that this figure of speech and thought fulfils. Through a thematic analysis of the work, ‘The I Don’t Know What and Almost Nothing’, I will seek to determine an ironic relationship to the world to see then by what phenomena and linguistic signals it is translated.
Ironie, dites-vous ?
Ironie, dites-vous ?
(Irony, you say?)
- Author(s):Jean Marcel
- Language:French
- Subject(s):Language and Literature Studies, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Applied Linguistics, Cultural Essay
- Page Range:470-473
- No. of Pages:4
- Keywords:ironic; lingo; complexity; eastern civilizations; memory; Romania;
- Summary/Abstract:Irony, you said? Ironic, most of definition of irony do not satisfy anybody. How to prouv that it does exist or not? How to limit it whitout using the lingo that hidd the complexity of the subject? And do we know that there is some civilizations in the world where ironic does not exist?
