A CIT-based Study Of English Irony

As a fascinating phenomenon, English irony has attracted the attentionof scholars of various persuasions for centuries. So far, a multitude ofstudies of English irony have been made in rhetoric, philosophy, psychologyand linguistics. But none of them have proved to be effective for revealingthe dynamic meaning construction of English irony. In view of this, thisthesis attempts to make a tentative study of the meaning construction ofEnglish irony in the light of Conceptual Integration Theory developed incognitive linguistics in recent years.In the present research, a qualitative method is adopted. After selectionand classification of the collected data, English irony is analyzed in the lightof Conceptual Integration Theory. According to this theory, cognitiveabilities like imagination, creativity, and counterfactual thinking play apivotal part in the process of ironic blending in English. Such networkmodels as mirror, single-scope and double-scope networks, are discussed inthis thesis because they are capable of vividly presenting the onlinemeaning construction of English irony.As has been discussed throughout the thesis, the present studyprovides a new approach for irony in English. Unlike the previous studies,this study focuses its attention on the issue of the on-linemeaning construction of irony. Needless to say, in spite of limitations in the researchper se, observing and addressing English irony by virtue of ConceptualIntegration Theory is a good point of departure.