The Theoretical Connotation And Significance Of Irony

Irony is one of the important words in the Western literary theory andcriticism.The irony of the concept of setting this down after a long process, ancientGreek times until the18thcentury, the irony is basically as an important rhetoricalstrategy. Although before the18thcentury, its development is relatively slow, theconcept of irony has always been never disappeared. From the18thcentury to the20thcentury,with rapid development of the German Romanticism Irony and the NewCriticism Irony, irony theory rise to the era of the nature of the irony, for the first timeofficially bacame an aesthetic manner and the human way of life appear in theacademic theory. Then the post-modern irony theory rised, it’s extending to the humancivilization and daily attitude. The irony has a variety of forms, in actually, it is stillevolving. Since ancient times, to irony accurate definition is a more difficult thing, butthat doesn’t hinder us to study it, and it’s precisely to provide a study of its manypossibilities.This article first start from the irony of the etymology of research to figure outirony is how to emerge, with its similar to the use of rhetorical devices to compare, inorder to achieve the irony more clearly cognitive. Secondly, on the basis of someunderstanding on the irony, I then analyze the main backdrop of the evolution of theirony of the German Romanticism, the New Criticism and the theory of post-modernirony. From three aspects I want to reveal the important change of the irony from amajor means of rhetoric to aesthetics and existential significance. Again, in ironicconnotation rheology in history on the basis of its separation,basic factors,characteristics and classification, in order to indicate irony in contemporary driftingtendency. Finally, I wrote the significance of irony. In the21stcentury, the irony haspenetrated into our daily lives, we’d better to have a good understanding of the ironywith its edge, and have a irony attitude towards life, that is a wise behavior and a noblepursuit for us.