IRONY AND SARCASM – VERBAL RESISTANCE AGAINST WESTERN STEREOTYPES

Authors

  • Nino Kuratishvili

Keywords:

stand-up, satire, stereotypes

Abstract

This research examines the role of sarcasm and irony in transmitting protest in the speeches of Muslim stand-up comedians in America. The study includes jokes from ten performances of four top-rated Muslim stand-up comedians analysed through the exclusively elaborated criteria that include the concept of ‘face’, ‘target’, ‘implicature’. The results of the research show that ironic and sarcastic utterances applied in comedians’ speeches were related to the most painful stereotypes about the Muslim community. Accordingly, irony and sarcasm were the major resources used to confront these stereotypes. The results of the present research revealed that irony and sarcasm can be effective rhetorical and persuasive instruments against well-established beliefs and stereotypes. We propose that they can be used in other situations with similar success.

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Author Biography

Nino Kuratishvili

The author of the article is a PhD student at Javakhishvili State University, currently working on the issue of detecting the role of sarcasm and irony in humorous discourse. She has an extensive experience of teaching English to multi-level and exam-oriented classrooms. The author teaches at a language learning center in Tbilisi.

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Published

2020-06-24

How to Cite

Kuratishvili, N. (2020). IRONY AND SARCASM – VERBAL RESISTANCE AGAINST WESTERN STEREOTYPES. Online Journal of Humanities ETAGTSU, (5), pages 11. Retrieved from https://etagtsu.tsu.ge/index.php/journal/article/view/34

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