ITTOL - Lecture 6/7 - Brooks, Irony as a Principle of Structure
Cleanth Brooks, in "Irony as a Principle of Structure" ( The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Third Edition , David H. Richter, Bedford/St. Martin's, Boston, NY, 2007 p 799-806) asserts that context (structure) determines meaning: The memorable verses in poetry ... derive their poetic quality from their relation to a particular context....Even the meaning of any particular item is modified by the context. (800) The simplest proof of this can be seen by making a study of irony: ...the obvious warping of a statement by the context we characterized as ironical . (800) And sarcasm is the simplest form of irony; occuring when the context creates "a reversal of meaning" .