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In:The Pragmatics of Irony and Banter
Edited by Manuel Jobert and Sandrine Sorlin
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 30] 2018
► pp. 195–214

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Chapter 10
The Rolling Stones promoting Monty Python

The power of irony and banter

 | Aix Marseille Univ, LERMA/IUF, Aix-en-Provence, France
Published online: 25 April 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.30.10sor
Abstract
Based on Text World Theory, this chapter offers a fine-grained analysis of how irony and banter are likely to be processed by viewers watching a promotional video but also highlights the pragmatic functions of such an indirect strategy. It dissects a 1:40 tongue-in-cheek video which served as an introduction to the 2014 Monty Python Live (Mostly) press conference. It features Mick Jagger accusing the coming troupe of being “wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth”, using irony and banter as powerful means of promotion. Bringing together different theoretical frameworks of irony that are usually described as competing, this chapter highlights how expectations are twisted in the “text-world” of the video through the use of (mock) dramatic irony, generating pragmatic paradoxes.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2. Dramatic irony in the Text World
    • 2.1Twisted expectations
    • 2.2Incongruous subject positions
  • 3.Processing irony and banter
    • 3.1 Mock dramatic irony
    • 3.2Irony and banter
  • 4.The pragmatic functions of irony
    • 4.1 Echoic relevance
    • 4.2Two birds (at least) with one stone
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
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