Allusion (аллюзия)

This is indirect reference to (a hint at) some historical or literary fact (or personage) expressed in the text. Allusion presupposes the knowledge of such a fact on the part of the reader or listener, so no particular explanation is given (although this is sometimes really needed). Very often the interpretation of the fact or person alluded to is generalised or even symbolised. See the following examples:

Hers was a forceful clarity and a colourful simplicity and a bold use of metaphor that Demosphenes would have envied. (Faulkner) (allusion to the widely-known ancient Greek orator).

He felt as Balaam must gave felt when his ass broke into speech (Maugham) (allusion to the biblical parable of an ass that spoke the human language when its master, the heathen prophet Balaam, intended to punish it).

In B. Shaw's play "Pygmalion", the following remark of Mr. Higgins " Eliza: you are an idiot. I waste the treasures of my Mi/tonic mind by spreading them before you alludes to the English poet of the 17"' century John Milton, the author of the poem "Paradise Lost"; apart from that, the words spreading the treasures of my mind before you contain an allusion to the biblical expression to cast pearls before swine {метать бисер перед сви­ньями). In A. Christie's book ol'stories' The Labours of Hercules' the name of the famous detective Hercule Poirot is an allusion to the name of Hercules and the twelve heroic deeds (labours) of this hero of the ancient Greek myths.

Irony

Irony, like the stylistic device of zeugma, is based on the simultaneous realisation of two opposite meanings: the permanent, "direct" meaning (the dictionary meaning) of words and their contextual (covert, implied) meaning. Usually the direct meaning in such cases expresses a positive evaluation of the situation, while the context contains the opposite, negative evaluation:

How delightful — to find yourself in a foreign country without a penny in your pocket!

Aren 't you a hero — running away from a mouse!

I like a parliamentary debate,

Particularly when it is not too late. (Byron)

The Holy Alliance (Russia, Prussia, Austria) was minded to stretch the arm of its Christian charity across the Atlantic and put republicanism down in the western hemisphere as well as in its own. (Goldwin Smith).

I do not consult physicians, for I hope to die without their help. (W. Temple).

Irony is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous reali- zation of two logical meanings - dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings stand in opposition to each other. For example:

"It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one's pocket."

The italicized word acquires a meaning quite the opposite to its primary dictionary meaning, that is, 'unpleasant', 'not delightful'. The word containing the irony is strongly marked by intonation. It has an emphatic stress and is generally supplied with a special melody design, unless the context itself renders this intonation pattern unnec- essary, as in the following excerpt from Dickens's "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club":

"Never mind," said the stranger, cutting the address very short, "said enough—no more; smart chap that cabman—handled his fives well; but if I'd been your friend in the green jemmy—damn me— punch his head—, Cod I would—pig's whisper—pieman too,—no gammon."

"This coherent speech was interrupted by the entrance of the Rochester coachman, to announce that..."

The word 'coherent', which describes Mr. Jingle's speech, is incon- sistent with the actual utterance, and therefore becomes self-contra- dictory. In no other device where we can observe the interplay of the dictionary and contextual meanings, is the latter so fluctuating, sug- gestive, and dependent on the environment as is irony. That is why there are practically no cases of irony in language-as-a-system.

Irony must not be confused with humour, although they have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter. What is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and the negative. In this respect irony can be likened to humour. But the functional irony is not confined to producing a humorous effect. In a sentence like "How clever of you!" where, due to the intonation pattern, the word 'clever' conveys а sense opposite to its literal signification, the irony does not cause a ludicrous effect. It rather expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret. A word used ironically may sometimes express very subtle, al- most imperceptible nuances of meaning, as the word 'like' in the following lines from "Beppo" by Byron..

In the first line the word 'like' gives only a slight hint of irony. Parliamentary debates are usually long. The word 'debate' itself sug- gests a lengthy discussion, therefore the word 'like' here should be taken with some reservation. In other words, a hint of the interplay between positive and negative begins with the first 'like'.

The second use of the word 'like' is definitely ironical. No one would be expected to like taxes. It is so obvious that no context is necessary to decode the true meaning of 'like'. The attributive phrase 'when they're not too many' strengthens the irony.

Then Byron uses the word 'like' in its literal meaning. 'Like' in com- binations with 'seacoal fire' and 'a beef-steak' and with 'two months of every year' maintains its literal meaning, although in the phrase "I like the weather" the notion is very general. But the last line again shows that the word 'like' is used with an ironic touch, meaning 'to like' and 'to put up with' simultaneously.

Richard Altick says, "The effect of irony lies in the striking dispari- ty_between what is said and what is meant."¹ This "striking disparity" is achieved through the intentional interplay of two meanings, which are in opposition to each other. Another important observation must be borne in mind when analys- ing the linguistic nature of irony. Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning. Therefore only positive concepts may be used in their logical dictionary meaning. In the examples quoted above, irony is embodied in such words as 'delightful', 'clever', 'coherent', 'like'. The contextual meaning always conveys the negation of the positive concepts embodied in the dictionary meaning.