Contrasting Dimensions behind the Use of Irony and Humour in Times of Crisis

Abstract

In this article the discourse of irony and humor is explored in two sets of memes generated in times of crisis, namely the recent Covid pandemic and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Different versions of macro memes are examined in both sets through the lens of the Inferred Contradiction Theory of irony (Alba-Juez 2014). The main research questions were: 1) What type(s) of irony is/are exploited to make the memes humorous? 2)What type of inference is found in the inferred contradiction that is essential for the comprehension of the ironic humor in the memes? 3)   What is the main function of the irony (and humor) in the memes? A qualitative discourse-pragmatic analytic method was used, together with a simple quantitative analysis of the types of irony used. The analysis shows that the humorous irony in the memes is always based in some kind of contradiction that has to be inferred at some discourse-linguistic level, displaying instances of not only propositional but also illocutionary irony, as well as other kinds of irony where the inferred contradiction is found in the subplicit information that is shared by the interlocutors, or even in the images shown. The results reveal that most of the jokes in the memes were sarcastic and thus the inferred contradiction led to the negative evaluation of some person or situation. The irony in the majority of the memes was of the conversational, negative and propositional types, and the functions fulfilled by the ironic humor were found to serve contrasting and contradictory motivations (aggressiveness towards the out-group and affiliation with the in-group), as well as that of amusing the readers.