The Ambiguity and Clarity of Irony on the Examples of Uroš Zupan and Aleš Mustar

Abstract

The author discusses the use of irony with the work of two modern Slovene poets, Uroš Zupan and Aleš Mustar. By focusing on two types of irony, i.e., verbal and situational, and with the analysis of binary oppositions that are the source of the ambiguity of ironic utterances and situations, respectively, the author finds that irony in a literary text oscillates between extremes. Zupan's irony, empoying various binary pairs and adroit transitions between ironic and literal utterances consistently preserves the ambivalence typical of fictive texts. With a different, analogical, type of binary pairs, with an emphasized literality, as well as other means, Mustar creates the straightforward ironic situations, blocking the aesthetic dialogic character of the text and transitioning to social engagement.