Irony is linked to the ability to say one thing while thinking another – which means it’s also intrinsic to being human. What does new research into artificial intelligence and irony reveal?
Elizabeth Macarthur [portrait by unknown artist]
State Library NSW
Kate Grenville suggests we read Elizabeth Macarthur’s letters as ‘a wonderful piece of fiction, sustained over sixty years’. They were exercises in doubleness, concealment, and delicious irony.
Illustration detail from the cover of Andy Griffiths’ international bestseller, The Day My Bum Went Psycho (Pan Macmillan).
A teacher was fired this month for reading his favourite picture book, I Need a New Butt, to kids. It’s an example of how US conservatives are focusing on school boards as weapons in the culture wars.
Because sarcasm is often difficult to discern and improperly used, it can operate as a linguistic mulligan. But deploy the excuse too much, and you might raise some eyebrows.
If only there were one that fit.
Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
Irony is a slippery concept. Sometimes it’s used in speech, other times it’s used to describe a situation – oh, and it can also characterize an attitude. Is its versatility its downfall?
Kate Miller-Heidke performs Zero Gravity during the Grand Final of the 64th annual Eurovision Song Contest: an oddball, meteoric and sincere performance.
Abir Sultan/EPA
Long known as a spectacle of quirky Euro-kitsch, this year’s contest more closely resembled singing TV shows such as The Voice. Notable exceptions, however, were Iceland’s Hatari and our own Kate Miller-Heidke.
Because you’ve never seen it before, right?
Heather
In this episode of the podcast, we take in the history of Victorian humour, why kids find poo so hilarious and whether academics should try and be funny.