Rhetoric and Argumentation : on Irony

The objective of this article is to show that the ironical speech act is a form of sui generis critical and 'negative' argumentation. It is constituted by the specific rhetorical organisation of a transparent (dis) simulation where different forms of the contrary and partly ridiculous are enacted. I will develop this conception by confronting the traditional rhetorical theory (especially Quintilian, Dumarsais and Fontanier) with modern theories in French-speaking literature (Pereleman & Olbrechts-Tyteca, Ducrot, Berrendonner, Perrin et al.) and in English-speaking literature (in particular the Echoic Mention Theory, the Allusional Pretense Theory and the Joint Pretense Theory).