Translating Irony between English and Arabic

Book excerpt: This book challenges entrenched literary views that promote the impracticality of linguistic, stylistic and functional approaches to the analysis and translation of irony. It considers these scientific fields of enquiry as the building blocks on which ironic devices in English and Arabic are grounded, and according to which the appropriateness of the methods of translation in the literature is assessed in a quest to pin down an interactive model for the interpretation and translation of irony. The book ventures into contrastive linguistic and stylistic analyses of irony in Arabic and English from literary, linguistic and discourse perspectives. It sheds light on the interpretation and the linguistic realisation of irony in Arabic and English through an interdisciplinary approach, and, consequently, identifies similarities and discrepancies in the form and function of ironic devices between these languages. As such, it will appeal to professional translators, instructors and students of translation, as well as language learners, language teachers and researchers in cross-cultural and inter-pragmatic disciplines.