"Do Not Ask Us for the Laughter that Frames Irony on All Sides". The Many Faces of Two Elusive Phenomena

This paper aims to examine the intricate relationship between irony and laughter, elucidating the reasons for their frequent association while underscoring their fundamental autonomy. Although they often co-occur, positing their interdependence constitutes an oversimplification. These phenomena have been the subject of scholarly inquiry since antiquity, yet contemporary theoretical frameworks struggle to provide a comprehensive account of their mechanisms. The traditional antiphrastic conception of irony has been largely abandoned; however, no fully exhaustive alternative model has yet been established (Colston and Gibbs 2007). Similarly, laughter is more than a physiological manifestation but also encompasses simulated forms that are independent of humorous contexts and primarily fulfil social functions (Eagleton 2019; Gibbs et al. 2014; Paolucci and Caruana 2020). Through a critical review of recent perspectives on irony and the theories of laughter, this paper explores their partial intersections and argues that irony’s primary effect is not laughter but rather disorientation, which serves either to engage or to challenge the interlocutor. Insofar as humour is invariably intertwined with tragedy, irony may provoke laughter as a liberatory response to problematic situations (Foster Wallace 2007).