浅析英文民生新闻标题中的反语.docx
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浅析英文民生新闻标题中的反语
广师天河学院
毕业设计(论文)
题目:
浅析英文民生新闻标题中的反语
(英文):
AnAnalysisofIronyinEnglishCivicNewsHeadline
系别:
外语学院
专业:
英语
姓名:
冯淑婷
学号:
2012073243408
指导教师:
沈悦英
日期:
2016年5月
AnAnalysisofIronyinEnglishCivicNewsHeadlineEnglishContract
ABSTRACT
Withthedramaticdevelopmentofeconomicglobalization,China’scommunicationwithoutsideworldhasbecomemorefrequentthaneverbefore.MeanwhileEnglishnewsisoneofthemostimportantresourcesforpeople.Withthelivingstandardcontinuallybeingimproved,peoplepaymoreandmoreattentiontotheircivicsituationandproblems.Forthewholepieceofthenews,theheadlineiscrucial,anditdetermineswhetherreaderswillreadthewholepieceofnews.Sotheheadlineistheeyeofthewholenewswhichbrightensthenews.
Asakindofrhetoricaldevice,punisnotonlywidelyusedinliteraryworks,butalsoaccountedforaplaceinthenewsheadlines.Simpletosay,ironycanmakenewsheadlinesbecomemorehumorous,morereal,andclosertolife.Inordertobeabletounderstandtherealmeaningexpressedbythenewsheadlines,itisnecessaryforpeopletobefamiliarwithirony.SothispaperisgoingtostudyironyinEnglishcivicnewsheadline.
Thefirstpartofthispaperisabriefintroductiontotheresearchobjectofthepaper—theironyinEnglishcivicnewsheadlines.ThesecondpartistointroducethebasicdefinitionofironyandtherelationshipbetweenironyandEnglishnewsheadlines.ThethirdpartistoanalyzethecharacteristicsofironyinEnglishcivicnewsheadlines.ThefourthpartistoanalyzethefunctionsofironyinEnglishcivicnews.Thelastpartistosummarizethewholepaper.
KeyWords:
irony;Englishcivicnewsheadline;characteristics;functions
浅析英文民生新闻标题中的反语
摘要
随着经济全球化快速发展,中国与世界的交流越来越频繁了,英文新闻成为了最重要的信息来源之一。
随着人们生活水平的不断提升,他们越来越关注民生状况和其问题。
新闻标题对于一整篇新闻来说是至关重要的,它决定了读者是否会查阅一整篇新闻,所以说标题是新闻的眼睛,它点亮了整篇新闻。
反语作为一种修辞手法,除了被广泛地运用在文学作品中,在新闻标题中也占了一席之地。
简略的说,反语能够实让新闻标题更加幽默,更加真实,更加贴近生活。
为了能够很好的理解新闻标题所表达的真正意义,熟知反语是非常的重要的。
所以本论文浅略地研究分析英文民生新闻标题中的反语。
本论文的第一部分是简略的介绍了论文要研究的对象,也就是英语民生新闻标题中的反语。
第二部分是介绍反语的基本定义和反语与英文新闻标题的关系。
第三部分是分析反语在英文民生新闻标题中的特征。
第四部分是分析反语在英语民生新闻中的作用。
最后的一部分就是总结全文。
关键词:
反语;英文民生新闻标题;特征;功能
Contents
Ⅰ.Introduction1
Ⅱ.TheRelationshipbetweenIronyandEnglishNewsHeadline...2
2.1DefinitionofIrony3
2.2TheRoleofIronyinEnglishNewsHeadline..............................................................4
Ⅲ.TheCharacteristicsofIronyinEnglishCivicNewsHeadline4
3.1CriticizeCivicProblemswithIronicHumor5
3.2ExpresstheCivicSituationImpressively6
3.3DescribetheCivicEventsObligingly7
Ⅳ.TheFunctionsofIronyinEnglishCivicNewsHeadline9
4.1DispensetheInherentVapidity13
4.2IronicallyHighlightthePrevalentPeople’sTrueFeelings14
V.Conclusion15
Bibliography17
Acknowledgements19
I.Introduction
Newsheadlineisoneofthemostimportantpartsofthenews.Itiseye-catchinghighlightwhichattractsreaders’attentionandpreviewsthewholenews.ComparedwithotherEnglishnews,Englishcivicnewsisignoredbyscholars.ThesameastheEnglishcivicnews,ironyisnottakenseriouslybyscholarscomparedwithotherEnglishrhetoricdevices.Whenpeoplewanttoknowmoreaboutirony,andtheysearchtheinformationofEnglishrhetoricdevices,thefirstthingwhichshowsupisalwaysnotirony.Inordertofindoutwhatisreallyneeded,diggingharderforironyisalwaystheimportantthing.Attheendofit,frustrationshowsupafterfindingoutthetrulysituationaboutirony.Althoughironyiscommonlyusedinourdailylife,butitseemsthatpeopledon’treallycareaboutit.Suchbeingthecase,payingmoreattentiontoironyandEnglishcivicnewsisextremelynecessary,becausetheyarecommonindailylifeandareveryimportant.ThispaperisgoingtostudyontheironyinEnglishcivicnewsheadline.
ThedefinitionofironyinWebster’sNewWorldDictionaryis“amethodofhumorousorsubtlysarcasticexpressioninwhichtheintendedmeaningifthewordsusedisthedirectoppositeoftheirusualsense.”(MichaelE.Agnes284).Actually,ironyiscommonlyusedintheEnglishcivicnewsheadline.IronyinEnglishcivicnewsheadlineseemedquiteimmaterialtoscholarssothatpeoplestartedtoneglecttheimportanceofirony.Therefore,itishightimetopayattentiontoitforitsdevelopment.ThispaperworksonanalyzingthecharacteristicsandfunctionsofironyinEnglishcivicnewsheadline.Meanwhile,thispaperwillprovidesomeuniquecharacteristicsandfunctionsonironyinEnglishcivicnewsheadlinetoservethereadersandprovidesomeinformationtofigureoutthesignificanceofironyinEnglishcivicnewsheadline.Thecharacteristicswillhelptocriticizecivicproblemswithironichumor,expressthecivicsituationimpressivelyanddescribetheciviceventsobligingly.Andthefunctionsdispensetheinherentvapidity,ironicallyhighlighttheprevalentpeople’struefeelingsandtrenchantlyexposethecivicproblems.
II.TheRelationshipbetweenIronyandEnglishNewsHeadline
WiththehighspeeddevelopmentoftheInternet,peoplegatherinformationmoreeasily.Livinginanerafullofallkindsofinformation,peopleneedtogetvaluableinformationthroughallsortsofmedia.Andasthewidespreadinformationresourcemedia,newsisoneofthemostpopularsourcesforpeoplegatheringinformation.Inonehand,asnewsheadlineisthehighlightforthewholenews,newsheadlineseemstobethewidespreadmediaforreadertoabsorbtheinformationquickly.Intheotherhand,astheofficiallanguagesofthemostpopulouscountries,Englishistheworld’smostwidely-usedlanguage.Soonthewhole,Englishnewsiseasiertospread.Aboveall,Englishnewsheadlineisthemosteffectivewaytoconveyinformation.Inthispartofthepaper,itconcentratesontherelationshipbetweenironyandEnglishnewsheadline.
2.1DefinitionofIrony
Irony(fromAncientGreekεἰρωνεία(eirōneía),meaning"dissimulation,feignedignorance"),initsbroadestsense,isarhetoricaldevice,aliterarytechnique,oraneventinwhichwhatappears,onthesurface,tobethecase,differsradicallyfromwhatisactuallythecase.Ironymaybedividedintocategoriessuchasverbal,dramatic,andsituational.Muecke,DCdescribedironyinhisbookTheCompassofIrony:
“Verbal,dramatic,andsituationalironyareoftenusedforemphasisintheassertionofatruth.Theironicformofsimile,usedinsarcasm,andsomeformsoflitotescanemphasizeone'smeaningbythedeliberateuseoflanguagewhichstatestheoppositeofthetruth,deniesthecontraryofthetruth,ordrasticallyandobviouslyunderstatesafactualconnection.”(Muecke80)
HenryWatsonFowler,in TheKing'sEnglish,says“anydefinitionofirony—thoughhundredsmightbegiven,andveryfewofthemwouldbeaccepted—mustincludethis,thatthesurfacemeaningandtheunderlyingmeaningofwhatissaidarenotthesame.”(Henry126)
Theuseofironymayrequiretheconceptofadoubleaudience.Fowler’s ADictionaryofModernEnglishUsage says:
Ironyisaformofutterancethatpostulatesadoubleaudience,consistingofonepartythathearingshallhear&shallnotunderstand,&anotherpartythat,whenmoreismeantthanmeetstheear,isawarebothofthatmore&oftheoutsiders'incomprehension.(Fowler156)
The AmericanHeritageDictionary’s secondarymeaningfor irony:
“incongruitybetweenwhatmightbeexpectedandwhatactuallyoccurs”.(Houghton215)Thissense,however,isnotsynonymouswith"incongruous"butmerelyadefinitionofdramaticorsituationalirony. Itisoftenincludedindefinitionsofirony notonly thatincongruityispresent butalso thattheincongruitymustrevealsomeaspectofhumanvanityorfolly.Thusthemajorityof AmericanHeritageDictionary'susagepanelfounditunacceptabletousetheword ironic todescribemereunfortunatecoincidencesorsurprisingdisappointmentsthat"suggestnoparticularlessonsabouthumanvanityorfolly."
Onthisaspect,The OxfordEnglishDictionary (OED)alsosays:
Aconditionofaffairsoreventsofacharacteroppositetowhatwas,ormightnaturallybe,expected;acontradictoryoutcomeofeventsasifinmockeryofthepromiseandfitnessofthings.(JamesMurray403)
It’sdifficulttogiveironyaperfectexplanation.InSamuelJohnson’sDictionary,ironyisdefinedasamodeofspeechinwhichthemeaningisclearlycontrarytothewords.(Samuel147)NowaccordingtotheOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,ironyistheexpressionofone’smeaningbysayingthedirectoppositeofone’sthoughtsinordertobeemphatic,amusing,sarcastic,etc.D.SperberandD.WilsonpublishedOnVerbalIronyanditclaimed“anironicalutteranceistraditionallyanalyzedasliterallysayingonethingandfigurativelymeaningtheopposite.Thustheironicalremark‘whatlovelyweather’wouldhavethefigurativemeaning‘whatawfulweather’,andsoon.”(Sperber&Wilson60).
Althoughironyhassomanydefinitionsthereisnointegrateddefinitionforirony.However,thepresentresearchofEnglishironyseemstodescribethemeaningfulideainsteadofdefinition.
2.2TheRolesofIronyinEnglishNewsHeadline
Ironyisinaparticularlanguageenvironment.Thefunctionsofironyaretosatirizeandtocreatehumorousatmosphere.Sometimesironyismorepowerful.Adoptingoppositewordstoexpressrealintentionisthefeatureofirony.Itismoreinterestingforreaderstoread.
Newsheadlineistheeyeofthenews.Themostimportantfunctionofitistorevealthemaincontentofthenewstothereadersconcisely.Andletthereadersintheshortestpossibletimetoobtainasmuchinformationaspossible