H4 - Kh Lyon 1 - AG LV1

COMIC DEVICES

HUMOUR (➤ humorous / humoristic) refers to a type of writing which implies a good-natured

observation of people’s follies and eccentricities. It is related to the perception of the comical or absurd in
people and situations, and opposed to wit in that humour is kind and sympathetic, whereas wit is often
more intellectual and satiric.

WIT (➤ witty) is the intellectual ability to associate ideas and express them in an original, unexpected or
brilliant way. It often takes the form of puns, paradox or striking comparisons. It can be harmless and
benevolent, but also aggressive.

SATIRE (➤ satiric / satirical) is the use of humour or wit in order to criticise and improve moral and social
behaviour. It can make use of irony, mockery, sarcasm or wit to deride social norms. Satire can be used to
decry human inconsistencies in general but it is, more often than not, directed at a specific target in a given
historical and cultural context.

IRONY (➤ ironic / ironical) consists in using words or phrases that express the opposite of what is meant.
Verbal irony therefore operates by exploiting deviations from syntactic or semantic norms, through which
meaning will be conveyed obliquely. It can rely for its success on such techniques as hyberbole,
understatement, paradox, puns and other forms of wit in the expression of incongruities. Besides verbal
irony, there can also be situational irony, in which the discrepancy between appearances and reality is
emphasised: dramatic irony (when the audience know more than some of the characters of the play), tragic
irony (when characters use words without realising how ominous they are), comic irony (when, for instance,
there is a discrepancy between the characters’ aspirations and what they can truly expect).

SARCASM (➤ sarcastic) is a harsh and bitter form of irony.

PARODY (➤ parodic) is the imitation of a given work or of the style of an author for humorous or satirical
purposes. Like caricature, it uses distortion to ridicule vices and follies.

a BURLESQUE (➤ burlesque) is the comic imitation of a literary form. The effect is achieved through a
discrepancy between style and theme, for instance when a serious subject is dealt with in a frivolous way.
A burlesque is also a type of entertainment which includes dancing and striptease.

The GROTESQUE (➤ grotesque) makes us laugh by presenting the human figure in an exaggerated and
distorted way. It often exploits similarities between people and animals or things. The origin of the literary
use of the term lies in the whimsical representations of heads and faces in classical decorative friezes, later
imitated by Mannerist artists.

a PUN or PLAY ON WORDS or WORDPLAY is a figure of speech relying on the similarity of sound between
two words with different meanings (homonymy) or on a single word with a plurality of meanings
(polysemy). Most puns are used for humorous or ironic effect. When one of the two possible meanings is
risqué or bawdy, this is called DOUBLE ENTENDRE.

In colloquial English, the adjective ABSURD is used to refer to something silly and unreasonable, or silly
in a humorous way. But, in literary criticism, the term is usually applied to a group of dramatists from the
1940s and 1950s who reflected the existential view according to which life is meaningless and people are
rootless and isolated in a world with which they cannot cope rationally. The term is derived from Camus
who defined the absurd as the tension emerging from man’s attempt to discover purpose and order in a
world which steadfastly refuses to evidence either (The Myth of Sisyphus, 1942).

In a tragedy, COMIC RELIEF is the use of humorous characters or scenes to alleviate tension.

BATHOS / ANTICLIMAX (➤ bathetic / anticlimactic) is a sudden change from a lofty subject (or
sublime tone) to a commonplace, potentially ridiculous one, especially when this is not intended.

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Bibliography
ABRAMS M.H., A Glossary of Literary Terms, Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1957).
FOWLER Roger, A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms, Routledge (1973).
GRELLET Françoise, A Handbook of Literary Terms, Hachette (1996).