Abstract

Irony is often considered a rhetorical device characterized by incongruity between reality and expectation. In this chapter, we sketch the various approaches to irony and focus on the importance of social interaction in the understanding of verbal irony in Taiwanese Southern Min, a major dialect spoken in Taiwan. We highlight the function of irony as a “social lubricant”, which has been largely ignored in the literature. In doing so, we argue for a more comprehensive theory of irony to account for the often overlooked contextual and cultural aspects of human communication so as to understand why the capacity for irony is an essential part of being human.