Uses of irony: Learning from Soyinka’s latest example

Like simile, metaphor, personification and hyperbole, irony is a very useful figure of speech. Writers and other creative workers regularly make use of it, including comedians. It can, however, also be used outside literature, as in everyday conversation.

Irony is a literary device that expresses the opposite of what a speaker has in mind. Present in every language, it, among other functions, tests the intelligence of the listener or reader. For instance, if at the end of today’s lesson I say you don’t need to read this article before answering the questions that follow it, your brain should be able to hint you that I have expressed the opposite of what I mean. That is irony at work. Or you ask if you should flush the toilet after using it and your parent, teacher or boss tells you, ‘No. Don’t flush it; leave it messed up’, you must suspect that trouble is looming. Yet, while the above is called verbal irony, there are some two other types of the literary device: situational irony and dramatic irony.

Situational irony describes a situation the opposite of what is expected, say at the end of an incident, happens. If someone performs a feat and expects to be commended, but they are eventually scorned or reprimanded, we have a situational irony. If a culprit is left untouched and an innocent folk is arrested, a situational irony is at play. This is why it is sometimes said that life is an irony. On the other hand, dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows about a particular matter in the course of a drama but an actor involved does not. He thus acts contrarily to what is expected. Let me recall an example I gave when we earlier discussed figures of speech on May 21, 2019:

“Dramatic irony is often realised in a play of film. It captures a situation the audience know something the characters or a particular actor is ignorant of. For instance, if a play is about a wife who wants to eliminate her rival, she may decide to poison the latter. She can put poison in the target’s food when she (victim) is obviously not there. But while doing this, the audience or viewers are watching. When the target comes, she grabs the food and begins to eat. At that moment, the audience will scream, but their noises mean nothing to her because she does not know the meal has been poisoned.”

Meanwhile, this topic was inspired by Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. About two weeks ago, the legendary writer and human rights activist condemned the banning of ebullient rapper Edris Abdulkareem’s new song, ‘Tell your Papa’, by the National Broadcasting Commission. He described the action as unjust and an infringement on the artiste’s fundamental human right. While he (Soyinka) is happy that the NBC’s move has turned counterproductive as the song has received a huge attention online, he yet told the Federal Government:

“My position is that such a progressive move by the government and its agencies does not go far enough. It is not only the allegedly offensive record that should be banned – the musician himself should be proscribed. Next, PMAN, or whatever musical association of which Abdulkareem is member, should also go under the hammer.”

This is verbal irony in action outside conventional literature.