Notes on the variety and uses of satire, sarcasm and irony in social research, with some observations on vices and follies in the academy

Abstract

In this article the author examines the uses of satire and its rhetorical devices, sarcasm and irony, in social research, analysing published research papers as well as drawing on her own autoethnographic data. In particular, she focuses on texts concerning discourses within the academy and the current predicament of the academic, each of which sets out to expose an aspect of the workings of power in institutions. While satire may be considered a narrative form, a means for and of representation, irony, as a rhetorical trope which exerts its effects through juxtaposition and the creation of incongruity, constitutes a potential analytical tool in social research, overturning expectations and operating within a 'logic of discovery'. Satire therefore functions as a form of critical analysis while irony contributes to the development of theory and 'paradigm innovation'.