Isn't It Ironic?

I've been blogging about making writing more literary.  One strategy that can quickly elevate a piece of writing from mundane to literary is the use of irony.  Most people use "irony" in the way it's used in the song "Isn't It Ironic," as in something going wrong in a funny way.  In the song, the word "ironic" is used to categorize misfortunes like rain on one's wedding day or crashing the first time you dared to fly or getting a free ride when you've paid or meeting the perfect man who is already taken.  These examples don't entirely capture any of the three literary definitions of irony, and some don't really fit any of these definitions.  

Real irony goes counter to expectations of the reader or the characters.  Does one expect rain on a wedding day?  If one is paying attention to the weather reports or has an indoor wedding, there's nothing ironic about it.  You expected the rain or at least prepared for it.  Does one expect a handsome man to be married?  Many times, this is no surprise.  It defies no one's expectations.  If all you ever knew about irony was learned from this song, you don't fully understand the meaning of the word.  Now, isn't that ironic? 

The three kinds of literary irony are verbal, situational, and dramatic.  These literary devices can be used in comedy, tragedy, drama, or anything else in order to defy the reader's expectations.  

 

Most people use verbal irony in sarcasm.  The narrator or character means the opposite of what he/she says.  John may say, "Well, isn't that great" in a sardonic tone, when what he means is that's not great or even good.  In "Star Wars," Han Solo says, "What an incredible smell you've discovered" after they've found themselves in a foul-smelling trash compactor. In literature, Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" ironically advocates for the use of Irish babies as food when what he's trying to get people to realize that Irish people are humans, too, and deserve to be treated as such.  Verbal irony is only present when words are being used, such as in speech.  Otherwise, it's another kind of irony.  

Situational irony is when what is happening is different than is expected.  This is the closest to the definition as in the song.  For instance, in "The Gift of the Magi," a man sacrifices his watch to buy a comb for his wife's long hair, while she gives up her hair to buy a chain for his watch.  The situation defies their expectations.  Romeo rushes to Juliet's side only to find her apparently dead.  Because she seems dead, he acts accordingly and kills himself.   However, his false understanding results in both of their deaths.  The reader expects a fireman to put out fires, but in Fahrenheit 451, they do the opposite.  Authors use situational irony for all kinds of literary effects from humorous to tragic.  

 

Dramatic irony comes up all the time in comedy, tragedy, mystery, and everything else.  The narrator reveals the killer is behind the door as the investigator walks into the room.  The reader yells at the investigator to get out because he/she knows something the investigator doesn't.  This is dramatic irony.  In 12th Night, the reader/audience knows Viola is female, even as she dresses like a boy.  This can cause discomfort, emotional intensity, and humor in the love triangle, as she falls for Orsino, the man who has fallen for Olivia, who has fallen for Viola's alternate identity, Cesario.  The example in the paragraph above from Romeo and Juliet also falls into this category as the author/audience knows Juliet lives.  The use of irony heightens the drama as we watch Romeo acting without the piece of knowledge the audience has but Romeo lacks.  

You, too, can use irony in your writing.  Make sure to research and fully understand these three types.  Read examples of them.  Don't fall into the trap of just going with the misleading and shallow cultural understanding of irony.  There is much more to it than that.  Find places where your character's cell phone or computer can die just at the wrong moment, leaving him acting without the knowledge of what others are doing.  Make situations completely the opposite of what your characters expect.  Use verbal irony for humor and to add depth to dialogue.  You'll find your writing becomes much more literary as you do.  

Archetypes

What is an archetype?

In an ongoing attempt to explain how one can make any piece of writing more literary, we can next look at archetypes.  What is an archetype?  It is "a character, an action or a situation that seems to represent [...] universal patterns of human nature" (literarydevices.net)  So what does this mean, exactly?  Most people think of an archetype as a general kind of character, place, etc. that can appear across many literary works.  These behave, in many ways, like a literary allusion [like I wrote about in my last blog] not just to one other work but to several other works at once.  It helps your character feel familiar, normal in some ways, to your reader.

Catalyst

Everyone knows about the stranger walking into a town, saving the day, then walking out again. The common name for this is the catalyst.  The character effects change without being changed.  This is a common figure in so many westerns that it's hard to count. But it can also appear in fantasy, science fiction, literary fiction, romance, and in just about any other genre one can name.  Once you notice this character is a catalyst you know what to expect from him.

Archetype vs. Stereotype

It's important to remember, however, that if you rely too much on the archetype without fleshing out the character and making him unique, he remains a stereotype, a cliched gesture at a character who isn't fully fleshed or interesting. There is a fine line between an archetype and a stereotype.  Han Solo could have remained a stereotype but didn't because he became an interesting character with his own needs, desires, and drives.  He plans to walk out, unaffected like a proper catalyst, but then he returns.  He suddenly becomes a different sort of hero.  Our expectations become challenged as the character becomes more than just a cliche.

Clown/Fool

Another archetype is the clown, as in a Shakespearean clown.  This is not to be confused with a buffoon.  A Shakespearean clown is someone who says humorous or whimsical things, but he says them as social commentary.  He seems a fool, but there's a wisdom in his foolishness.  One great example of that is Olaf from Disney's Frozen.  On one hand, he was quite literally born yesterday.  He is a snowman who looks forward to summer because he does not understand he will melt.  However, he also knows more about love than anyone else.  He embodies both wisdom and foolishness.  A buffoon is someone to be mocked and laughed at, someone who is bereft of wisdom and is just foolish such as Jar Jar Binx from The Star Wars saga.  A buffoon is easy to make into a stereotype and hard to make work on any other level.

See Literarydevices.net, also linked to above, for a short list of other archetypes.  The use of archetypes makes your writing seem more grounded in literature, or, by definition, more literary.  Just beware of stereotypes.  Make sure to flesh your archetypes out.  Try using archetypes and see how they work for you.

Dive into Meaning

These last few blogs, I have addressed various literary devices that turn a decent piece of writing into something more meaningful than just a story.  I have been reading a manuscript written by someone who calls it "literary fiction."  I've had to inform him there is nothing literary about his fiction.  The story meanders without purpose or deeper meaning from event to event, drawing no conclusions and making no suggestion at anything deeper.

What makes literary fiction?  Literary fiction is a manner of describing events that shapes meaning through literary devices such as those I've described.  This genre of fiction exists not just to tell you once upon a time, something happened but that once upon a time, something happened for a reason or multiple reasons.  If you are not writing with purpose and theme, you are not writing in any way that could be called literary.  And any genre, if well handled, can become at least somewhat literary.

What is a theme?  Theme is simply meaning.  You can incorporate multiple meanings into one story, but if there is no theme at all above and beyond bare facts, why are you writing?  Why tell the story?

Obviously, there's much more to it than this, but all of these literary devices are meant for one purpose: to suggest something grander is going on than just simple events.  You can read To Kill a Mockingbird as a set of fictional events in a made-up child's life.  However, if you do, you miss much of what is going on beneath the surface.  You miss the grander themes of prejudice, child abuse, hatred, love, and so much more.  You can read Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet as depressing yarns in which a whole series of people die, but then you may as well read a cheap thriller.  Shakespeare's plays explore questions of love, loyalty, family, murder, revenge, and language, among other things.  Clearly, the authors built these tales as carriers of depth and meaning beyond just the events described.

So how do you explore themes with your works?  This depends on your writing process.  You could simply write the bare bones story and then decide on what meanings you find yourself exploring or you could decide in advance what meaning or meanings you wish to address through your writing.  I decided with my first manuscript to explore child loss as part of the tale because I'm working on healing from the loss of my baby almost seven years ago.  For more on this, look to another of my blogs, Alamanda's Place.  I consciously decided that was one of my themes before I ever started typing.  That was my starting place, why I wrote the story.  Other themes have grown organically out of the story as I've gone along.

 Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling started writing her tale as the story of a child wizard, but as she went along, she consciously wove deeper themes into her novels such as death, resurrection, love, and friendship.  When she started to explore those deeper themes that spoke to the human condition, she began to write fantasy in a more literary fashion.  If you haven't done so already, go to your latest work in progress and brainstorm what themes you can find in your own work.  What greater statements about the human condition do you make?  If you can't find any, what themes do you WANT to explore?   You don't want to tack something on that feels tacked on, nor do you want the narrative to become preachy.  Either way, you're bound to turn readers off.  Look at your favorite books.  See how the authors have woven themes throughout their tales so you can see how they do it.