Irony : a mutli-disciplinary approach to the translation of a literary concept

![CDATA[Irony, employed historically in prose, poetry and conversation in Arabic and English, is a highly rhetorical and elusive tool, and is difficult to define in terms of style and language. Variable features affect the quality of irony, and studies dedicated to its use, in general, have tackled the concept from its poetic standpoint and stopped short of delving into its formal realization (Booth, 1974; Handwerk, 1985; Finlay, 1990; Muecke, 1969, 1982; Muir, 1990; Winner, 1988; Hutcheon, 1995; Simpson, 2004). Although they differ in detail, these studies unanimously stress the duality of meaning in irony.]]