| This study advances two interrelated hypotheses. First, it attempts to demonstrate that "redescription" underscored the ironic and satiric elements of much of Poe's and Melville's experimental work, and secondly, it argues for the idea of "embedded irony," an irony born from the incongruity between the way a character interprets a text or embedded narrative, and the way a character eventually changes based on that interpretation. I suggest that a type of situational irony (an incongruity between result and expectation) manifests itself when characters in these fictional works attempt to replicate or counter (in their own fictional worlds) a plot or characterization from another narrative. This study relies upon concepts of irony developed by scholars such as Richard Rorty, Wayne Booth, Douglas Muecke, and Claire Colebrook, as well as insights into narrative theory from authors such as Gerard Genette and Gregory Currie. Arguments regarding the evolving nature of language in the nineteenth century in the work of Emerson and Thoreau, and discussions about symbolic writing and cryptography by J.T. Irwin and Shawn Rosenheim also provide conceptual foundations. Focusing primarily on Melville's Moby-Dick and Pierre, as well as Poe's Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym and selected short stories, this study aims to expand the conceptual scope of irony while highlighting the comedic aspects of some of the more influential works of the nineteenth century. The study concludes with a discussion of how elements of embedded irony in the work of Poe and Melville may also inform studies of twentieth century postmodern literature. |
