Abstract:
In Sepedi, there is a problem of using irony instead of satire in reference to literary genres. The difference between the two concepts is that irony is a figure of speech and satire is a text type. To bring clarity on this issue, an attempt was made to give a thorough explanation of these concepts. In addition to this, emphasis was on the indication of how irony is employed in writing satire , explanation of structure of genres classified as irony, the correct name for such writings and an indication of how style differentiates those genres. Satire as a literary genre, like moral and didactical narratives has the aim of exposing evil in the society. In the light of this, an attempt was made to differentiate between satire as a literary genre and as a didactical narrative. In an attempt to clarify this, use was made of narratological model which emphasises content, plot and style in genre analysis. Irony as a figure of speech is embedded in the analysis of style in a text. This implies contrast which may be vertical or horizontal, depending on the position of words, sentences or morphemes in a sentence. When used vertically, it gives a meaning different from the reality, thus saying the opposite of what one means. To give a thorough explanation of the concept of satire, it was differentiated from moral stories by using two short stories namely, ‘Nna nka se je dipute…’ from Mantšhaotlogele (1985) by S.N. Nkadimeng and ‘Nka se sa boeletša’ from Medupi ya megokgo (1985) by D.L.M Mpepele. The two short stories were preferred in this study because of remarkable resemblances in respect of their content. They both outline the conflict between the child and a parent and they are similar in setting and milieu. The differences of these concepts as outlined in the summary of this work lies in their style. In his work, Nkadimeng stated the conflict in such a way that it is resolved by introducing a new character, the father in this case, who seemed to be passive all along. He intervenes in the conflict to act as the conscience of the mother, jolting her to her senses on time. Nkadimeng’s style is cool and calm, thus creates a pleasant atmosphere. Mpepele outlined the conflict until the parent acknowledges his wrong behaviour and confesses that he will never do it again. The father thus learned a hard way. Mpepele’s style is sharp, self – biting and spells out venom which effectively intercepts the lesson the father must learn.
