The Relationship between Irony, Sarcasm and Cynicism

In this article irony, sarcasm and cynicism are described as particular forms of communication that reflect communication itself. The conceptualization of the different rhetorical figures is based on the theory of communication as brought forth by Niklas Luhmann in systems theory. Communication is not understood as the (mutual) transmission of information between subjects, but as the sequential, intra-systemic selection of the communicative distinctions information, utterance, and understanding (for instance within an interaction system). Hence it is possible — in a very selective way — to describe irony as a self-referential and sarcasm as an external-referential form of the reflection of communication (within communication). Cynicism reflects precisely the connectivity between irony and sarcasm. Thus cynicism can be abstractly understood as the unity of the difference between irony and sarcasm.