This project was developed for the course Knowledge Organisation and Extraction by Aldo Gangemi at Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, within the Master’s Degree in Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge.
The ontology explores the relationship between irony and creativity, framing irony as a creative event that arises from the tacit agreement between the ironist and the interpreter. Rather than treating creativity as an isolated act of invention, the project views it as a dynamic process of shared understanding, where meaning is continuously negotiated through interaction, context, and intent.
What is irony?
Irony is the art of saying something while meaning its opposite — a subtle play between appearance and reality 🎭. It is a communicative act that depends on context, knowledge, and interpretation.
From this perspective, irony becomes a creative phenomenon:
- ✨ It engages imagination and interpretation.
- 🧠 It depends on mutual understanding between the speaker and the observer.
- 💬 It produces new meanings through tension and ambiguity.
The ontology aims to map this creative tension, illustrating how irony emerges, evolves, and connects minds through overlapping layers of meaning.