The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] I was unaware that Mohammed had posted his queries to the list, but now that I have seen them, perhaps I should forward my clarification to all...just in case there should be any lingering doubts! Dear Mohammed I am only too happy to confirm my intended use of irony to describe the Kurdish people as 'Saddam's'. I had intended the irony to be apparent through the inclusion of the phrase within the same paragraph as my disparaging comments and my previous use of the word 'own' within inverted commas. However, I am well aware of the limitations of 'written speech' and I am pleased to reassure you that I do not regard the Kurds as 'Saddam's people' any more than I regard the Iraqis as belonging to him. You write about how irony is conventionally expressed in writing, but I think you have missed one other telltale sign, the setting of any comment in the context in which it is made. I hope that my previous posts and the general message of the post in question, will leave you in no doubt to my admiration for and solidarity towards the Kurdish people, oppressed by both the Iraqi and Turkish governments. Finally, I would caution against your assertion that 'the actual meaning is as I have understood it'. As communication studies would have us believe, *I* am the only person who knows the actual *meaning* of what I wrote! Unfortunately, I was not as clear as I could have been and this has led to your erroneous *interpretation* of what I wrote. I hope that the matter is now resolved. Yours in solidarity and friendship, Diarmuid ----- Original Message ----- From: "CASI Lists Manager" <lists-manager@casi.org.uk> To: <diarmuidfogarty@onetel.net.uk> Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 6:15 PM Subject: followup > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2002 17:52:25 +0100 > From: Mohammed Ali <MALI@gw.hackney.gov.uk> > To: lists-manager@casi.org.uk > Subject: Re: your message to the CASI discussion list > > Dear colleagues, > Thank you all for your prompt reply in > defence of the author. I give him the benefit of the doubt by awaiting > the reply straight from the horse's mouth. Although I am a Kurd by > ethnicity and Iraqi by nationality, culturally I am more British than > Kurdish or Iraqi. As well as being multicultural, I am also multilingual > in the three languages to an acceptable standard. > In speech, I can tell sarcasm and irony by their > intonations and/or the speaker's tone of voice. My favourite radio and > television programmes are those of satire, particularly political. In > writing, punctuation is adopted to indicate such linguistic features. > There is no exclamation mark or any other punctuation mark to denote the > sarcasm. With the exception of the quotation"Saddam's people", the rest of > the sentence is his own words and the actual meaning is as I have > understood it. If, however, the intended meaning is as you have understood > it and the author confirms, then I stand to be corrected and apologise for > raising a false alarm. Finally, I look forward to CASI resuming its good > work for the Iraqi and Kurdish peoples. Regards to you all, > Muhamad > _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk