In the first part of the book, there is a short presentation of general linguistic functioning of irony that enables us to formulate a basic conceptupal scheme and to state its correspondences in literature, especially in the genre of the novel. The second part deals with the use and conditions of the production of irony in the 17th century literature. The uprise of irony in the novel is related to radical changes in the conception of language and representation of reality. In the third part, irony is studied in two 17th century novels, Scarron´s Roman comique and Cervantes´ Don Quixote. The parallel comparative analysis examines the installation of ironic communication in the texts and offers a new interpretation of the two novels. Zdroj anotace: Web obalkyknih.cz