Challenging the Wisdom of Proverbs in Anti-Proverbs in Five Languages

Anti-Proverbs in Five Languages: Structural Features and Verbal Humor Devices authored by Anna T. Litovkina and her colleagues, is the latest contribution to the academic discourse on the intriguing topic of anti-proverbs. Taking an interlinguistic, comparative approach, this work promises a more comprehensive perspective on how people make use of such unconventional means of communication, as English, German, French, Russian, and Hungarian examples comprise the rich subject of investigation. In addition to providing a plethora of vivid examples, such a work is also expected to offer an explanation for the communicative purpose of anti-proverbial constructions. When do people use anti-proverbs? How do people use anti-proverbs? And most importantly, why do people use anti-proverbs? This review assesses whether and to what extent the book provides answers to these questions. The structure of the review does not chronologically follow the structure of the book; instead, it endeavors to reflect on the content of the work according to the major topics it immerses in.