Metalanguage in a world of nonsense based on the book Alice in the Wonderland

Alice gradually explores Carroll's Wonderland in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, serving as a guide for the reader through this world. Carroll's world of nonsense reflects a different type of speech where statements of characters are taken literally. This method of storytelling stands as a foundation in Carroll's world. He accentuates his mastery of the subtleties of semantics, which appears to be an underlying principle of nonsense in the book. Nonsense is the essence of metalanguage …

…meaning. In addition, the setting in which Humpty Dumpty asks Alice for her name, suggests that the name must have a meaning, as it describes the quality of a person. Carroll's stories challenge logic in an ironic manner. He developes considerations about metalanguage in a context where logical reasoning happens to be a source of humor. The reader's irritation with nonsense turns into laughter and a parody on language throughout the book. By Anastasia Khizhnichenko