The impotence of irony
I have been recently working on the issue of irony for my new book. The ironic gesture allows us to engage in an activity while simultaneously ridiculing it.
Two of my favorite comedians (the great Mitchell and Webb) brilliantly expose the problem with this in the following clip. Enjoy.
December 23rd, 2009 at 8:40 am
nicely put.
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December 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
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December 23rd, 2009 at 9:18 am
This might be true for junenalian satire but what about Horatian Satire?
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:31 am
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December 24th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Nice!
I am interested in where you are going with the ironic gesture for your book.
One of the more frustrating misuses of a word is “irony” or ironic. It drives me crazy when someone will look at, or recall, a situation and label it ironic when in fact it is merely interesting or funny, and not ironic at all.
Any-hoo, merry Christmas all!
Shalom
December 29th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Peter, I could not find your email address, but someone pointed me to this blog. I hope the Bonhoeffer book “Religionless Christianity” is helpful. Peace, Jeffrey
December 29th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’m reading Aristotle’s Poetics right now, and love the way he describes “reversal” and “recognition”, both intriguing precursory ideas to our concepts of irony.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
[...] Pete Rollins on irony. [...]