Post-irony (from Latin 'after' and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

' 'dissimulation, feigned ignorance') is a term used to denote a state in which earnest and ironic intents become muddled. It may less commonly refer to its converse: a return from

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

to earnestness, similar to new sincerity. In literature,

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American writer and professor who published novels, short stories, and essays. He is best known for his 1996 novel ''Infinite Jest'', which ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine ...

is often described as the founder of a "postironic" literature. His essays "E Unibus Pluram" and "Fictional Futures and the Conspicuously Young" describe and hope for a literature that goes beyond postmodern irony. Other authors often described as postironic are

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. His 2000 memoir, '' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'', became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is a ...

,Jensen, Mikkel. 2014. "A Note on a Title: '' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''" in ''

The Explicator ''The Explicator'' is a peer-reviewed, quarterly journal of literary criticism. It began publication in October 1942 and is now both printed and available in an electronic version. Routledge acquired the journal from Heldref Publications in 2009 ...

'', 72:2, 146–150

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Tao Lin Tao Lin (; born July 2, 1983) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published four novels, a novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a memoir, as well as an extensive assortment o ...

, and Alex Shakar.

Overview

Whereas in postmodern irony, something is meant to be cynically mocked and not taken seriously, and in new sincerity, something is meant to be taken seriously or "unironically", post-irony combines these two elements by either having something absurd taken seriously or be unclear as to whether something is meant to be ironic. One example given is the film '' Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'': A central element of post-irony is the obfuscation, ambiguity, watering-down, degradation, or simple lack of meaning and intent in statements and artwork, and whether the creator or disseminator intends this to be celebrated, decried, or met apathetically can itself be part of this uncertainty. As journalist Dmitry Lisovsky writes, "Post-ironic

memes A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ...

..don't even have to be of great quality: I once took 10 random pictures from a few post-ironic meme communities and shuffled the captions between them. Users had a hard time telling the difference between the new ones and those that came before." Post-irony, "meta-irony", and the often vague deconstruction and reconstruction of irony in general, are common elements in millennial and zoomer humor. Post-irony has been stated to be utilized in

internet memes An Internet meme, or meme (, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through social media platforms. Internet memes manifest in a variety of formats, including images, v ...

to spread

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

and as a tool to radicalize people into

extremist Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...

communities, especially relating to the American

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

and related movements.

Criticism

In 2003, Zoe Williams described the increasing popularity of the term with disapproval:Williams, Zoe
"The final irony"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', June 27, 2003.

References

External links

Hirschorn, Michael. "Diary" Slate Magazine
* ttps://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/11/sincerity-not-irony-is-our-ages-ethos/265466/ Sincerity, Not Irony, Is Our Age's Ethos - The Atlantic {{Criticism of postmodernism Irony Criticism of postmodernism

Overview

Criticism

See also

References

External links