Post-irony

Post-irony (from the Latin, post- "after"^[1], and Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning dissimulation or feigned ignorance)^[2] is a term alternately used to connote a return from irony to earnestness, or more commonly, a state in which earnest and ironic intents become muddled.

Examples of post-ironic artwork include South African band Die Antwoord, and the Werner Herzog film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.^[3]

While this term has become increasingly popular^[4], the idea of post-irony is not without its detractors:

...there are a number of misconceptions about irony that are peculiar to recent times....the eighth is that "post-ironic" is an acceptable term - it is very modish to use this, as if to suggest one of three things: i) that irony has ended; ii) that postmodernism and irony are interchangeable, and can be conflated into one handy word; or iii) that we are more ironic than we used to be, and therefore need to add a prefix suggesting even greater ironic distance than irony on its own can supply. None of these things is true.

—Zoe Williams, The Guardian

References

External links

• Hirschorn, Michael. "Diary" Slate Magazine
• Shaviro, Steven. “Prophecies of the Present,” Socialism and Democracy, vol. 24, no.2
• Spohrer, Lauren. "The Rumpus Interview with BEBE ZEVA’s Megan Boyle" The Rumpus