What Is Irony?
de Man, Schlegel, and Kierkegaard on Transcendental Buffoonery
Irony is an ancient term. Quintilian defines it as saying one thing and meaning another.
Paul de Man wrote an essay named after Kierkegaard’s essay, “The Concept of Irony.” In it he says, the title is ironic because irony is not a concept, meaning it can’t be defined. Irony is something we arrive at indirectly. In the essay he claims that the great Roman…
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