Sociology and the Irony Model

Abstract

The central point is that Schutz's idealization of reciprocity, the matching of subjective intentions in the public world of interactive behaviour, necessarily involves agents in an ironic process. This is largely because, since they are taking so much for granted, they cannot be aware of what is latent in the intentional perspectives of their social partners. In bringing out the pattern of the irony of intersubjective dialectic, the argument makes plain the importance of pretence as a vital concept in philosophy, sociology and hermeneutics. The article closes with a criticism of naive optimism among purveyors of dialectic, recommending a proper concern with the irreconcilables of tragedy.

Your Privilege Is Trending: Confronting Whiteness on Social Media

“…The “humor” of #WhiteProverbs is an example of humor as a relief outlet, a liberating act, and a “reverse discourse” (Pérez, 2013, p. 481; Weaver, 2010) which is a form of agency as resistance (Ortner, 2006). In this article, we risk ruining the humor by explaining it and pointing out the serious games being played by Twitter users, which may “spoil its effect” (Wright, 1978, p. 524).…”

“…Although racism and White privilege are very serious issues, the tone of the hashtag was primarily sarcastic and ironic—it was a playful discussion of a very serious issue. The inclusion of the “context indicator” (Wright, 1978) #WhiteProverbs tells readers that the person tweeting was not expressing his or her own thoughts, but presenting a reverse discourse (Weaver, 2010). This is not to suggest that those involved in the conversation take the topic lightly.…”

Working under intensive surveillance: When does ‘measuring everything that moves’ become intolerable?

“…This is what Muecke (1969) meant when he described irony as creating a sense of kinship between the 'perpetrator' (in this case, managers who are responsible for performance measurement) and the 'victim' (in this case, CSOs who were subject to performance measurement). Thus, it precipitates explicitly social (as opposed to merely solipsistic and intellectual) action because it forces opposing parties who at least share some openness to persuasion to reconsider their own categories of perception and evaluation (Wright, 1978). The space for praxis opens up in a practical analysis because dialectical irony destabilizes an object, namely performance measurement, and renders it ambiguous and contradictory, thereby making it possible to recast it in different terms (Brown, 1983).…”

Middle Aged Men in Lycra and the Performative Irony of Watching Tour de France

“…Irony often overlaps with or is seen as identical to sarcasm and cynicism (Räwel, 2007) or humor and satire (Fine & Martin, 1990). The concept is loaded with ambiguity, opening a conduit for double meanings and social context dependency (Wright, 1978). It is precisely the impossibility of fixating the exact meaning of irony that makes it such an interesting phenomenon from a position of sociology once the performative potentials of ironic communication are investigated.…”