Last month I claimed that NH had made me irony-deficient. Today, Zoe Williams in the Guardian has the real dish on irony, dissecting its postmodern use
“not..to lance a boil of duplicity, but rather to undermine sincerity altogether, to beggar the mere possibility of a meaningful moral position.”
Thank you, Zoe! That’s what I’m talking about!
For my generation, a “meaningful moral position” sounds almost oxymoronic. I couldn’t defend or define my own beliefs about right and wrong. Is morality like pornography (“I know it when I see it”)? Is it like art (“I know what I like”)? And yet, I keep trying and trying to do the right thing–whatever the heck that is.
And those smugly post-moral postmoderns tittering behind their hands annoy the bejeezus out of me.
5 responses so far ↓
1 jr // Jun 29, 2003 at 9:29 am
You may need three people to have a “meaningful moral position”. I don’t think you can have it by yourself unless you have a three way split personality where it’s two against one. You already know what the right thing for you is and you will do it as long as your truthful with yourself.
2 Betsy Devine // Jun 29, 2003 at 9:39 am
Nahhhh, the best three-person-positions are immoral–at least if you’re doing it right.
3 Elaine of Kalilily // Jun 29, 2003 at 11:42 am
Heh. I DO like your twisted wit, Betsy. My moral stand is right next to you. Do we need a third?
4 jr // Jun 29, 2003 at 7:18 pm
Just remember who brought it up in the first place ;D
5 Betsy Devine // Jun 29, 2003 at 7:53 pm
Don’t worry, JR, your check is in the mail….