Irony in Action

Irony in Action Anthropology, Practice, and the Moral Imagination

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Hardback (25 Jul 2001)

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Publisher's Synopsis

Irony today extends beyond its classification as a figure of speech and is increasingly recognized as one of the major modes of human experience. This idea of irony as an integral force in social life is at the center of this provocative book. The result of a meeting where anthropologists were invited to explore the politics of irony and the moral responsibilities that accompany its recognition, this book is one of the first to lend an anthropological perspective to this contemporary phenomenon.

The first group of essays explores the limits to irony's liberating qualities from the constrained use of irony in congressional hearings to its reactive presence amid widening disparities of wealth despite decades of world development. The second section presents irony's more positive dimensions through an array of examples such as the use of irony by Chinese writers and Irish humorists. Framed by the editors' theoretical introduction to the issues posed by irony and responses to the essays by two literary scholars, Irony in Action is a timely contribution in the contemporary reinvention of anthropology.

Book information

ISBN: 9780226244228
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Imprint: The University of Chicago Press
Pub date:
Edition: 1
DEWEY: 301
DEWEY edition: 21
Language: English
Number of pages: 276
Weight: 510g
Height: 24mm
Width: 16mm
Spine width: 2mm