Loss (was Re: cynicism, irony and enjoyment)

Charles Brown CharlesB at CNCL.ci.detroit.mi.us
Tue Mar 23 14:08:03 PST 1999


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>>> Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> 03/22/99 07:08PM >>>
Isn't one of the most important distinctions between irony and sarcasm the fact that people say that irony can be 'lost' on the listener/reader/viewer whereas noone says the same about sarcasm (even though such losses can take place in any communication as illustrated by Angela's protest above)? Isn't this possibility of loss what makes irony enjoyable and even 'precious' to those who think that they 'get it' (whether or not they in fact 'get it,' much less create it)? Is it not why irony is one of the most sophisticated mechanisms to be used in the making of individualism, in that it allows you to experience an immagined community between you (the Reader) and the Author?

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Wouldn't this goal of some listeners not understanding the irony tend to elitism and esotericism ?

Charles Brown



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