"Irony used to feel like a defense against getting played," writes the novelist Hari Kunzru, "a way for a writer to ward off received ideas and lazy thinking." Broadly speaking, irony is the rhetorical strategy of saying one thing yet meaning another, usually the opposite. It also might be the most abused trope of our time. It's beyond substance over style. It's the absurd over the authentic. "It also made us feel nihilistic and defeated," Kunzru continues. "More recently we've seen how it can be a screen for reactionary politics." In the preface to his 1999 book,
Irony is for Suckers
Irony is for Suckers
Irony is for Suckers
"Irony used to feel like a defense against getting played," writes the novelist Hari Kunzru, "a way for a writer to ward off received ideas and lazy thinking." Broadly speaking, irony is the rhetorical strategy of saying one thing yet meaning another, usually the opposite. It also might be the most abused trope of our time. It's beyond substance over style. It's the absurd over the authentic. "It also made us feel nihilistic and defeated," Kunzru continues. "More recently we've seen how it can be a screen for reactionary politics." In the preface to his 1999 book,