virus: Irony as public discourse (fwd)

Ken Pantheists (kenpan@axionet.com)
Thu, 11 Apr 1996 12:43:43 -0600

Question. I am thinking of writing an article. My current area of
inquest is irony as public discourse. This works into a number of
issues- especially in terms of Gen-X culture. But I am interested in the
"convulsions" pop culture is experiencing between two or more dominant
discourses (memes) if you will. The current popularity of Angels,
Gargoyles and Vampires speaks of a convulsive 'phasing' between
Christian spirituality and new age humanism. My take on this is that
irony is a form of culturally practiced masochism and spawns pop artists
such as Quentin Terantino (Pulp Fiction was pure genius) and Madonna. I
was wondering if you have any thoughts (or sources) on the evolutionary
purpose of remorse and grief. (From a Darwinian or Darwin-like
viewpoint.)

Mucho Thanx in advance.