One point that is sometimes overlooked w/r/t Wallace and irony is that even though he critiqued it in his non-fiction as a "servant of the powers that be," he never abandoned it in his novels and short stories. He was not an exemplar of the "New Sincerity." He wrote highly ironic, satirical prose right up to the end of his life. It's just that his characters tended to be more well-rounded and emotionally vulnerable than some of the cooler, flatter entities you find in, say, a DeLillo novel.
To me, his last novel, The Pale King, feels like an attempt at "sincerity" or a departure from the irony he complained about. But it seems like he hadn't quite figured out how to work from that orientation. The novel feels like (and probably is) a draft, where he's trying to find this new way.
You're right, especially the opening of that novel, which has a real Walt Whitman feel to it. I was thinking more of his other late work, Oblivion, which is so dark, multi-layered, and ironic, e.g., "Mr. Squishy"
Looking forward to Part III, as each of these is excellent; articulating something I've been trying to grapple with for a number of years. It also speaks, though indirectly, with what I see as the failures of George Saunders' output post-2016.
I'm thinking mostly about his contributions to the New Yorker(specifically "Little St. Don"). But I think that reality has caught up and outpaced him, or as you put it "reality performs its own irony on us." He hasn't devolved into cynicism, or even kynicism, but seems to almost have an almost Urn sensibility. A detached sentimentality. Or maybe he's just a neoliberal with good jokes.
Jennifer Wilson wrote about his latest in Bookforum, and it highlighted Saunders' limitations much better than I.
The problem with sincerity is that it is (almost always) tainted with hypocrisy. The problem with irony…well, you point out all the angles far better than I could.
But those Isuzu ads. Sheesh. Do you think there is one person in the entire world that saw those and thought I want to buy that car? If I buy this crappy car, it will show my “fearlessness and irreverence.” [I think Isuzu ‘s main business these days is diesel engines.] The ad business is such a funny game… to get a car company to spend millions on lampooning itself is a great hustle. And the “creatives” in advertising are somehow surviving and thriving, even with raise of algorithms Google whose ads that deliver measurable results.
On the question of kynicism becoming cynicism, I actually think someone like Jon Stewart is a better illustration of what Sloterdijk is referring to than Trump is. Stewart might very well be a practitioner of kynicism, but what he fosters in the culture is the kind of cynicism that enables smart people to chuckle (or groan) knowingly and then move on to their next diversion.
This is really interesting, thank you for sharing. One note: the quote at the bottom of Part II is fucked up. Idk if you wanna fix cus not a big deal, just fyi. Looking forward to Part III.
One point that is sometimes overlooked w/r/t Wallace and irony is that even though he critiqued it in his non-fiction as a "servant of the powers that be," he never abandoned it in his novels and short stories. He was not an exemplar of the "New Sincerity." He wrote highly ironic, satirical prose right up to the end of his life. It's just that his characters tended to be more well-rounded and emotionally vulnerable than some of the cooler, flatter entities you find in, say, a DeLillo novel.
yeah thats true, i should have pointed this out more clearly
To me, his last novel, The Pale King, feels like an attempt at "sincerity" or a departure from the irony he complained about. But it seems like he hadn't quite figured out how to work from that orientation. The novel feels like (and probably is) a draft, where he's trying to find this new way.
You're right, especially the opening of that novel, which has a real Walt Whitman feel to it. I was thinking more of his other late work, Oblivion, which is so dark, multi-layered, and ironic, e.g., "Mr. Squishy"
Looking forward to Part III, as each of these is excellent; articulating something I've been trying to grapple with for a number of years. It also speaks, though indirectly, with what I see as the failures of George Saunders' output post-2016.
Interesting—how?
I'm thinking mostly about his contributions to the New Yorker(specifically "Little St. Don"). But I think that reality has caught up and outpaced him, or as you put it "reality performs its own irony on us." He hasn't devolved into cynicism, or even kynicism, but seems to almost have an almost Urn sensibility. A detached sentimentality. Or maybe he's just a neoliberal with good jokes.
Jennifer Wilson wrote about his latest in Bookforum, and it highlighted Saunders' limitations much better than I.
The problem with sincerity is that it is (almost always) tainted with hypocrisy. The problem with irony…well, you point out all the angles far better than I could.
But those Isuzu ads. Sheesh. Do you think there is one person in the entire world that saw those and thought I want to buy that car? If I buy this crappy car, it will show my “fearlessness and irreverence.” [I think Isuzu ‘s main business these days is diesel engines.] The ad business is such a funny game… to get a car company to spend millions on lampooning itself is a great hustle. And the “creatives” in advertising are somehow surviving and thriving, even with raise of algorithms Google whose ads that deliver measurable results.
I think it made people think they were just "buying" it
On the question of kynicism becoming cynicism, I actually think someone like Jon Stewart is a better illustration of what Sloterdijk is referring to than Trump is. Stewart might very well be a practitioner of kynicism, but what he fosters in the culture is the kind of cynicism that enables smart people to chuckle (or groan) knowingly and then move on to their next diversion.
This is really interesting, thank you for sharing. One note: the quote at the bottom of Part II is fucked up. Idk if you wanna fix cus not a big deal, just fyi. Looking forward to Part III.