Irony and the Logic of Modernity

Modern irony is a Romantic flash of genius. Initially discussed as an ethical problem, it fully develops in the quintessentially modern genre of the novel, from the early 19th century via classical modernism to postmodernity. Also examining how thinkers identify the political contradictions of the 20th century as ironical, this book offers a comprehensive account of the constitutive irony of modernity’s ethical, poetical, and political logic.