The ironic speech situation: discursive democracy, citizenship, and humor

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The ironic speech situation discursive
democracy, citizenship, and humor

• Sammy Basu PhD
• Associate Professor of Politics
• Willamette University
• Salem Oregon, USA

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Overview

• I. Deliberative democracy
• II. Whats so bad about humor?
• III. What is humor?
• IV. Whats so bad about deliberative democracy?
• V. The ironic speech situation

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I. Deliberative democracy

• Representative democracy and communitarian
  alternatives
  
• Jurgen Habermas and the Ideal Speech Situation
  according to which In the final analysis, the
  normative content arises from the very structure
  of communicative actions (199626).

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II. Whats so bad about humor?
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1. The buffoon
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• For Habermas (1982271), jokes, fictional
  representations, irony, games, and so on, rest on
  intentionally using categorical confusions which,
  in the wake of the differentiation of
  validity-claims and corresponding modes
  (being/illusion, is/ought, essence/appearance),
  are seen through as category mistakes.

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2. The cynic, or misanthrope
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3. The boor
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4. The hysteric
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III. What is humor?
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The essence of humor
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Modes of appreciation
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Theories of Humor
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Theories of Humor
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Theories of Humor
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IV. Whats so bad about deliberative democracy?
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1. Buffoon, or capacity for

• Holistic critic
• Specific critic
• Linguistic critic

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Holistic criticism Modern Times
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• Specific
• Criticism

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• Linguistic criticism
• Support our tropes

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• 2. Boor,
• or
• Devils
• Advocate?

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• It would seem that you cannot be funny without
  being vulgar . For it is not only sex that is
  vulgar. So are death, childbirth and poverty,
  the other three subjects upon which the best
  music-hall humour turns. And respect for the
  intellect and strong political feeling, if not
  actually vulgar, are looked upon as being in
  doubtful taste. You cannot be really funny if
  your main aim is to flatter the comfortable
  classes it means leaving out too much. To be
  funny, indeed, you have got to be serious.
  Orwell (1968)

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• 3. Cynic
• (and misanthrope) or necessary hostility?

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4. Hysteria or just cracking up?
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V. The ironic speech situation