Theorie der Ironie

The study has two objectives: to determine the general structure of irony and to show in detail how it is applied in each particular case. In addition to typological differences, the diverse historical manifestations of irony are taken into account. Among the authors the study deals with are Socrates/Plato and Aristophanes; Schlegel, Hegel, and Kierkegaard; Swift and Voltaire; Flaubert, Proust, Thomas Mann, Joyce, and Musil. While thus touching on Socratic, Romantic, and modern irony, Japp does not limit himself to the interpretation of individual ironies as they can be encountered in different times and texts, but always takes into consideration the significance of irony for a general knowledge. The book therefore concludes by inquiring about the knowledge of irony.