Comparing IR plots: dismal tragedies, exuberant romances, hopeful comedies and cynical satires

Abstract

In a world where convincing explanations take narrative form, IR theories, too, resort to the basic plot alternatives of tragedy, romance, comedy and irony/satire. While the tendency to view the human condition as tragic pertains especially to the so-called realist school, romantic IR storytellers dwell, for example, among liberals, Marxists and peace researchers. This paper focuses on the lesser analyzed plots of comedy and irony/satire, finding comic traces in normative, constructivist and critical IR research, and the ironic/satiric mood in poststructural studies. Using the criteria of nonviolence, flexibility, self-reflection and innovativeness, the paper evaluates the relative merits and downsides of the different plots, and takes a stand in favor of comic IR theories. The paper argues that comic theories are best equipped to come up with novel solutions to grave world political problems. Mildly hopeful comedies steer clear of tragic despair, exuberant romantic optimism and satiric cynicism. International relationsboth in theory and practiceoften seem chaotic enough: events are difficult to explain afterwards, let alone to predict beforehand, and contradictory interpretations abound. As individual happenings, international relations, as any other human activity, would be incomprehensible. As part of a story though, we can bring some order and meaning into the chaos, and as various stories we can at least compare the competing explanatory bids. Stories turn mere motion into purposeful action, physical movement into something symbolically communicable. In narratives about international relations, state actors often have clear roles and moves are usually made for a reason. What might appear as random bustle is transformed into clear-cut endeavours with beginnings and endings. This paper studies different plot structures used in framing international relations in scholarly discourses. First, attention is given to the role of the narrative in general and the basic plot alternatives. Then, choices explicitly made and discussed in IR researchnamely, references

“A Catharsis for Anxieties”: Insights from Goffman on the Politics of Humour

“…Goffman's dramaturgical approach is, I argue, also useful for studying humour at the everyday level. It in turn might help bridge humour as a concept to existing works focused on the interpersonal dynamics of diplomacy (Neumann 2007; as well as work on satire (Hall 2014;Payne 2017;Kuusisto 2018).…”