The state of irony in China

Abstract

In everyday life, people in China as elsewhere have to confront large-scale incongruities between different representations of history and state. They do so frequently by way of indirection, that is, by taking ironic, cynical or embarrassed positions. Those who understand such indirect expressions based on a shared experiential horizon form what I call a 'community of complicity'. In examples drawn from everyday politics of memory, the representation of local development programmes and a dystopic novel, I distinguish cynicism and 'true' irony as two different ways to form such communities. This distinction proposes a renewed attempt at understanding social inclusion and exclusion. I also suggest that irony, so defined, might be more conducive to an anthropology that is ethnographic and dialogical.

On Cynicism: Activist and Artistic Responses to Corruption in Ghana

“…Cynicism emerged as an accusation (Steinmüller 2016) to create an ethical distance from those not willing to respond to corruption. Sloterdijk's use of the term, however, gives the impression of an oppositional politics: either one's indifference leads one to do nothing or one acts bravely, performing social critique (Steinmüller 2011). Yet in responding to corruption and to the cynicism of others, Ghanaian activists and artists held different positionalities and followed separate paths to commentary, ones that demonstrate different kinds of activist sociality and subjectivities.…”

“…Sloterdijk wrote about cynicism in the wake of a conservative turn in German politics after the uprisings of 1968 (Shea 2010, 146). As his philosophical meditation on cynicism continues to inform the various registers of political indifference experienced by citizens in contemporary nation‐states, we need to address its adequacy for ethnographic description (Steinmüller 2011, 33). I argue that looking at people's responses to cynicism from the comparative perspective of activists and artists in Ghana constitutes a fruitful endeavor, because each group participated in politics and speculated about their nation's future in distinct ways.…”

The politics of scorn in Syria and the agency of narrated involvement

“…An ironic attitude may create only the illusion of critical political agency, and might in fact confirm rather than unsettle existing power relations (Herzfeld ). Steinmüller (; ) shows that ironically revealing the unreality of official discourse is not necessarily politically subversive. He argues that the distance between official discourse and everyday knowledge opens up the possibility not of political opposition, but of drawing boundaries of inclusion and exclusion.…”

Steinmüller, Hans and SusanneBrandstädter (eds.) 2016. Irony, cynicism and the Chinese state. New York: Routledge. 193 pp. Hb.: US$145. ISBN: 978-1-138-94314-8.

“…In spite of this breadth, the volume's anthropological lens maintains an admirably tight theoretical focus. Several of the essays build on Steinmüller's previous work (see Steinmüller , ) which also helps to create a sense of unity and dialogue between the different chapters. Perhaps the most frequently employed example of this is Steinmüller's analytical point that cynicism and irony define inner and outer circles of like worldviews and moral alliances (pp.…”