irony
Bernd Wahlbrinck (Bernd.Wahlbrinck@t-online.de)
Fri, 31 Dec 1999 12:49:59 +0100
meredith wrote:
>has anyone seen a little (a teensy bit) of irony in the fact that
>we've been
>discussing lennon and his assassin when today, thursday, george
>harrison was
>stabbed in his house? i know its a stretch..but...
YES OF COURSE, and i still believe the term irony fits.
if, say in a satirical play, there are people on a stage discussing
the terrible problems they have, e.g. deciding which cheeseburger
tastes better, mcdonalds or burger kings, and photos of starving
children are projected onto a screen behind them at the same time,
the effect will certainly be (intentionally) ironic.
if a reporter is in a country where people are starving to death, and
he suddenly sees an ad about the superb taste of some cheeseburger on
his portable TV, it may have a very ironic effect on him - although
it was utter coincidence.
therefore, it does not matter whether it is intentional or not - only
the effect matters.
and so, if some people are discussing lennon s assasssination at
length, and they are unaware of the fact that right now george
harrison has just been stabbed, this discrepancy may certainly have
an ironic effect on somebody who (already) knows - like meredith, for
example.
so don t apologize, meredith. there is no need to be forgiven - or
for punishment either...
Bernie