Speaking with Forked Tongue: Irony in Contention between Schlegel and Hegel
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55578/jlcas.2604.006Keywords:
Friedrich Schelling, Friedrich Schlegel, G.W.F. Hegel, irony, romantic irony, romantic movementAbstract
This article aims to explore the nature and relevance of irony, especially so-called “romantic irony” closely associated with the ideas of the German philosopher Friedrich Schlegel, by investigating the controversy that erupted at the beginning of the nineteenth century between Schlegel and G.W.F. Hegel. The philosophical, moral, social and political ramifications of Schlegel's theories regarding irony are the main topics of discussion. These were the elements of Schlegel's theory that drew Hegel's severe criticism, which has had a significant impact on the subsequent scholarly discussion of the subject. Many European and American intellectuals have intervened in and developed the field of irony in the aftermath of the disagreement between these two well-known German thinkers. The so-called “irony debate” is of continuing interest because this early contretemps between Hegel and Schlegel on the battlefield of “irony” foreshadowed many features of current and ongoing scholarly debates among postmodernists, poststructuralists, materialists, Marxists, liberals and conservatives. This study differs from most philosophical analyses of the controversy by emphasising the gendered aspects of both Schlegel’s and Hegel’s positions.
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