Kept Company

Where he would use "ideology" I would refer to "dogmatism". I believe we all operate out of ideology whether acknowledged or not. Some ideologies are hegemonic; others, counter-hegemonic. In any case I like world views that promote the value of irony as a way to courtesy and good living.

Irony of this kind is the opposite of ideology, that bastion of catastrophic fixed meanings. As such, it is a virtue of the democratic imagination, an invitation to think differently, opt out, depart from imposed narratives, be a happiness delinquent. [...] The Spanish writer Gian Vincenzo Gravina: "A bore is a person who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company." Spending time with the right kind of book or teacher shows us the parallel definition. An ironist is a person who enhances your solitude with company.

Mark Kingwell from the Globe and Mail (31.08.2013) discussing the value of irony in the context of educational outcomes.

And so for day 1077
24.11.2009