Awhile back, I wrote about DFW's quote about how irony was hurting creativity by making people embarrassed to be sincere. He called for people to risk being seen as sentimental.
I have felt (still feel?) the pressure to write in that particularly current ironic voice-- especially when I write poetry. I fail. The sly jokes fall flat. The observations don't hit their marks.
If I write about a heartbroken, brutalized rhino, it turns out okay. I'm not saying I am the new anti-rebel, as DFW put it, but I don't do well talking through a cool, distanced wall. I am that heartbroken rhino. I am that grieving, angry mess of a beast.
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/13/david_foster_wallace_was_right_irony_is_ruining_our_culture/
The two authors of the article also talk about the use of irony in contemporary painting. It really is a heartening piece of writing. It made me feel good and hopeful.
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