Irony, Cynicism and Satire in The Floating Opera

What is it about?

Peter Sloterdijk’s distinction between satirical and cynical uses of irony suggests limits to the subversive potential of postmodern carnival. John Barth’s first novel 'The Floating Opera' explores this distinction when its narrator’s attacks on the values of money capitalism shade into ironic adaptation to them. The preference for parody over satire in Barth’s later fiction means his metafictional narrators are prey to the kinds of 'enlightened false consciousness' already diagnosed in his first realist novel.

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