Postirony: The Nonfictional Literature of David Foster Wallace and Dave Eggers

What is postirony? First and foremost, it is a response to the ironic zeitgeist. Moreover, it is the key to understanding a specific form of literature. The contemporary reader is familiar with and - unfortunately - used to postmodernisms ironic, self-reflexive metafiction. Authors like David Foster Wallace and Dave Eggers choose a different path: despite the reign of contemporary irony, they strive to reach the reader on a level beyond, cognitively as well as emotionally - they claim to be sincere and true. Focusing largely on nonfiction by these authors, Lukas Hoffmann explores the means the texts use to achieve something new - a new form of sincerity.