irony

The topic of irony seems particularly relevant to both Buruma’s book and to the society of the Netherlands in general. The first quote is particularly true of Theo van Gogh. He seemed to use irony as an escape from any blame in his work; everything was a joke, not meant to be taken seriously. But clearly was meant to be taken seriously. His death itself was ironic; van Gogh was one who ‘supported anyone…who defied conventions, who rebelled against social and religious constraints.” (108) while his killer may not have deviated from religious constraints his actions most definitely defied social ones. Yet these actions that van Gogh so previously would have supported in fact ended up killing him.

For the religious attire, I think that this use of religious clothing/jewelry/etc as an assertion of difference as much of a sign of devotion is something that occurs in all countries where people find their culture or religion to be in the minority. I’m not sure how ironic it is, but there is often a strong desire in people to stand out from the crowd but at the same time belong to a community. By wearing a headscarf women in Holland or in America can say that they are proud to be Muslim, proud to be different from the norm, but at the same time conform to the social norms of other Muslims. With either choice, choosing to wear it or not to wear it, they are conforming to one norm and defying another. So how important is the choice really?

I find the quote about rappers to be interesting. The Dutch are supposed to be both tolerant, yet also are pro free speech. Rappers are allowed to use words to say things that they would never actually do in real life. Their words are like weapons in a sense. Is music or art, like irony or use of irony in these medias simply another way to escape blame for our actions?

I’m having a harder time tying Wouters and Beaulieu’s article with this idea of irony…but perhaps after reading it over again I will come up with something and add more here….

As far as Buruma’s theory of the alienation of the 2nd generation, I’m not sure how much I buy it. Speaking from the viewpoint of the child of immigrants I’ve felt my fair share of alienation, of not fitting into either of the worlds I’m forced to live in, and I have not yet felt myself being forced to affiliate myself with extremist groups. Perhaps Islam is more at odds with Dutch society (I mean obviously it is) than Hinduism (my parent’s religion) is with American society, but I would think that 2nd generation Muslims in the Netherlands would be able to find communities with each other rather than being forced into something more extreme.