David Foster Wallace on Realism, Irony, & Commercial Art

A brief clip from an interview: David Foster Wallace discusses Realism, Irony, & Commercial Art.

[ndg]

He's talking about merging one's sensitivity and ability to cry with one's 'coolness' factor or post-modern sensibility. Everything is about irony today--if one expresses sensitivity, there's an immediate danger of being labelled sentimental.

[borjon]

The "inner sap" sounds a great deal to me like the "sacred"... something that can't or shouldn't be subjected to parody and humor.

[arandomnerd]

Wish I could have met this wonderful soul

[EyeLean]

Nice clip. Nice image, too. Thanks for uploading.

[IamTHEredux]

Wow. What a brilliant way to explain something so many people feel.

[plasticbratt]

@moffettone -

This particular clip can be heard in two different episodes of PRI's To the Best of Our Knowledge. If you search the shows archives, you will find a few DFW appearances. Most notably, there is a Wallace retrospective episode released after his death, which includes clips from previous shows along with some really good/moving interviews with Amy Wallace and others. The KCRW Bookworm episodes are far better, I think, but the TTBOOK stuff is really valuable.

[proustie]

@ndg43 Yes, and it's interesting how that set of worries resonates throughout his work. Like the Harper's essay about usage, where he's talking about "discourse communities" (or whatever the phrase is) in schools and the need to be accepted by peers even if the content of those peers' world-view is kinda anathema.

[TheBloobleeblah]

Someone accidentally hit the dislike button. Try again.

[beauknows]

DFW, the originator of 'touching grass'

[ecaepevolhturt]

He thinks "The Simpsons" is important art. lol. Oscar Wilde once said that, "All art is entirely useless."

[RevolutionaryLoser]

I think I'm in the minority that doesn't have this problem at all. If you feel you can't reconcile your sense of irony with your basic emotions maybe reading Homestuck would help.