Irony in Postmodern Literature
Irony isn't exclusive to postmodernism, but the pomos just own it. Before we dive in, take a look at Shmoop's definition of irony, paying closest attention to verbal irony. It's kind of like sarcasm…just fancier. Irony can be playful, or it can be used to highlight the absurdity or severity of serious situations.
Yep, it's a multitasker.
By the 1990s, irony had exploded onto the pop culture scene. In fact, it had become so popular that it seemed to have lost its impact—people even started talking about the end of irony, especially in the immediate wake of 9/11. For some, irony seemed to have no place following the very real horror of this tragedy. As guys like Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller had shown in response to WWII, though, irony can always be an effective literary device: it may lay low for a while, but it always returns.
Chew on This
Want to see the ultimate fictional treatment of irony? Then check out Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (1961), which is all about folks who find themselves stuck in ironic situations: so much so that the term "catch-22" has become part of our everyday language.
How does Kurt Vonnegut use ironic themes? For a great example, take a look at Cat's Cradle (1963). Even the title is an ironic play on the game of cat's cradle, which involves twisting string to create a crisscross figure. We could see the finished product as making up a pattern, but one of the characters declares that there's "no damn cat, and no damn cradle." In other words, there's no big meaning or absolute truth out there.