Resisting the Norm: Ironic Images of Marx and Confucius
Author(s)
Callahan, William A.
Abstract
Irony as a political strategy goes beyond binary oppositions between power and resistance by opening a space for multiple options that undermine the discourse of singular authority. Examples in Chinese literature include Lu Xun’s ‘True Story of Ah Q,’ the representation of Confucius in the ‘Zhuang zi’ and Marx’s appearance in Zhang Xianliang’s ‘Half of Man Is Woman.’ Confucius is used in the ‘Zhuang zi’ to question Confucianism, whereas Zhang similarly uses the character of Marx to express un-Marxist ideas. Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, a space in which contradictory elements are juxtaposed, suggests the political function of irony.
