Irony in Ireland
Mention of Kerry yesterday in the context of Ireland's impending general election, reminds us of that great Irish scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, biographer, intellectual, playwright, editor, prose stylist, political theorist and anti-IRA activist, Conor Cruise O'Brien. To get us into the mood for the coming 48 hours, here's his uproarious account of electioneering in Kerry in 1969:
"The Labour party itself... had, fairly recently, taken to itself the designation of Socialist, and the distinction between Socialist and Communist is not clear to all Irish minds, and especially not to all Irish clerical minds, especially when they don't want it to be clear. My wife, shortly after this time, heard a priest in Dingle, County Kerry, deliver a sermon on 'Communism' and 'Socialism'. The priest gave Communism the expected treatment. Then he went on to Socialism. 'Socialism,' he said 'is worse than Communism. Socialism is a heresy of Communism. Socialists are a Protestant variety of Communists.' Not merely Communists, but Protestant Communists! Not many votes for Labour in Dingle!"
From States of Ireland (1972). There's more than a hint of irony in that excerpt and there's a reason for that. The figure that influenced O'Brien's thinking more than any other was Edmund Burke (1729-1797), the Anglo-Irish political philosopher, whose writings and speeches sparkled with irony. In his introduction to Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, O'Brien wrote:
"Irony is a marked characteristic of Irish writing; I have argued elsewhere that the Irish predicament with its striking contrast between pretences and realities has been unusually favourable to the development of this mode of expression."
Czeslaw Milosz in his poem Not This Way observed that irony is "the glory of slaves", while Christopher Hitchens in his "Letters to a Young Contrarian" noted that, "the sharp aside and the witty nuance are the consolation of losers and are the only thing that pomp and power can do nothing about." Burke, Milosz, Hitchens and Conor Cruise O'Brien... all fascinated by terror — French, Soviet, Islamist, Irish — and all sources to be called upon after the polls close tomorrow evening.
Comments
Planning a séance, are you? Don't know how you are going to be "calling upon" Burke and Milosz tomorrow night without one. Give both my regards if you get to speak to them and if you get a chance, ask Burke what he thinks of Sarko.
Posted by: Simon Reynolds | May 23, 2007 11:31 AM
Socialists are Protestant Communists? My, how scary. Perhaps the good father was thinking of George Bernard Shaw.
O'Brien's book "The Siege" is an excellent (although somewhat dated) history of Zionism. I have "The Great Melody," his book about Burke, around here somewhere. I bought it 5 years ago and haven't yet read it. I feel slightly guilty whenever I happen to spot it.
Posted by: Donna | May 23, 2007 12:46 PM