MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

There is a growing sense that the aesthetics of American art are moving towards something different than the postmodern aesthetics that gained traction in the 1960s and are known for techniques such as irony and pastiche in response to a perceived crisis in meaning and signification. Some scholars have suggested a post-postmodernism or a New Sincerity, while others see merely a reconstitution of the postmodern. However periodized, it is clear that the aesthetic strategies used by contemporary American artists are shifting, and I argue that the avant-garde pop musician John Maus (who, in interviews, shows considerable theoretical thought) embraces a retro electronic 80s style not as a means of irony but as a way to transcend irony and shows a belief in popular forms as capable of meaningful aesthetic encounters. This is effected not as an entirely different approach from the postmodern, but as a way to move beyond it. In order to overcome this seeming aporia between irony and sincerity, I look at the work of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who wrote occasionally on irony (writing his dissertation on the topic) as well as art. I argue that Kierkegaard’s digression in Repetition on the theatrical farce provides a useful starting point for understanding John Maus’ music and suggests larger possibilities for art that tries to move beyond an ironic or cynical aesthetic.