The whole destiny of irony is linked to representation, irony ensures the individuation of the represented or the subjectivation of the representer. Classical irony, in fact, consists in showing that what is most universal in representation is the same as the extreme individuality of the represented which serves as its principle (classical irony culminates in the theological affirmation according to which ‘the whole of the possible’ is at the same time the reality of God as a singular being). Romantic irony, for its part, discovers the subjectivity of the principle of all possible representation. … Irony contains an insufferable claim: that of belonging to a superior race… … Humour, on the other hand, claims kinship with a minority… … (there is not a single play on words in Lewis Carroll)…
– Gilles Deleuze and Claire Parnet, Dialogues II, trans. Hugh Tomlinson and Barbara Habberjam, Continuum, London, 2006, pp. 51-2
