Ironic Distancing: Injecting Bigotry into the American Mainstream
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation defines ironic distancing as a particular function of the trope of irony used to deny a speaker's agency and/or responsibility for a statement by claiming, often post-hoc, that the ostensible meaning of their statement has been misinterpreted and was, in fact, meant to be interpreted ironically. The strategic ambiguity of this ironic polysemy allows for statements to avoid criticism by being framed as mere jokes or having an ironic meaning opposed to the ostensible meaning. This denial of rhetorical agency often leads to rhetorical decay as defined by Holly Fulton-Babicke. This denial of agency allows bigotry and other violent and dehumanizing rhetorics to remain in contexts where they would usually be forbidden. This dissertation traces the evolution and use of ironic distancing from early internet culture into real world political applications and identities through the #GamerGate movement. From there, ironic distancing became adopted by alt-right groups such as the Proud Boys, and then into mainstream American politics through the MAGA movement up to and including the political rhetoric of President Donald Trump and his rhetorical denial of the events of the January 6th insurrection. Ironic distancing has now become a common way to inject bigotry into mainstream situations, allowing for previously backstage discrimination to become a normalized part of the American mainstream rhetorical environment.
abstract: This dissertation defines ironic distancing as a particular function of the trope of irony used to deny a speaker's agency and/or responsibility for a statement by claiming, often post-hoc, that the ostensible meaning of their statement has been misinterpreted and was, in fact, meant to be interpreted ironically. The strategic ambiguity of this ironic polysemy allows for statements to avoid criticism by being framed as mere jokes or having an ironic meaning opposed to the ostensible meaning. This denial of rhetorical agency often leads to rhetorical decay as defined by Holly Fulton-Babicke. This denial of agency allows bigotry and other violent and dehumanizing rhetorics to remain in contexts where they would usually be forbidden. This dissertation traces the evolution and use of ironic distancing from early internet culture into real world political applications and identities through the #GamerGate movement. From there, ironic distancing became adopted by alt-right groups such as the Proud Boys, and then into mainstream American politics through the MAGA movement up to and including the political rhetoric of President Donald Trump and his rhetorical denial of the events of the January 6th insurrection. Ironic distancing has now become a common way to inject bigotry into mainstream situations, allowing for previously backstage discrimination to become a normalized part of the American mainstream rhetorical environment.
author: Prather, Glen Franklin
language: en_US
language: English
keywords: Alt-right, Bigotry, GamerGate, Irony, MAGA, Memes
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:47:03Z
provider: University of Nevada - Reno
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Nevada - Reno