Kierkegaard: relations between the concept of negative irony and the film Quanto vale ou é por quilo? (Sérgio Bianchi, 2005)

Abstract

Kierkegaard presents us with Socrates as a negative philosopher. In general, in his dialogues with the Athenians, Socrates formulated several provocations, refuting the arguments of his interlocutors without, however, presenting any positive solution at the end of the debate. The word “negative”, therefore, does not refer to any value judgment regarding Socratic philosophy, being a negative enterprise in the sense that it is designed to undermine the position of others. Following the etymology of the term irony, we have, from the philosophers of Classical Antiquity, the differentiation between eironeia and alazoneia (irony and braggadocio). The word eiron has the meaning of “one who questions”, who poses or poses questions, hence Socrates is considered as such. Both eiron and alazon were taken from Greek comedy, used in the characterization of underhanded, lying and untrustworthy characters. It is from there that the term gains its negative charge. This negative irony, which Kierkegaard observes in the Romantics and in Socrates, helps the study of Bianchi’s films. Starting from philosophical and linguistic readings on the concept of irony, especially from Kierkegaard’s philosophical considerations, the focus of this article is on a deeper analysis of Quanto vale ou é por kilo? (2005) in its relations with the concept of irony. At first, I present a synthesis of the debates on the concept of irony, and then I use the methodology of film analysis to relate the concept to Sérgio Bianchi’s film.