ABSTRACT
Stiob was a peculiar form of irony that differed from sarcasm, cynicism, derision or any of the more familiar genres of absurd humor. The analytic apparatus of "American stiob" is all Alexei Yurchak's. Hypernormalization, hegemony of form, performative shift, stiob itself – these are all categories he developed prior to the project. "American stiob" will find less a synthetic analytic approach and more a mosaic patterning where two different ways of thinking have been juxtaposed, so that when one steps back, a common project and argument becomes visible. Although "American stiob" was very much a product of its historical moment, it does seem like an apt and perhaps even urgent time to return to investigating the hypernormalization of late liberal political communication and what might emerge from its ruins. And so there will be a sequel to "American stiob," even if the author anticipate that its tone will be more tragic than comic as befits our times.
