The First Supper Postmodern Irony as Subversive Rhetorical Strategy

In this essay, the use of postmodern rhetorical irony as a subversive strategy is explored. In particular, Susan Dorothea White's painting, The First Supper, is analyzed as a subversive, postmodern ironic reading of Leonardo da Vinci's famed work, The Last Supper. This analysis suggests that subversive irony assumes distinctive and complex technical and theoretical characteristics, most relevant to its postmodern nature; chief among these is the fact that the irony invites multiple readings on multiple levels, thereby creating multiple potential audiences. Significantly, although the subversive function of irony in this instance may be apparent to a postmodern audience, the text may be just as likely to function hegemonically for other audiences.