Jordan Peterson has been the greatest thing that ever happened in my life. He's the father I never had.

is it a goal of post modernism to be free of irony?

I don't believe so. I think it's both a coping mechanism for life's absurdity by artists, and a way to subvert or disrobe power structures and other forms of oppression by leftists. I'm sure it varies from person to person, but it's still prevalent in comedies and movies. In my opinion though, postmodernism is no longer fashionable, nor is it the prevailing vehicle for young artists and rebels it once was. It still studied, but in a more historical manner, as other schools have surpassed it.

Recalling the more radical works that are pigeonholed under the postmodern label of Deleuze and Guattari for example, I don't ever recall them ever mentioning irony. I don't ever recall anyone desiring to be rid of irony.

Can people be free from it completely without completely withdrawing from social life?

I don't think it's bad in and of itself, but one can definitely be poisoned by its effects. Many people reacted against irony, as it sort of became a hegemonic force itself by bleeding into and saturating pop culture in the '90's. I don't know if it's the result of irony kids growing up and taking corporate and marketing jobs or executives appropriating an established subculture, but it's probably both. Anyway, as usual with pop culture, by the time postmodernism and irony was a prepackaged, cultural force, the younger subcultures were already working on other projects.

One movement in particular is called New Sincerity, which is associated with artists like David Foster Wallace and Wes Anderson. It's more reactionary than it is revolutionary, but it isn't by any means a conservative or far right movement at all:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Sincerity

Peterson is definitely hard to peg as he says he is not an intellectual but like you said his version of truth is kind of radical so he must be philosophizing new ideas some how.

It's not so much his ideas are radical. In fact, his version of truth can be traced backward to an analytic philosophic tradition called pragmatism. Where I think Peterson becomes unique is when I take into account his entire project, and not just his definition of truth. This includes myths, what I know about his views on religion, and Nietzsche.

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