Irony, Faith, and Language in Sedaris's "Jesus Shaves"

Introduction: Translation, Faith, and Culture

In "Jesus Shaves," David Sedaris writes about the comical yet complex losses of translation that arise when trying to explain a religious festival in a second language. All the students in the class are learning French as a second language but come from different backgrounds. The author is American, while his classmates are from Poland, Morocco, and Italy. It is the Moroccan student who triggers the theme of cultural relativism when she asks the class to explain Easter. Forced, for the first time, to explain a festival they had so deeply taken for granted, everyone in the class — including the teacher — struggles to find the words. The students understandably trip over their limited vocabulary and grammar, let alone their lack of historical, theological, or religious studies expertise. Yet even the teacher, with her full command of French, cannot provide the Moroccan student with a definitive or satisfactory explanation of Easter's meaning.

To describe to a foreigner a holiday that celebrates a god's death and resurrection through symbols like chocolate, bells, palm fronds, and bunny rabbits requires a leap of faith. Sedaris links the leap of faith inherent in Christian belief to the leap of faith in oneself — the confidence and courage it takes to master a foreign tongue. In "Jesus Shaves," David Sedaris uses irony and dark humor in a postmodern meta-analysis of the interrelated issues of semantics, faith, language, and culture.

Ironic Diction and Vulgar Language

One of the defining features of Sedaris's language is its informality and liberal use of slang, even vulgarity. The last line of the essay reads, "A bell, though, that's fucked up" (3). The use of the vulgar word underscores the absurdity of the entire exercise — the struggle of learning a new language from scratch in a room composed of people from vastly different backgrounds, and the near impossibility of explaining why sensible modern people would believe in a dead and resurrected god whose story is somehow connected to bells, chocolate, and palm trees. Vulgarity perfectly parallels absurdity; the language Sedaris uses is a counterpart to the ironic and absurdist narrative. It is also ironic that Sedaris employs vulgarity in a story about formal language learning. The students in the class are trying to learn formal French, not slang, even though what they learn may never be useful in real life, given that few people speak in perfectly formal grammar or with purely formal vocabulary.

Sedaris's diction also helps him connect with multiple audiences in order to make an effectively postmodern point: the rules of language matter no more than the rote rituals of a religion. Perfect grammar and vocabulary are the linguistic counterparts of the Eucharist or Palm Sunday — empty shells devoid of inherent meaning. The only meaning in language or in religious ritual is what the believers or the speakers themselves impart. Through ironic diction, Sedaris achieves his goal of relating semantics, faith, language, and culture.

Brevity, Clarity, and Religious Complexity

Brevity and clarity are important functional characteristics of Sedaris's essay. Just as the best communicators can distill the meaning of what they say into as few words as possible — conveying complex messages in ways most people will understand — Sedaris restricts his writing to fewer than three pages. The length of the text belies the complexity of its content. Although brevity is often equated with shortness, its true function is clarity and precision. As McKnight points out, brevity is difficult to define, meaning at once using as few words as possible and ensuring that those words are as exact and to the point as possible. Sedaris expertly weaves a tale that does not sacrifice the power of storytelling, dialogue, and nuance, while still remaining remarkably short and pithy.

The irony of using brevity in "Jesus Shaves" is that the Christian story is far from brief, concise, or clear. Religious texts are notoriously rambling, convoluted, and obscure. The New Testament, from which the original Jesus story arises, contains contradictory material written and compiled by different authors — all of it hearsay and second-hand testimony related to the primary figure of Jesus. The reason the students in the class have trouble communicating concisely is that they have never truly grasped their own religion and culture. Having long been taught that scripture is sacred, they have not fully digested its content or meaning in a way that would allow them to convey it using the simple vocabulary and grammar they already know in French.

Conclusion: Postmodern Iconoclasm in 'Jesus Shaves'

Because of its irony, iconoclasm, and relativism, David Sedaris's "Jesus Shaves" is quintessentially postmodern. The author addresses the interrelated issues of semantics, faith, language, and culture. Sedaris uses vulgarity to describe the failings of formal language lessons, and likewise shows how attachment to arbitrary symbols detracts from the underlying function of language, which is to communicate and get one's point across. Sedaris masters the art of clear communication — brevity — as if to provide an example of how it is possible to do away with the trappings of culture, tradition, and faith. Although Sedaris implies that it requires a leap of faith to learn a language, his essay ultimately suggests that learning a language requires mainly hard work and the guidance of a good teacher.

Works Cited

Kinginger, Celeste. "Language Socialization and Identity." In Language Learning and Study Abroad. Pp. 154–204.

McKnight, Steven C. "The Importance of Brevity." The Odyssey Online.

Sedaris, David. "Jesus Shaves."