The works of Adalbert Stifter seem to be marked by an effort to bind modern subjectivity to pre-modern concepts. Deconstructive readings unfold the thesis that, contrary to this intention, modern textual forms have emerged. In these studies, however, the reflexivity of Stifter's texts is captured under the concept of irony, which critically relates to the failing concepts of the seemingly exemplary protagonists. The ironic narrative technique, in its disparity, forms a reflective point of integration for the texts. Historically, this concept of irony is derived from a reception of (early) Romanticism and Jean Paul. While early works still contain signals of irony, they seem to have disappeared in the later works, not because irony no longer exists, but because it has been radicalized. Previously unimagined comedic elements.