constraints on creative freedom. All that a convention is, however, is something agreed upon in advance
by all parties. A contract—obviously a constraint—would be one sort of example, but so is language,
especially in its semantic aspect. (Words mean what they do because we have tacitly agreed upon their
definition—that is, by convention.) And so is an established artistic genre.
When artists work within well-established genres, they have made an unspoken contract with their
audience, and, like the parties to a legal contract, have an awareness of what is expected from them. Yet
there are many ways of honoring an expectation, in art if not in law. Not all of them are straightforward.
Agreements can be honored “in the breach” as well as in the observance. Thus artists who work within
established genres have the possibility of teasing their audience’s expectations and producing irony.
(There can be no irony, or even humor, in the absence of conventional expectations, as a moment’s
reflection will confirm.)
EX. 10-2A Jacopo da Bologna, Oselleto salvagio, set as madrigal, mm. 1–30