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Satire is a genre of the visual arts, literature, and , usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. Satire may also poke fun at popular themes in art and film.
A prominent feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is ", according to literary critic Northrop Frye— but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question.
Satire is found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary, satirical music, film and television shows, and media such as lyrics.
The word satura as used by Quintilian, however, was used to denote only Roman verse satire, a strict genre that imposed hexameter form, a narrower genre than what would be later intended as satire. Quintilian famously said that satura, that is a satire in hexameter verses, was a literary genre of wholly Roman origin ( satura tota nostra est). He was aware of and commented on Greek satire, but at the time did not label it as such, although today the origin of satire is considered to be Aristophanes' Old Comedy. The first critic to use the term satire in the modern broader sense was Apuleius.
To Quintilian, the satire was a strict literary form, but the term soon escaped from the original narrow definition. Robert Elliott writes:
The word satire derives from satura, and its origin was not influenced by the Greek mythology figure of the satyr. In the 17th century, philologist Isaac Casaubon was the first to dispute the etymology of satire from satyr, contrary to the belief up to that time.
Even light-hearted satire has a serious "after-taste": the organizers of the Ig Nobel Prize describe this as "first make people laugh, and then make them think".
Historically, satire has satisfied the popular need to debunk and Ridiculous the leading figures in politics, economy, religion and other prominent realms of power. Satire confronts public discourse and the collective imaginary, playing as a public opinion counterweight to power (be it political, economic, religious, symbolic, or otherwise), by challenging leaders and authorities. For instance, it forces administrations to clarify, amend or establish their policies. Satire's job is to expose problems and contradictions, and it is not obligated to solve them. Karl Kraus set in the history of satire a prominent example of a satirist role as confronting public discourse.
For its nature and social role, satire has enjoyed in many societies a special freedom license to mock prominent individuals and institutions. The satiric impulse, and its ritualized expressions, carry out the function of resolving social tension. Institutions like the , by giving expression to the antisocial tendencies, represent a safety valve which re-establishes equilibrium and health in the collective imaginary, which are jeopardized by the repressive aspects of society.
The state of political satire in a given society reflects the tolerance or intolerance that characterizes it, and the state of civil liberties and human rights. Under totalitarianism any criticism of a political system, and especially satire, is suppressed. A typical example is the Soviet Union where the dissidents, such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were under strong pressure from the government. While satire of everyday life in the Soviet Union was allowed, the most prominent satirist being Arkady Raikin, political satire existed in the form of that made fun of Soviet political leaders, especially Brezhnev, famous for his narrow-mindedness and love for awards and decorations.
It directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humour toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil. Horatian satire's sympathetic tone is common in modern society. A Horatian satirist's goal is to heal the situation with smiles, rather than by anger. Horatian satire is a gentle reminder to take life less seriously and evokes a wry smile.
Following in this tradition, Juvenalian satire addresses perceived social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterized by the use of irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humor. Strongly polarized political satire can often be classified as Juvenalian.
A Juvenal satirist's goal is generally to provoke some sort of political or societal change because he sees his opponent or object as evil or harmful. A Juvenal satirist mocks "societal structure, power, and civilization" by exaggerating the words or position of his opponent in order to jeopardize their opponent's reputation and/or power. Jonathan Swift has been established as an author who "borrowed heavily from Juvenal's techniques in his of contemporary English society".
Teasing ( sfottò) is an ancient form of simple buffoonery, a form of comedy without satire's subversive edge. Teasing includes light and affectionate parody, good-humoured mockery, simple one-dimensional poking fun, and benign spoofs. Teasing typically consists of an impersonation of someone monkeying around with his exterior attributes, , physical blemishes, voice and mannerisms, quirks, way of dressing and walking, and/or the phrases he typically repeats. By contrast, teasing never touches on the core issue, never makes a serious criticism judging the target with irony; it never harms the target's conduct, ideology and position of power; it never undermines the perception of his morality and cultural dimension. Sfottò directed towards a powerful individual makes him appear more human and draws sympathy towards him. Hermann Göring propagated and jokes against himself, with the aim of humanizing his image.
Scatology has a long literary association with satire, as it is a classical mode of the grotesque, the grotesque body and the satiric grotesque. Shit plays a fundamental role in satire because it symbolizes death, the turd being "the ultimate dead object". The satirical comparison of individuals or institutions with human excrement, exposes their "inherent inertness, corruption and dead-likeness". The of clown societies, like among the Pueblo Indians, have ceremonies with Coprophagia. In other cultures, sin-eating is an Apotropaic magic rite in which the sin-eater (also called filth-eater),Donald Alexander Mackenzie (1923) Myths of Pre-Columbian America p.229Patrick Marnham (2000) Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera p.297 by ingesting the food provided, takes "upon himself the sins of the departed". Satire about death overlaps with black humor and gallows humor.
Another classification by topics is the distinction between political satire, religious satire and satire of manners. Political satire is sometimes called topical satire, satire of manners is sometimes called satire of everyday life, and religious satire is sometimes called philosophical satire. Comedy of manners, sometimes also called satire of manners, criticizes mode of life of common people; political satire aims at behavior, manners of politicians, and vices of political systems. Historically, comedy of manners, which first appeared in British theater in 1620, has uncritically accepted the social code of the upper classes. Comedy in general accepts the rules of the social game, while satire subverts them.
Another analysis of satire is the spectrum of his possible tones: wit, ridicule, irony, sarcasm, cynicism, the sardonic and invective.
The type of humour that deals with creating laughter at the expense of the person telling the joke is called reflexive humour. Reflexive humour can take place at dual levels of directing humour at self or at the larger community the self identifies with. The audience's understanding of the context of reflexive humour is important for its receptivity and success. Satire is found not only in written literary forms. In preliterate cultures it manifests itself in ritual clown and folk forms, as well as in trickster tales and oral poetry.
It appears also in graphic arts, music, sculpture, dance, , and graffiti. Examples are Dada sculptures, Pop Art works, music of Gilbert and Sullivan and Erik Satie, Punk rock and rock music. In modern media culture, stand-up comedy is an enclave in which satire can be introduced into mass media, challenging mainstream discourse. Comedy roasts, mock festivals, and stand-up comedians in nightclubs and concerts are the modern forms of ancient satiric rituals. (2025). 9798353946595, AISDL. EAN 9798353946595
The Papyrus Anastasi I (late 2nd millennium BC) contains a satirical letter which first praises the virtues of its recipient, but then mocks the reader's meagre knowledge and achievements.
The oldest form of satire still in use is the Menippean satire by Menippus. His own writings are lost. Examples from his admirers and imitators mix seriousness and mockery in dialogues and present parodies before a background of . As in the case of Aristophanes plays, menippean satire turned upon images of filth and disease.
In the 2nd century AD, Lucian wrote True History, a book satirizing the clearly unrealistic travelogues/adventures written by Ctesias, Iambulus, and Homer. He states that he was surprised they expected people to believe their lies, and stating that he, like them, has no actual knowledge or experience, but shall now tell lies as if he did. He goes on to describe a far more obviously extreme and unrealistic tale, involving interplanetary exploration, war among alien life forms, and life inside a 200 mile long whale back in the terrestrial ocean, all intended to make obvious the fallacies of books like Indica and The Odyssey.
In the 10th century, the writer Tha'alibi recorded satirical poetry written by the Arabic poets As-Salami and Abu Dulaf, with As-Salami praising Abu Dulaf's Polymath and then mocking his ability in all these subjects, and with Abu Dulaf responding back and satirizing As-Salami in return. An example of Arabic political satire included another 10th-century poet Jarir satirizing Farazdaq as "a transgressor of the Sharia" and later Arabic poets in turn using the term "Farazdaq-like" as a form of political satire.
The terms "comedy" and "satire" became synonymous after Aristotle's Poetics was translated into Arabic language in the medieval Islamic world, where it was elaborated upon by Islamic philosophers and writers, such as Abu Bischr, his pupil Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes. Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetry themes and forms, such as hija (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or troubled beginnings and happy endings, associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" thus gained a new semantic meaning in Medieval literature.
Ubayd Zakani introduced satire in Persian literature during the 14th century. His work is noted for its satire and obscene verses, often political or bawdy, and often cited in debates involving homosexual practices. He wrote the Resaleh-ye Delgosha, as well as Akhlaq al-Ashraf ("Ethics of the Aristocracy") and the famous humorous fable Masnavi Mush-O-Gorbeh (Mouse and Cat), which was a political satire. His non-satirical serious classical verses have also been regarded as very well written, in league with the other great works of Persian literature. Between 1905 and 1911, Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi and other Iranian writers wrote notable satires.
In the High Middle Ages the work Reynard the Fox, written by Willem die Madoc maecte, and its translations were a popular work that satirized the class system at the time. Representing the various classes as certain anthropomorphic animals. As example, the lion in the story represents the nobility, which is portrayed as being weak and without character, but very greedy. Versions of Reynard the Fox were also popular well into the early modern period. The Dutch translation Van den vos Reynaerde is considered a major medieval Dutch literary work. In the Dutch version De Vries argues that the animal characters represent barons who conspired against the Count of Flanders.André De Vries, Flanders: A Cultural History, Oxford University Press, New York, 2007, p.100-101.
Two major satirists of Europe in the Renaissance were Giovanni Boccaccio and François Rabelais. Other examples of Renaissance satire include Till Eulenspiegel, Reynard the Fox, Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff (1494), Erasmus's Moriae Encomium (1509), Thomas More's Utopia (1516), and Carajicomedia (1519).
The Elizabethan (i.e. 16th-century English) writers thought of satire as related to the notoriously rude, coarse and sharp satyr play. Elizabethan "satire" (typically in pamphlet form) therefore contains more straightforward abuse than subtle irony. The French Huguenot Isaac Casaubon pointed out in 1605 that satire in the Roman fashion was something altogether more civilised. Casaubon discovered and published Quintilian's writing and presented the original meaning of the term (satira, not satyr), and the sense of wittiness (reflecting the "dishfull of fruits") became more important again. Seventeenth-century English satire once again aimed at the "amendment of vices" (Dryden).
In the 1590s a new wave of verse satire broke with the publication of Hall's Virgidemiarum, six books of verse satires targeting everything from literary fads to corrupt noblemen. Although John Donne had already circulated satires in manuscript, Hall's was the first real attempt in English at verse satire on the Juvenalian model. The success of his work combined with a national mood of disillusion in the last years of Elizabeth's reign triggered an avalanche of satire—much of it less conscious of classical models than Hall's — until the fashion was brought to an abrupt stop by censorship.
Another satiric genre to emerge around this time was the satirical almanac, with François Rabelais's work Pantagrueline Prognostication (1532), which mocked astrological predictions. The strategies François utilized within this work were employed by later satirical almanacs, such as the Poor Robin series that spanned the 17th to 19th centuries.
Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest of Anglo-Irish satirists, and one of the first to practise modern journalistic satire. For instance, In his A Modest Proposal Swift suggests that Irish peasants be encouraged to sell their own children as food for the rich, as a solution to the "problem" of poverty. His purpose is of course to attack indifference to the plight of the desperately poor. In his book Gulliver's Travels he writes about the flaws in human society in general and English society in particular. John Dryden wrote an influential essay entitled "A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire" that helped fix the definition of satire in the literary world. His satirical Mac Flecknoe was written in response to a rivalry with Thomas Shadwell and eventually inspired Alexander Pope to write his satirical Dunciad.
Alexander Pope (b. May 21, 1688) was a satirist known for his Horatian satirist style and translation of the Iliad. Famous throughout and after the long 18th century, Pope died in 1744. Pope, in his The Rape of the Lock, is delicately chiding society in a sly but polished voice by holding up a mirror to the follies and vanities of the upper class. Pope does not actively attack the self-important pomp of the British aristocracy, but rather presents it in such a way that gives the reader a new perspective from which to easily view the actions in the story as foolish and ridiculous. A mockery of the upper class, more delicate and lyrical than brutal, Pope nonetheless is able to effectively illuminate the moral degradation of society to the public. The Rape of the Lock assimilates the masterful qualities of a heroic epic, such as the Iliad, which Pope was translating at the time of writing The Rape of the Lock. However, Pope applied these qualities satirically to a seemingly petty egotistical elitist quarrel to prove his point wryly. Other satirical works by Pope include the Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot.
Daniel Defoe pursued a more journalistic type of satire, being famous for his The True-Born Englishman which mocks Xenophobia patriotism, and The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters—advocating religious toleration by means of an ironical exaggeration of the highly intolerant attitudes of his time.
The pictorial satire of William Hogarth is a precursor to the development of political cartoons in 18th-century England. The medium developed under the direction of its greatest exponent, James Gillray from London. With his satirical works calling the king (George III), prime ministers and generals (especially Napoleon) to account, Gillray's wit and keen sense of the ridiculous made him the pre-eminent cartoonist of the era.
Ebenezer Cooke (1665–1732), author of "The Sot-Weed Factor" (1708), was among the first writers of literary satire in Colonial America. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) and others followed, using satire to shape an emerging nation's culture through its sense of the ridiculous.
Perhaps the most enduring examples of Victorian satire, however, are to be found in the of Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, in The Yeomen of the Guard, a jester is given lines that paint a very neat picture of the method and purpose of the satirist, and might almost be taken as a statement of Gilbert's own intent:
Novelists such as Charles Dickens (1812–1870) often used passages of satiric writing in their treatment of social issues.
Continuing the tradition of Swiftian journalistic satire, Sidney Godolphin Osborne (1808–1889) was the most prominent writer of scathing "Letters to the Editor" of the London The Times. Famous in his day, he is now all but forgotten. His maternal grandfather William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland was considered to be a possible candidate for the authorship of the Junius letters. Osborne's satire was so bitter and biting that at one point he received a public censure from Parliament's then Home Secretary Sir James Graham. Osborne wrote mostly in the Juvenalian mode over a wide range of topics mostly centered on British government's and landlords' mistreatment of poor farm workers and field laborers. He bitterly opposed the New Poor Laws and was passionate on the subject of the British government's botched response to the Great Irish Famine and the mistreatment of British Army during the Crimean War.
A number of works of fiction during this time, influenced by Egyptomania, used the backdrop of Ancient Egypt as a device for satire. Some works, like Edgar Allan Poe's Some Words with a Mummy (1845) and Grant Allen's My New Year's Eve Among the Mummies (1878), portrayed Egyptian civilization as having already achieved many of the Victorian era's advancements (like the steam engine and ) in an effort to satire the notion of progress. Other works, like Jane Loudon , satirized Victorian curiosities with the afterlife.
Later in the nineteenth century, in the United States, Mark Twain (1835–1910) grew to become American's greatest satirist: his novel Huckleberry Finn (1884) is set in the Antebellum era South, where the moral values Twain wishes to promote are completely turned on their heads. His hero, Huck, is a rather simple but goodhearted lad who is ashamed of the "sinful temptation" that leads him to help a fugitive slave. In fact his conscience, warped by the distorted moral world he has grown up in, often bothers him most when he is at his best. He is prepared to do good, believing it to be wrong.
Twain's younger contemporary Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) gained notoriety as a cynic, pessimist and black humorist with his dark, bitterly ironic stories, many set during the American Civil War, which satirized the limitations of human perception and reason. Bierce's most famous work of satire is probably The Devil's Dictionary (1906), in which the definitions mock cant, hypocrisy and received wisdom.
Modern Soviet Union satire was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. This form of satire is recognized by its level of sophistication and intelligence used, along with its own level of parody. Since there is no longer the need of survival or revolution to write about, modern Soviet satire focused on the quality of life.
In the United States 1950s, satire was introduced into American stand-up comedy most prominently by Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl. As they challenged the and conventional wisdom of the time, were ostracized by the mass media establishment as . In the same period, Paul Krassner's magazine The Realist began publication, to become immensely popular during the 1960s and early 1970s among people in the counterculture; it had articles and cartoons that were savage, biting satires of politicians such as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the War on Drugs. This baton was also carried by the original National Lampoon magazine, edited by Doug Kenney and Henry Beard and featuring blistering satire written by Michael O'Donoghue, P.J. O'Rourke, and Tony Hendra, among others. Prominent satiric stand-up comedian George Carlin acknowledged the influence The Realist had in his 1970s conversion to a satiric comedian.Sullivan, James (2010) Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin p.94George Carlin (2002) to Murder At the Conspiracy Convention
A more humorous brand of satire enjoyed a renaissance in the UK in the early 1960s with the satire boom, led by comedians including Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, whose stage show Beyond the Fringe was a hit not only in Britain, but also in the United States. Other significant influences in 1960s British satire include David Frost, Eleanor Bron and the television program That Was The Week That Was. "David Frost's Q&A on how to be a satirist" . The Guardian (London). Retrieved February 2, 2015
Joseph Heller's most famous work, Catch-22 (1961), satirizes bureaucracy and the military, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Departing from traditional Hollywood farce and screwball, director and comedian Jerry Lewis used satire in his self-directed films The Bellboy (1960), The Errand Boy (1961) and The Patsy (1964) to comment on celebrity and the star-making machinery of Hollywood. The film Dr. Strangelove (1964) starring Peter Sellers was a popular satire on the Cold War. Sellers and the British satire boom had a direct influence on the comedy troupe Monty Python. "The Roots of Monty Python". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 26 November 2023 Empire magazine called Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) "an unrivalled satire on religion".
Nonoy Marcelo's 1978 Philippine Adult animation comedy film, Tadhana, presents a satirical, humorous and poignant view of the Philippines' history of Spanish Empire.
Created by DMA Design in 1997, satire features prominently in the British video game series Grand Theft Auto.Embrick DG, Talmadge J. Wright TJ, Lukacs A (2012). Social Exclusion, Power, and Video Game Play: New Research in Digital Media and Technology, Lexington Books, p. 19, . Quote: "In-game television programs and advertisements, radio stations, and billboards provide a running satirical commentary on the state of civilization in general, and on the roles of males in particular." Another example is the Fallout series, namely Interplay-developed (1995).Canavan G, Robinson KS (2014). Green Planets: Ecology and Science Fiction, Wesleyan University Press, p. 278, . Other games utilizing satire include Postal (1997),Byron G, Townshend D (2013). The Gothic World. Routledge. p. 456. . Quote: "Present themselves as deliberately controversial, incorporating hyper-violent gameplay, dark social satire and conspicuous political incorrectness." State of Emergency (2002), Phone Story (2011), and 7 Billion Humans (2018).
Trey Parker and Matt Stone's South Park (1997–ongoing) relies almost exclusively on satire to address issues in American culture, with episodes addressing racism, anti-Semitism, militant atheism, homophobia, sexism, environmentalism, corporate culture, political correctness and anti-Catholicism, among many other issues.
Satirical web series and sites include Emmy-nominated Honest Trailers (2012–),Lavender III, Isiah (2017). Dis-Orienting Planets: Racial Representations of Asia in Science Fiction. Univ. Press of Mississippi, p. 208, . Internet phenomena-themed Encyclopedia Dramatica (2004–),. Uncyclopedia (2005–),
In the United States, Stephen Colbert's television program, The Colbert Report (2005–14) is instructive in the methods of contemporary American satire; sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live is also known for its satirical impressions and parodies of prominent persons and politicians, among some of the most notable, their parodies of U.S. political figures Hillary Clinton Liz Raftery – "Who Did the Best Hillary Clinton Impression on SNL?", TV Guide, April 30, 2015. (Video) Retrieved August 15, 2015 and of Sarah Palin. Colbert's character is an opinionated and self-righteous commentator who, in his TV interviews, interrupts people, points and wags his finger at them, and "unwittingly" uses a number of logical fallacies. In doing so, he demonstrates the principle of modern American political satire: the ridicule of the actions of politicians and other public figures by taking all their statements and purported beliefs to their furthest (supposedly) logical conclusion, thus revealing their perceived hypocrisy or absurdity.
In the United Kingdom, a popular modern satirist was the late Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the internationally best-selling Discworld book series. One of the most well-known and controversial British satirists is Chris Morris, co-writer and director of Four Lions.
In Canada, satire has become an important part of the comedy scene. Stephen Leacock was one of the best known early Canadian satirists, and in the early 20th century, he achieved fame by targeting the attitudes of small-town life. In more recent years, Canada has had several prominent satirical television series and radio shows. Some, including CODCO, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, This Is That, and This Hour Has 22 Minutes deal directly with current news stories and political figures, while others, like History Bites present contemporary social satire in the context of events and figures in history. The Beaverton is a Canadian news satire site similar to The Onion. Canadian songwriter Nancy White uses music as the vehicle for her satire, and her comic folk songs are regularly played on CBC Radio.
In Hong Kong, there was a well-known Australian Kim Jong-un impersonator Howard X who often utilised satire to show his support for Hong Kong city's pro-democracy movements and liberation of North Korea. He believed humor to be a very powerful weapon and often made it clear that his imitation of the dictator was done to satirize him, not to glorify him. Throughout his career as a professional impersonator he worked with multiple organisations and celebrities to create parodies and to spark conversations about politics and human rights.
Cartoonists often use satire as well as straight humour. Al Capp's satirical comic strip Li'l Abner was censored in September 1947. The controversy, as reported in Time, centred on Capp's portrayal of the US Senate. Said Edward Leech of Scripps-Howard, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks... boobs and undesirables." Walt Kelly's Pogo was likewise censored in 1952 over his overt satire of Joseph McCarthy, caricatured in his comic strip as "Simple J. Malarky". Garry Trudeau, whose comic strip Doonesbury focuses on satire of the political system, and provides a trademark cynical view on national events. Trudeau exemplifies humour mixed with criticism. For example, the character Mark Slackmeyer lamented that because he was not legally married to his partner, he was deprived of the "exquisite agony" of experiencing a nasty and painful divorce like heterosexuals. This, of course, satirized the claim that gay unions would denigrate the sanctity of heterosexual marriage.
Like some literary predecessors, many recent television satires contain strong elements of parody and caricature; for instance, the popular animated series The Simpsons and South Park both parody modern family and social life by taking their assumptions to the extreme; both have led to the creation of similar series. As well as the purely humorous effect of this sort of thing, they often strongly criticise various phenomena in politics, economic life, religion and many other aspects of society, and thus qualify as satirical. Due to their animated nature, these shows can easily use images of public figures and generally have greater freedom to do so than conventional shows using live actors.
News satire is also a very popular form of contemporary satire, appearing in as wide an array of formats as the news media itself: print (e.g. The Onion, Waterford Whispers News, Private Eye), radio (e.g. On the Hour), television (e.g. The Day Today, The Daily Show, Brass Eye) and the web (e.g. Faking News, El Koshary Today, Babylon Bee, The Beaverton, The Daily Bonnet and The Onion). Other satires are on the list of satirists and satires.
In an interview with Wikinews, Sean Mills, President of The Onion, said angry letters about their news parody always carried the same message. "It's whatever affects that person", said Mills. "So it's like, 'I love it when you make a joke about murder or rape, but if you talk about cancer, well my brother has cancer and that's not funny to me.' Or someone else can say, 'Cancer's hilarious, but don't talk about rape because my cousin got raped.' Those are rather extreme examples, but if it affects somebody personally, they tend to be more sensitive about it.", David Shankbone, Wikinews, November 25, 2007.
Satire is also gaining recognition for its value in social science research, particularly when authors are seeking to unpack complex social issues like gendered racism.
Satire is regularly used by social movements covering a range of issues to achieve strategic goals. US community organizer and author of Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky, stated, 'Humour is essential to a successful tactician, for the most potent weapons known to people are satire and ridicule.
Since satire belongs to the realm of art and artistic expression, it benefits from broader lawfulness limits than mere freedom of information of journalistic kind. In some countries a specific "right to satire" is recognized and its limits go beyond the "right to report" of journalism and even the "right to criticize". Satire benefits not only of the protection to freedom of speech, but also to that to culture, and that to scientific and artistic production.
As of June 2018, the Criminal Code Amendment (Impersonating a Commonwealth Body) Bill 2017 was before the Australian Senate with the third reading moved May 10, 2018.
The Australian satirical television comedy show The Chaser's War on Everything has suffered repeated attacks based on various perceived interpretations of the "target" of its attacks. The "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation" sketch (June 2009), which attacked in classical satiric fashion the heartlessness of people who are reluctant to donate to charities, was widely interpreted as an attack on the Make a Wish Foundation, or even the terminally ill children helped by that organisation. Prime Minister of the time Kevin Rudd stated that The Chaser team "should hang their heads in shame". He went on to say that "I didn't see that but it's been described to me. ...But having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale, absolutely beyond the pale." Television station management suspended the show for two weeks and reduced the third season to eight episodes.
The motives for the ban are obscure, particularly since some of the books banned had been licensed by the same authorities less than a year earlier. Various scholars have argued that the target was obscenity, libel, or sedition. It seems likely that lingering anxiety about the Martin Marprelate controversy, in which the bishops themselves had employed satirists, played a role; both Thomas Nashe and Gabriel Harvey, two of the key figures in that controversy, suffered a complete ban on all their works. In the event, though, the ban was little enforced, even by the licensing authority itself.
In 2006 British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen released , a "mockumentary" that satirized everyone, from high society to frat boys. The film was criticized by many. Although Baron Cohen is Jewish, some complained that it was antisemitism, and the government of Kazakhstan boycotted the film. The film itself had been a reaction to a longer quarrel between the government and the comedian.
In 2008, popular South African cartoonist and satirist Jonathan Shapiro (who is published under the pen name Zapiro) came under fire for depicting then-president of the ANC Jacob Zuma in the act of undressing in preparation for the implied rape of 'Lady Justice' which is held down by Zuma loyalists. The cartoon was drawn in response to Zuma's efforts to duck corruption charges, and the controversy was heightened by the fact that Zuma was himself acquitted of rape in May 2006. In February 2009, the SABC, viewed by some opposition parties as the mouthpiece of the governing ANC, shelved a satirical TV show created by Shapiro, and in May 2009 the broadcaster pulled a documentary about political satire (featuring Shapiro among others) for the second time, hours before scheduled broadcast.
On December 29, 2009, Samsung sued Mike Breen, and the Korea Times for $1 million, claiming criminal defamation over a satirical column published on Christmas Day, 2009.
On April 29, 2015, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) requested Kent Police investigate the BBC, claiming that comments made about Party leader Nigel Farage by a panelist on the comedy show Have I Got News For You might hinder his chances of success in the general election (which would take place a week later), and claimed the BBC breached the Representation of the People Act. Kent Police rebuffed the request to open an investigation, and the BBC released a statement, "Britain has a proud tradition of satire, and everyone knows that the contributors on Have I Got News for You regularly make jokes at the expense of politicians of all parties." "Ukip asks police to investigate the BBC over Have I Got News for You" . BBC. Retrieved June 18, 2015
(2025). 9783319506890, Springer: Dynamics of Virtual Work. ISBN 9783319506890, p. 48. self-proclaimed "America's Finest News Source" The Onion (1988–).Kaye, Sharon M. (2010). The Onion and Philosophy: Fake News Story True, Alleges Indignant Area Professor. Open Court Publishing. p. 243. . Quote: "People might be justified in concluding that the Onion is a legitimate small-town paper when they see headlines like "Local Woman Devotes Life To Doing God's Busy Work" (10/4/08), "God Help Him, Area Man Loves That Crazy Bitch" (11/22/08), or "Area Woman Wouldn't Mind Feeding Your Cats" (12/6/08). Even if they read the full story, they may never figure out it is a satire. Maybe if they scroll to the bottom of the webpage and notice the disclaimer, 'The Onion is not intended for readers under 18 years of age' they would realize that this is not your average news source. Maybe not—especially if they think that there might be such a thing as "adult news."" and The Onion's Christian conservative counterpart The Babylon Bee (2016–).
Techniques
Literary satire is usually written out of earlier satiric works, reprising previous conventions, commonplaces, stance, situations and tones of voice.Griffin, Dustin H. (1994) Satire: A Critical Reintroduction p.136 Exaggeration is one of the most common satirical techniques.Claridge, Claudia (2010) Hyperbole in English: A Corpus-based Study of Exaggeration p.257 Contrarily, diminution is also a satirical technique.
Legal status
For its nature and social role, satire has enjoyed in many societies a special freedom license to mock prominent individuals and institutions. In Germany, Japan, and Italy satire is protected by the constitution.
Australia
In September 2017 The Juice Media received an e-mail from the Australian National Symbols Officer requesting that the use of a satirical logo, called the "Coat of Harms" based on the Australian Coat of Arms, no longer be used as they had received complaints from the members of the public. Coincidentally 5 days later a Bill was proposed to Australian parliament to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995. If passed, those found to be in breach of the new amendment can face 2–5 years imprisonment.
Censorship and criticism
Descriptions of satire's biting effect on its target include 'venomous', 'cutting', 'stinging',Kinservik, Matthew J. (2002) Disciplining Satire: The Censorship of Satiric Comedy on the Eighteenth... p.21 vitriol. Because satire often combines anger and humor, as well as the fact that it addresses and calls into question many controversial issues, it can be profoundly disturbing.
Typical arguments
Because it is essentially ironic or sarcastic, satire is often misunderstood. A typical misunderstanding is to confuse the satirist with their persona.
Bad taste
Common uncomprehending responses to satire include revulsion (accusations of poor taste, or that "it's just not funny" for instance) and the idea that the satirist actually does support the ideas, policies, or people being ridiculed. For instance, at the time of its publication, many people misunderstood Swift's purpose in A Modest Proposal, assuming it to be a serious recommendation of economically motivated cannibalism. Much later in history, in the weeks following 9/11 the American public at large found works of satire to be in bad taste and not appropriate for the social climate at the time. Some media outlets at the time, like essayist Roger Rosenblatt in an editorial for Time magazine's September 24 issue, would go so far as to claim that irony was dead.
Targeting the victim
Some critics of Mark Twain see Huckleberry Finn as racist and offensive, missing the point that its author clearly intended it to be satire (racism being in fact only one of a number of Mark Twain's known concerns attacked in Huckleberry Finn). This same misconception was suffered by the main character of the 1960s British television comedy satire Till Death Us Do Part. The character of Alf Garnett (played by Warren Mitchell) was created to poke fun at the kind of narrow-minded, racist, little Englander that Garnett represented. Instead, his character became a sort of anti-hero to people who actually agreed with his views. (The same situation occurred with Archie Bunker in American TV show All in the Family, a character derived directly from Garnett.)
Romantic prejudice
The romantic prejudice against satire is the belief spread by the Romanticism that satire is something unworthy of serious attention; this prejudice has held considerable influence to this day. Such prejudice extends to humour and everything that arouses laughter, which are often underestimated as frivolous and unworthy of serious study. For instance, humor is generally neglected as a topic of anthropological research and teaching.
History of opposition toward notable satires
Because satire criticises in an ironic, essentially indirect way, it frequently escapes censorship in a way more direct criticism might not. Periodically, however, it runs into serious opposition, and people in power who perceive themselves as attacked attempt to censor it or prosecute its practitioners. In a classic example, Aristophanes was persecuted by the demagogue Cleon.
1599 book ban
In 1599, the Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift and the Bishop of London Richard Bancroft, whose offices had the function of licensing books for publication in England, issued a decree banning verse satire. The decree, now known as the Bishops' Ban of 1599, ordered the burning of certain volumes of satire by John Marston, Thomas Middleton, Joseph Hall, and others; it also required histories and plays to be specially approved by a member of the Queen's Privy Council, and it prohibited the future printing of satire in verse.
21st-century polemics
In 2005, the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy caused global protests by offended Muslims and violent attacks with many in the Near East. It was not the first case of Muslim protests against criticism in the form of satire, but the Western world was surprised by the hostility of the reaction: Any country's flag in which a newspaper chose to publish the parodies was being burnt in a Near East country, then embassies were attacked, killing 139 people in mainly four countries; politicians throughout Europe agreed that satire was an aspect of the freedom of speech, and therefore to be a protected means of dialogue. Iran threatened to start an International Holocaust Cartoon Competition, which was immediately responded to by Jews with an Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoons Contest.
Satirical prophecy
Satire is occasionally prophetic: the jokes precede actual events. Among the eminent examples are:
See also
Notes
Citations
Sources
Bibliography
Further reading
Theories/critical approaches to satire as a genre
(1995). 9780312123024, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312123024
The plot of satire
External links
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