Satire: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Punch.jpg|thumb|1867 edition of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'', a ground-breaking British magazine of popular humour, including a great deal of satire of the contemporary, social, and political scene]]

{{Performing arts}}

 

 

 

Satire is found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary, [[satirical music|music]], [[satire (film and television)|film and television]] shows, and media such as lyrics.

{{See also|Satires of Juvenal}}

 

 

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.

 

 

====Menippean====

 

In the [[history of theatre]] there has always been a conflict between engagement and disengagement on [[politics]] and relevant issue, between satire and [[grotesque]] on one side, and [[jest]] with [[teasing]] on the other.<ref name="Fo1990p9"/> [[Max Eastman]] defined the [[spectrum]] of satire in terms of "degrees of biting", as ranging from satire proper at the hot-end, and "kidding" at the violet-end; Eastman adopted the term kidding to denote what is just satirical in form, but is not really firing at the target.<ref>{{Citation|author-link=Max Eastman|first=Max|last=Eastman|year=1936|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tyd5wwn8acwC&pg=PA236|title=Enjoyment of Laughter|chapter=IV. Degrees of Biting|pages=236–43|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=9781412822626}}</ref> [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel laureate]] satirical playwright [[Dario Fo]] pointed out the difference between satire and teasing (''sfottò'').<ref name="Lorch1997p128">{{Citation|author1-link=Dario Fo|first1=Dario|last1=Fo|first2=Jennifer|last2=Lorch|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u12fXi_HDO4C&pg=PA128|title=Dario Fo|page=128|quote=In other writings Fo makes an important distinction between ''sfottò'' and satire.|isbn=9780719038488|year=1997|publisher=Manchester University Press}}</ref> Teasing is the [[reactionary]] side of the [[comic]]; it limits itself to a shallow [[parody]] of physical appearance. The side-effect of teasing is that it humanizes and draws sympathy for the powerful individual towards which it is directed. Satire instead uses the comic to go against power and its oppressions, has a [[subversive]] character, and a [[moral]] dimension which draws judgement against its targets.<ref name="Fo1990p2" /><ref name="Fo1990pn" /><ref name = "Arroyop303">{{Citation|first1=José Luís Blas|last1=Arroyo|first2=Mónica Velando|last2=Casanova|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CxZ_zH44PVkC&pg=PA303|title=Discurso y sociedad: contribuciones al estudio de la lengua en...|volume=1|pages=303–4|isbn=9788480215381|year=2006|publisher=Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I|language=es}}</ref><ref name="Morson1988p114">{{Citation|last=Morson|first=Gary Saul|year=1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PpLiINhO83MC&pg=PA114|title=Boundaries of Genre|page=114|publisher=Northwestern University Press|quote=second, that parodies can be, as Bakhtin observes, "shallow" as well as "deep" (''Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics'', 160), which is to say, directed at superficial as well as fundamental faults of the original. [...] the distinction between shallow and deep [...] [is] helpful in understanding the complex ways in which parodies are used. For instance, shallow parody is sometimes used to pay an author an indirect compliment. The opposite of damning with faint praise, this parody with faint criticism may be designed to show that no more fundamental criticism ''could'' be made.|isbn=9780810108110}}</ref> Fo formulated an [[Operational definition|operational]] criterion to tell real satire from ''sfottò'', saying that real satire arouses an outraged and violent reaction, and that the more they try to stop you, the better is the job you are doing.<ref>{{Citation|author-link=Daniele Luttazzi|first=Daniele|last=Luttazzi|year=2005|url=http://news.danieleluttazzi.it/?q=node/147|archive-date=December 25, 2005|place=[[Italy|IT]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051225171452/http://news.danieleluttazzi.it/?q=node%2F147|title=Matrix|quote=Dario Fo disse a Satyricon: —La satira vera si vede dalla reazione che suscita.|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Fo contends that, historically, people in positions of power have welcomed and encouraged good-humoured buffoonery, while modern day people in positions of power have tried to censor, ostracize and repress satire.<ref name="Fo1990p9"/><ref name="Fo1990p2"/>

 

 

=== Ancient and modern India ===

 

===Age of Enlightenment===

Novelists such as [[Charles Dickens]] (1812–1870) often used passages of satiric writing in their treatment of social issues.

 

 

 

Later in the nineteenth century, in the United States, [[Mark Twain]] (1835–1910) grew to become American's greatest satirist: his novel ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|Huckleberry Finn]]'' (1884) is set in the [[Antebellum era|antebellum]] 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 slaves in the United States|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.

[[Karl Kraus (writer)|Karl Kraus]] is considered the first major European satirist since [[Jonathan Swift]].<ref name="Knight2004p254">Knight, Charles A. (2004) ''Literature of Satire'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=SOfVePSFctgC&pg=PA254 p.254]</ref> In 20th-century literature, satire was used by English authors such as [[Aldous Huxley]] (1930s) and [[George Orwell]] (1940s), which under the inspiration of [[Yevgeny Zamyatin|Zamyatin]]'s Russian 1921 novel ''[[We (novel)|We]]'', made serious and even frightening commentaries on the dangers of the sweeping social changes taking place throughout Europe. [[Anatoly Lunacharsky]] wrote 'Satire attains its greatest significance when a newly evolving class creates an ideology considerably more advanced than that of the ruling class, but has not yet developed to the point where it can conquer it. Herein lies its truly great ability to triumph, its scorn for its adversary and its hidden fear of it. Herein lies its venom, its amazing energy of hate, and quite frequently, its grief, like a black frame around glittering images. Herein lie its contradictions, and its power.'<ref>[[David King (graphic designer)|David King]] & Cathy Porter 'Blood & Laughter: Caricatures from the 1905 Revolution' Jonathan Cape 1983 p.31</ref> Many social critics of this same time in the United States, such as [[Dorothy Parker]] and [[H. L. Mencken]], used satire as their main weapon, and Mencken in particular is noted for having said that "one horse-laugh is worth ten thousand [[syllogism]]s" in the persuasion of the public to accept a criticism. Novelist [[Sinclair Lewis]] was known for his satirical stories such as ''[[Main Street (novel)|Main Street]]'' (1920), ''[[Babbitt (novel)|Babbitt]]'' (1922), ''[[Elmer Gantry]]'' (1927; dedicated by Lewis to H. L. Mencken), and ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]'' (1935), and his books often explored and satirized contemporary American values. The film ''[[The Great Dictator]]'' (1940) by [[Charlie Chaplin]] is itself a parody of [[Adolf Hitler]]; Chaplin later declared that he would have not made the film if he had known about the [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]].<ref name="ChaplinLager">Chaplin (1964) ''My Autobiography'', p.392, quotation: {{blockquote|Had I known of the actual horrors of the German concentration camps, I could not have made ''The Great Dictator'', I could not have made fun of the homicidal insanity of the Nazis.}}</ref>

 

 

In the United States 1950s, satire was introduced into American [[stand-up comedy]] most prominently by [[Lenny Bruce]] and [[Mort Sahl]].<ref name="Test1991p8"/> As they challenged the [[taboo]]s and [[conventional wisdom]] of the time, were ostracized by the mass media establishment as ''[[sick comedian]]s''. 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 of the 1960s|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)|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.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stein|first=Nathaniel|date=2013-07-01|title=Funny Pages: How the National Lampoon made American Humor|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/01/funny-pages-how-the-national-lampoon-made-american-humor|access-date=2020-07-22}}</ref> Prominent satiric stand-up comedian [[George Carlin]] acknowledged the influence ''The Realist'' had in his 1970s conversion to a satiric comedian.<ref name="Sullivan2010p94">Sullivan, James (2010) ''Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=y3dzVQ5wX9UC&pg=PA94 p.94]</ref><ref>[[George Carlin]] (2002) ''[http://paulkrassner.com/carlinintro.htm Introduction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043456/http://paulkrassner.com/carlinintro.htm |date=March 4, 2016 }}'' to ''Murder At the Conspiracy Convention''</ref>

 

[[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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1868619.stm |title=What is Catch-22? And why does the book matter? |publisher= BBC | date=March 12, 2002}}</ref> Departing from traditional Hollywood [[farce]] and [[screwball comedy film|screwball]], director and comedian [[Jerry Lewis]] used satire in his self-directed films ''[[The Bellboy]]'' (1960), ''[[The Errand Boy]]'' (1961) and ''[[The Patsy (1964 film)|The Patsy]]'' (1964) to comment on celebrity and the star-making machinery of Hollywood.<ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/critics-notebook-jerry-lewis-a-comic-genius-by-turns-sweet-bitter-1031194|first=Stephen|last=Dalton|title=Critics Notebook: Jerry Lewis a Comic Genius by Turns Sweet and Bitter|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 21, 2017}}</ref> 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]].<ref>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1377417/index.html "The Roots of Monty Python"]. BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 26 November 2023</ref> ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine called ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian]]'' (1979) "an unrivalled satire on religion".<ref>{{cite news |title=The 100 best British films |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100britishfilms/ |access-date=26 September 2023|work=Empire}}</ref>

 

Contemporary popular usage of the term "satire" is often very imprecise. While satire often uses [[caricature]] and [[parody]], by no means are all uses of these or other humorous devices satiric. Refer to the careful definition of satire that heads this article. ''The Cambridge Companion to Roman Satire'' also warns of the ambiguous nature of satire: {{blockquote|[W]hile "satire," or perhaps rather "satiric(al)," are words we run up against constantly in analyses of contemporary culture [...], the search for any defining formal charcteristic (sic) [of satire] that will link past to present may turn out to be more frustrating than enlightening.<ref name=Rome>Freudenburg, Kirk (2001). ''Satires of Rome: Threatening Poses from Lucilius to Juvenal.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 299. {{ISBN|0-521-00621-X}}.</ref>}}

[[File:Spitting Image Puppet of Eric Cantona (2956625432).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Puppet of Manchester United striker [[Eric Cantona]] from the British satirical puppet show ''[[Spitting Image]]'']]

 

 

[[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]]'s ''[[South Park]]'' (1997–ongoing) relies almost exclusively on satire to address issues in American culture, with episodes addressing [[With Apologies to Jesse Jackson|racism]], [[The Passion of the Jew|anti-Semitism]], [[Go God Go|militant atheism]], [[Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride|homophobia]], [[Eat, Pray, Queef|sexism]], [[Rainforest Shmainforest|environmentalism]], [[Gnomes (South Park)|corporate culture]], [[The Death Camp of Tolerance|political correctness]] and [[Red Hot Catholic Love|anti-Catholicism]], among many other issues.

 

 

[[File:Stephen Colbert by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|[[Stephen Colbert]] satirically impersonated an [[Stephen Colbert (character)|opinionated and self-righteous television commentator]] on his [[Comedy Central]] program in the U.S.]]

In Hong Kong, there was a well-known Australian [[Kim Jong-un]] [[impersonator]] [[Howard X]] whom often utilised satire to show his support for Hong Kong city's pro-democracy movements and liberation of North Korea. He believed that humour is a very powerful weapon and he often made it clear that he imitates the dictator to satirize him, not to glorify him. Throughout his career as a professional impersonator, he had also worked with multiple organisations and celebrities to create parodies and to stir up conversations of politics and human rights.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Meet Howard X, the Dictator Doppelgänger From Hong Kong |url=https://time.com/5549634/howard-x-kim-jung-un-impersonator/ |magazine=Time |publisher=Amy Gunia |date=29 March 2019 }}</ref>

 

 

[[File:2014- 02 - Obama and Putin, by Ranan Lurie.png|thumb|Political satire by [[Ranan Lurie]]]]

 

==Legal status==

 

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.<ref name="Pezzella2009p566"/> 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".<ref name="Pezzella2009p566"/> Satire benefits not only of the protection to [[freedom of speech]], but also to that to [[culture]], and that to scientific and artistic production.<ref name="Bevere2006p265"/><ref name="Pezzella2009p566"/>

* In 1975, the first episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' included an ad for a triple blade razor called the Triple-Trac; in 2001, [[Gillette (brand)|Gillette]] introduced the Mach3. In 2004, ''[[The Onion]]'' satirized [[Schick (razors)|Schick]] and Gillette's marketing of ever-increasingly multi-blade razors with a mock article proclaiming Gillette will now introduce a five-blade razor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades|date=February 18, 2004 |url=https://www.theonion.com/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades-1819584036|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116162510/https://www.theonion.com/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades-1819584036|archive-date=November 16, 2017|access-date=October 30, 2020|publisher=The Onion}}</ref> In 2006, Gillette released the [[Gillette Fusion]], a five-blade razor.

* After the [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action|Iran nuclear deal]] in 2015, ''[[The Onion]]'' ran an article with the headline "U.S. Soothes Upset Netanyahu With Shipment Of Ballistic Missiles". Sure enough, reports broke the next day of the Obama administration offering military upgrades to Israel in the wake of the deal.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.666977 |title=Where Satire Meets Truth: Did The Onion Just Predict a Real Israeli Headline? |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=January 1, 2016}}</ref>

* ''[[Infinite Jest]]'', published in 1996, described an alternate America following the presidency of Johnny Gentle, a celebrity who had not held prior political office. Gentle's signature policy was the erection of a wall between the United States and Canada for use as a hazardous waste dump. The US territory behind the wall was "given" to Canada, and the Canadian government was forced to pay for the wall. This appeared to parody the signature campaign promise and background of [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/blog-post/donald-trump-wants-build-wall-border-mexico-can-he-do-it |title=Donald Trump wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico. Can he do it? |newspaper=PBS |access-date=August 3, 2020}}</ref>