Satire

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

Satire is essentially a form of criticism that points out faults and failings in others. Its targets might be lapses in taste, moral failings, or political corruption. Its methods include irony, parody, grotesque distortion, bathos, and obscenity, and the intentions of satirists have been the subject of much debate. Critics have argued about whether satirists aim to reform their targets, inform their audiences about hidden truths, or vent their spleen against those they despise.

This Very Short Introduction describes satire as a complex cultural phenomena, appearing in many forms and different national traditions across the ages. It suggests that satire is an awkward relative of both tragedy and comedy. Like tragedy, it presents a dark view of mankind, but it reaches into the grubby depths rather than aspiring to the sublime. It provokes laughter like comedy, but it is the laugher of derision and scorn rather than comic acceptance. Hawley addresses these questions and others by examining the genre in its different forms and suggesting that the aims and effects of satire have varied in different eras and cultures as she traces its history from its origins in Greek and Roman drama and verse up to the present.

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