Satire

“…a poem in which wickedness or folly is censured.”

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Satire…

• Blends critical attitude w/ humor• Attempts to improve mankind/human institutions

(individual, group, or mankind)• Ridicule, irony, exaggeration almost always present

(NOT necessarily a comedy)• Some serious statements of value or desired

behavior but mostly implied moral code• Audience understands “code” but only pays it lip

service (say they do it but don’t actually practice what they preach)

Satire...

• Goal of satire = illuminate hypocrisy of the target

• Wants target and/or audience to actually adopt the moral code for real.

• Manipulates devices of comparison -similarities/contrasts between 2 things (incongruous list of items, oxymoron, metaphors, etc.)

Types of Satire

• Horatian Satire: delights/instructs with laughter & ridicule to gently highlight human flaws.

• Juvenalian Satire: harsh, intolerant. Attacks particular people, sometimes thinly disguised as fictional characters. Laughter + ridicule (like Horatian) + invective + attack.

Satirical Techniques: (used to make a comment or criticism about a

particular subject or character)Exaggeration enlarge, increase, or represent something beyond normal bounds so that it becomes ridiculous and its faults can be seen.

– Caricature = exaggeration of physical feature or trait. Cartoons, especially political cartoons, provide extensive examples of caricature.

– Burlesque = ridiculous exaggeration of language. Ex: when a character who should use formal, intelligent language, speaks like a fool OR a character who is portrayed as uneducated uses highly sophisticated, intelligent language.

Incongruity To present things that are out of place or are absurd in relation to its surroundings. Particular techniques include oxymoron, metaphor, and irony.

Satirical Techniques: (used to make a comment or criticism about a

particular subject or character)

• Parody To imitate the techniques and/or style of some person, place, or thing in order to ridicule the original. For parody to be successful, the reader must know the original text that is being ridiculed.

• Reversal To present the opposite of the normal order. Reversal can focus on the order of events, such as serving dessert before the main dish or having breakfast for dinner. Additionally, reversal can focus on hierarchical order—for instance, when a young child makes all the decisions for a family or when an administrative assistant dictates what the company president decides and does.

Satirical Devices

• Irony: most commonly used/most effective = instrument of truth, provides: wit, humor, indirect criticism (deflates, scorns, attacks)

All satire is ironic, but not all irony is satire – Purposes?

• want to be believed but lying/probably out of kindness• don’t want to be believed/to upset/sarcasm• don’t want to be believed/share amusement/ironic

– Uses? • Writers says opposite of what he means• Give audience knowledge the character lacks

Satirical Devices (Types of Irony Cont.)

– Verbal – 2 meanings (said and meant) often sarcasm = sneering, personal disapproval pretending to be praise

– Structural – built into texts so that surface + deeper meanings are present throughout (use of naïve hero/narrator – comments/observations at odds with reader’s – but reader must understand author’s intention).

– Dramatic – audience has knowledge that is denied to one or more characters

– Cosmic/Situational –gods, life, fate or some other powerful force manipulate events in a way that mocks the main character.

Satirical Devices cont.

• Juxtaposition: side by side placement of opposites.

• Persona: person created by author to tell story in order to distance himself from what is said. Persona and author may not share same beliefs. Common to use narrators who are not very bright (irony).

Satirical Devices

• Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis/heighten effect/catalyze recognition/create humorous perception

• Invective: abuses and denounces against a person, cause, idea, system; angry, bitter

• Understatement: express idea w/ less emphasis than is actually warranted (irony)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M-KlV5cPUo

Satirical Devices cont.

You must research then record in your notes a literary definition for each term below. • Euphemism• Deflation• Colloquialism• Non-sequitur• Pun• Stereotyping• Malapropism• Wit