On Satire

           I worked with a student yesterday whose paper dealt with a certain author’s various literary devices, one of which was satire.  As I read the paragraphs dealing with that “technique,” the words didn’t quite ring true, but I found myself unable to articulate what satire is or how she could improve her use of the term.  I looked up satire in the dictionary and even called over my coworker, but we were equally at a loss.  As a literature major, I felt chagrined.  At length, I agreed with my co-worker that the paragraph seemed well-written, supported by quotes from the book and paraphrases from sources.  The student’s use of the term “satire” still seemed off, but I feebly suggested she add what foible each example was a satire of, and we moved on.

            A niggling discontent with my ignorance prompted me (after completing other necessary chores at work) to research satire.  Up, Wikipedia!  Down, ignorance!  And now, dear readers, you shall benefit from my lesson:

            First, satire is not a technique; rather, it is a genre along with comedy, tragedy, romance and the rest.  As such, it has its own particular style and purpose: namely, satire employs such techniques as irony, sarcasm, parody, exaggeration, caricature, juxtaposition, mockery, double meanings, and so on to critique an aspect of society--politics, religion, human rights, manners, traditions, and so on.  The author seeks to expose human folly and to shame individuals and society into improvement, so in essence, satire uses wit as social criticism.  Thus can one easily distinguish satire from its techniques or from non satirical teasing, dark humor, and other forms of mockery and juxtaposition, for satire always addresses core issues related to the subject’s ideas, morals, conduct, traditions, or social position--and most notably, its address judges the subject and draws toward it not sympathy, but criticism (and, one hopes, beneficial change).

Literary satires include well-known titles such as Candide, Animal Farm, and The Screwtape Letters.  Many film spoofs are also a form of satire, as are the articles and videos from the “news” website The Onion.  Even funnies like Doonesbury and Beetle Bailey, and certain story arcs in Terry Pratchet’s Discworld series count as satires.  Satirical works such as these range from the mild and humorous (e.g. The Rape of the Lock) to the intensely serious (e.g. Lord of the Flies) to even the grotesque, tragic, or offensive (e.g. Gargantua and Pantagruel).

Though satirists hope to motivate social improvement--and some like Charles Dickens do--in some cases, their works prompt primarily negative reactions because they can, understandably, come across as unpleasantly critical and even insulting.  Occasionally, satirists make purposefully inflammatory works.  For instance, the savage verses of an ancient Greek poet named Hipponax allegedly caused one of his opponents to hang himself [“Hipponax,” Wikipedia].  However, even with milder satire, readers may take offense easily if they have a personal connection to the subject the work addresses: Consider when, in 2005, satirical Muhammad cartoons printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten sparked violent worldwide protests.  Problems may also occur if readers take a sarcastic work literally.  For example, A Modest Proposal is indeed offensive if one thinks Jonathan Swift earnestly supports cannibalism as a means to reduce poverty.

Due to satire’s potential to inflame readers, most totalitarian countries prohibit it (along with less-divisive forms of free speech), and even some organizations in “free speech” countries like the U.S. have banned particular works from their libraries, schools, and so forth (such as the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn).  However, we cannot discount their potential for good: Dickens’ social satires were widely enjoyed and likely paved the way for various social reforms during and after his time.  More recently, Doonesbury satirized a county law in Florida “requiring minorities to have a passcard in the area; the law was soon repealed with an act nicknamed the Doonesbury Act” (“Satire: Contemporary Satire,” Wikipedia).  

            As Wikipedia observes, satires can relieve or even resolve social tension, and they “provide the keenest insights into a group's collective psyche, reveal its deepest values and tastes, and the society's structures of power.”  With such a testimony to the genre's lofty role in society, I'm sure I shall never again mistake satire for a mere technique.