Satire

by Matthew John Caldwell Hodgart

255p white paperback with illustrated cover, good condition, binding tight, pages neat and bright, light pencil marks in some margins, illustrations very bright and sharp, an excellent copy, this copy published in the year 1969 in the series entitled World University Library.

Genres: Criticism, Satire

256 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Glyven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hodgart's Satire is a considerably thorough overview of a literary genre that has survived since ancient times. Nowadays, when one hears "satire," one usually thinks of the media--television shows like Saturday Night Live, The Colbert Report, and The Simpsons; faux-newspapers like the Onion--and less often of classic literary works like Gulliver's Travels, Don Quixote, and Huckleberry Finn. But, as Hodgart proves, such works are often far more scathing than their representation in popular culture might suggest.

Hodgart discusses many great satirical writers at length, including Aristophanes, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, and Charles Dickens; dozens of others are touched upon--the book is an excellent resource for anyone seeking to delve into literary satire. By providing background into the lives of many satirists, the author demonstrates the necessity of historical context in the judgment and appreciation of satirical works.

The book famously lists the necessary conditions for political satire to exist: (1) free speech, either intentionally or through bureaucratic inefficiency; (2) the spread of democratic ideas; (3) writers who are confident in their ability to facilitate change; and (4) an audience that is wide, sophisticated, and appreciates wit. Wit, in fact, is used as a weapon: too often satire is confused with parody, or worse yet, mere humor, but satire does not strive for humor as an end in itself--sometimes it's intentionally devoid of humor. Essential to satire is the author's disapproval of human vice or folly, which is attacked with sarcasm.

Structurally, Hodgart's book eschews chronological order for a detailed exploration of the topics, forms and techniques of satire. There's a chapter apiece about two of the dominant themes in satirical literature, politics and women. (The fact that an entire chapter is devoted to women as a target of satire may displease feminist readers; perhaps that's appropriate, given the intentions of anti-feminist satirists.)

One of the profound realizations I had while reading Satire was the degree to which a satirist puts himself at risk: he could be unpopular or even hated in his own time, and the issues he writes about could be of little interest to future generations, who will consequently have little use for him. Hodgart's book was published in 1969, and in it he seems to have a pessimistic outlook for the future of satire. To the contrary, the 2000s are an interesting period for satire, given the so-called "culture wars": on one side there are immensely popular figures like Stephen Colbert satirizing the right-wing media; on the other, Ann Coulter, decidedly less universal in her appeal, whose outrageous statements offend many but have also gotten her compared to Jonathan Swift. Somewhere in the middle there are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who have lambasted stupidity on both sides with South Park. Even movie director Uwe Boll, criticized more for his alleged ineptitude than for his point of view, included surprisingly funny (if tasteless) satire in his comedy Postal.

Satire finishes with chapters on satire in drama and the novel, and a glance at other media. I would like to have read more on the presence of satire in film and television, but I realize that, given the date of the book's publication, many of the great film and TV satires were yet to come. Satire is a fairly revelatory text if you're primarily familiar with satire in its 20th and 21st century incarnations. I recommend it.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hodgart's history and taxonomy of satire manages to be dry as dust in its presentation, and some of his assessments of social issues (this edition was published in 1969) have aged poorly. However, he is clearly erudite and it would be a useful study guide.

[Elliot A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I used as a resource for my term paper, this one had a very distinct amusing and comedic tone to it, which was a refreshing break from the serious research and note taking I had done up until that point.
It had some very good points on structure and composition of the genre and what distinguishes it from comedy.

ElliotScribbles

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good.