Satire

by Matthew John Caldwell Hodgart, Brian Connery (Introduction)

Satire, according to Jonathan Swift, is a mirror where beholders generally discover everybody's face but their own. and over twenty-four centuries the mirror of satirical literature has taken on many shapes. Yet certain techniques recur continually, certain themes are timeless, and some targets are perennial. Politics (the mismanagement of men by other men) has always been a target of satire, as has the war between sexes. The universality of satire as a mode and creative impulse is demonstrated by the cross-cultural development of lampoon and travesty. Its deep roots and variety are shown by the persistence of allegory, fable, aphorism, and other literary subgenres. Hodgart analyzes satire at some of its most exuberant moments in Western literature, from Aristophanes to Brecht. His analysis is supplemented by a selection and discussion of prints and cartoons. Satire continues to help us make sense of the conventions that seem to have been almost genetically transmitted from their satiric ancestors to our digital contemporaries. This is especially evident in Hodgart's repeated references to satire's predilection for the ephemeral, for camouflaging itself among the everyday, for speaking to the moment, and thus for integrating itself as deeply as possible into society. Brian Connery's new introduction places Hodgart's analysis in its proper place in the development of twentieth-century criticism.

Genres: Humor

262 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2009

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating insight into the history of an ephemeral topic. Hodgart entertainingly and with huge breadth of reference defines satire, as well as some of its features.

“The satirist's anger is modified by his sense of superiority and contempt for his victim; his aim is to make the victim lose 'face', and the most effective way of humiliating him is by contemptuous laughter.”

“First and most obviously, satire can turn from a state of mind into art only when it combines aggressive denunciation with some aesthetic features which can cause pure pleasure in the spectator.”

“I would suggest that true satire demands a high degree both of commitment to and involvement with the painful problems of the world, and simultaneously a high degree of abstraction from the world.”

“All good satire contains an element of aggressive attack and a fantastic vision of the world transformed: it is written for entertainment, but contains sharp and telling comments on the problems of the world in which we live, offering 'imaginary gardens with real toads in them'.”

“Satire did not flourish under Stalin, nor will it ever flourish in Little Rock or Alice Springs. Political satire needs a measure of freedom, the background of large cities and some sophistication: political sophistication (both the satirist and his public must understand some of the processes of politics) and aesthetic sophistication (the satirist must be able to contemplate the political scene with humour and detachment as well as with passion, or he will produce only crude polemic).”

He also makes a valiant attempt to define jokes:

“Arthur Koestler in his theory of 'bisociation' (double association). In ordinary discourse and logical thinking we follow a fixed set of rules, laid down by logic and grammar, which he calls 'frames of reference1. To adapt Koestler's terms slightly, wit 'is the effect of perceiving an idea or event, simultaneously or in quick alternation, in two habitually incompatible frames of reference. Instead of being associated with a single context, the event is
bisociated.'”

‘The basic technique of the satirist is reduction: the degradation or devaluation of the victim by reducing his stature and dignity. […] This may be a child or a savage who does not understand the rules of adult and civilised society, and who
refuses to see the symbolic values which such a society attaches to apparently trivial objects and actions; thusthe absurdity of social institutions is exposed when they are reduced to childish or primitive terms.”

“This formula 'X is little better than Y' or 'X is nothing but Y' is often used by the aphorist; it is like a mathematical equation that reduces complexity to simplicity.”

Some of his opinions haven’t, um, aged well – this book was published in the sixites.

“With very few exceptions straight science fiction remains at the level of popular mass-culture: it cannot be taken seriously as imaginative literature, but it has already offered itself as a splendid vehicle for the serious satirist.” HAHAHA OOPS.

“[…] the Erewhonians treat physical disease as a punishable offence, but sympathetically give medical treatment to thieves and embezzlers. Here history has overtaken Butler, since today this is in fact the attitude to crime of many soft-centred liberals, and one itself deserving satirical attack.” Yikes.

“[Céline’s] collaboration with the Nazis caused his work to be neglected for many years; it is best to assume that he was deranged at the time […]” Sure, Jan.

“But this is also true of other kinds of literature: there is currently also a shortage of first-class poets and novelists.” Fear not, the mid-cench white males they are a-coming.

“Satire warns us that man is a dangerous animal, with an infinite capacity for folly; and when it has said that well, it has said enough. It is for the poets to speak of man's glory.”

[Michaela]

I am not going to rate a theory book I have read merely for my thesis - I cannot see myself rating any form of theory book. But I will give a brief review: Hodgart gives a fine little overview of the development of satire, and happily for me, devotes a decent amount of time to Swift and his Gulliver, whom I have dedicated the writing of my Master's Thesis to.
As I said, a fine little overview about what satire is - or how hard it really is to define.
On a funny little side note it is clear in the Postscript that this was written quite a few years ago as Hodgart says that television cannot propagate satire, but cinema certainly can....