In our pursuit of a world that is safely and entirely OK, must humour be cleansed of its original sin of cultural appropriation and insensitivity? It depends whether we are ‘laughing up’ or ‘laughing down’.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Satire
Displaying 61 - 80 of 106 articles
A president who apparently never laughs, Trump inspires mockery on an unprecedented scale.
Chaplin’s 1940 film ‘The Great Dictator’ mocks Hitler’s absurdity and overweening vanity, while highlighting Germany’s psychological captivity to a political fraud.
Franklin advanced a scientific – not supernatural – understanding of astronomical events such as eclipses. His satirical character ‘Poor Richard’ mocked those who bought into astrological predictions.
Donald Trump Jr. has been compared to Fredo Corleone in The Godfather. But that’s not good casting.
The UK needs more US-style political news satire. Sadly broadcast rules are making that difficult.
John’s conversations were full of hysterical laughter, and he had a way asking questions that drew extraordinary answers.
John Clarke gave voice to a brilliant Antipodean acerbity that has always seemed a little old-fashioned in its moral and tonal dignity. His was a magnificent achievement of focused, pitch-perfect satire.
The growing incidence of racism on social media in South Africa suggests that there are consequences. Whether there ought to be criminal sanctions remains an ongoing debate.
Bill Leak divided his audience, image by image. Causing offence was a KPI for him, not a risk.
He probably would have been amused by – and maybe even befriended – Trump the entertainer. Trump the president? Not so much.
As newspaper circulation continues to founder, sales of satire and weekly news magazines have never looked healthier.
Some advice to Man Booker winner Paul Beatty on how to cope with his newfound fame.
Over a lifetime’s work, Dario Fo stood tall and would not bow to either artistic or political compromise.
British society takes monarchy far more seriously than they did two centuries ago. Far too seriously.
Satire should be a way of keeping the powerful in check, not sneering at the powerless.
From Alfonso the Wise’s bawdy songs of slander to Ronald Reagan’s sunny smile, politics and humor have gone hand-in-hand for centuries. But no one seems to be laughing anymore.
As any political observer could tell you, sometimes you need to laugh to keep from crying. But as another federal election wraps up, Australia’s political satire landscape looks a little grim.
The ABC’s Rake is about to air its final episode. This smart, postmodern show ushered in a new kind of Australian satire: with less caricature than Front Line, more politics than Kath and Kim, and a fluid connection to high and low culture.
Two recent controversial cartoons depicting people as apes have raised an important question: what are the legal and philosophical distinctions between harm and offence?
Top contributors
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Professor of English, Flinders University
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Associate Professor in 18th-century Literature, York St John University
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Lecturer in Journalism, Swansea University
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Honorary lecturer, School of Social Sciences, UNSW Sydney
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Kidman Chair in Australian Studies and Director, JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice, University of Adelaide
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Senior Lecturer in English Literature, York St John University
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Associate Lecturer, Creative Writing, Flinders University
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Professor of International Affairs and Comparative Literature, Penn State
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Associate Professor in the Media School, Indiana University
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Associate Professor, School of Communication, QUT, Queensland University of Technology
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Professor of English, York University, Canada
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Assistant Professor of Media Communication, University of Arkansas – Fort Smith
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Scholar in Media and Cultural Studies, Macquarie University
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Professor of Modern Languages and Creative Futures, Lancaster University
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Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University
