Satire: Creating and Using It

Introduction

Satire is a literary and rhetorical device that employs humor, irony, and exaggeration to criticize or ridicule societal flaws, human foibles, political absurdities, or moral shortcomings.

It serves as a powerful form of social commentary, using a sharp and often satirical tone to challenge prevailing norms, institutions, and behaviors, with the ultimate aim of prompting critical reflection and fostering social change. Through its multifaceted techniques, satire offers a nuanced and critical lens through which to dissect and scrutinize various aspects of human society and culture.

How to Create Satire

Creating satire in a fictional work requires careful thought and planning. Here are some steps to help you create effective satire:

Step	Points	Example
Identify Target	i. Choose a specific target or subject	Target: Celebrity culture
	ii. Consider the relevance and significance
	iii. Research and gather information
Determine the tone	i. Decide the desired emotional impact	Tone: Biting and critical
	ii. Consider the appropriateness of the target and message
	iii. Find inspiration from existing satirical works
Exaggerate	i. Identify specific traits, behaviors, or situations	Exaggeration: Celebrities obsessing over their fame and constantly seeking attention
	ii. Push the boundaries
	iii. Consider consequences
Use irony and sarcasm	i. Employ verbal irony	Irony: A celebrity claiming to be “just like everyone else” while living an extravagant lifestyle
	ii. Utilize situational irony
	iii. Incorporate biting sarcasm
Create memorable characters	i. Develop characters embodying traits	Character: An overly self-obsessed celebrity who believes they are the center of the universe
	ii. Ensure characters are relatable
	iii. Consider character interactions and conflicts
Use humor	i. Employ wordplay, puns, or clever language	Humor: A celebrity giving a speech filled with empty, clichéd phrases that sound profound but lack substance
	ii. Create absurd or comical situations
	iii. Consider the timing and pace of humor
Edit and refine	i. Review with a critical eye	Reviewing and refining dialogue to ensure the satire is sharp and impactful
	ii. Remove unnecessary points
	iii. Seek feedback and make revisions

Benefits of Satire

Satire offers various benefits, including:

1. Raising Awareness: Satire draws attention to important social and political issues by exposing flaws, hypocrisies, and absurdities. By using humor to highlight serious problems, satire can engage and educate people who might otherwise be disinterested or apathetic.
2. Promoting Critical Thinking: Satire encourages people to think critically about the world around them. By challenging conventional wisdom, norms, and conventions, and exposing the flaws in common beliefs and practices, satire helps people develop a more nuanced and informed perspective.
3. Providing Entertainment: It is a form of entertainment. It provides a welcome respite from the stresses and challenges of routinized life. Through making people laugh and smile, satire improves public mood and outlook, and helps them cope with difficult situations.
4. Creativity: Satire requires creativity and originality. By challenging writers and artists to think outside of the box and come up with innovative ways to criticize society, satire gives birth to creativity and inspires new ideas.
5. Promoting Change: It is a powerful tool for social and political transformations. Exposing the injustices and inequalities in society and calling for reform is an easy task for a satirist, who inspires people to take action and demand change.

In short, satire could be a valuable and effective form of communication, having the potential to inform, educate, entertain, and inspire.

Satire and Literary Theory

Satire is a literary genre employed in various forms and could be analyzed using various literary theories. Here are some examples of literary theories that could be applied to satire:

Literary Theory	Critique of Satire	Practical Example
New Criticism	New Criticism focuses on close readings of the text, emphasizing formal elements like structure, style, and imagery.  It helps analyze satire through its use of irony, structure, form, genre, and literary techniques (e.g., hyperbole, metaphor, imagery) to convey its message.	Example: It is used for analyzing Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” by examining its use of irony, structure, and hyperbole to criticize British oppression in Ireland and advocate for social change.
Marxism	Marxism examines literature from a socio-economic perspective, looking at how it reflects and reinforces social hierarchies and power structures. It analyzes satire’s role in challenging or reinforcing societal power structures, critiquing class hierarchies, or critiquing capitalism.	Example: It is used for studying George Orwell’s Animal Farm to understand how satire is used to critique the abuse of power and the emergence of a new elite class, reflecting Marxist themes of class struggle.
Feminism	Feminism focuses on gender roles and stereotypes in culture, social discourse, and literature. It analyzes this device to see how it critiques patriarchal structures, challenges attitudes toward women, and subverts or reinforces gender norms and stereotypes.	Example: It is used fore examining the works of Jane Austen to explore how her satirical portrayals of marriage and gender roles in the 19th century challenge societal expectations and empower female characters.
Postcolonialism	Postcolonialism examines how literature reflects and critiques colonialism and its legacy. It analyzes this device to critique colonial attitudes, stereotypes, and the ongoing effects of colonialism on societies and cultures.	Example: It is used for analyzing Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart to understand how satire is used to challenge European colonial narratives and explore the impact of colonialism on Igbo society in Nigeria.

These critiques provide insights into how satire functions within different literary theories, shedding light on its role in critiquing and reflecting various aspects of society and culture.

Suggested Readings

1. Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World. Indiana University Press, 1984.
2. Combe, Kirk, and Brian A. Connery, eds. Theorizing Satire: Essays in Literary Criticism. St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
3. Highet, Gilbert. Anatomy of satire. Vol. 1353. Princeton University Press, 2015.
4. Hutcheon, Linda. Irony, Satire, and Parody in Canadian Fiction. Indiana University Press, 2000.
5. Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. Penguin Classics, 2003.
6. Waugh, Patricia. Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide. Oxford University Press, 2006.