Post by Mr. Wells on Oct 19, 2007 6:57:32 GMT -5
The angry, cynical older brother of Horatian satire, Juvenalian satire is rarely seen in popular American writing. It is not the antithesis of Horatian satire, as the purposes of each satirical mode are to point out what the satirist feels are obvious human follies and vices and to correct them. Read the following explanation of Juvenalian satire. I have italicized highly important details for you.
Juvenalian satire or tone, named for the Roman satirist Juvenal, is characterized by biting sarcasm, bitter irony, moral indignation, pessimism, and an antagonistic tone. Juvenalian satire presents Man as the Knave, an inherently evil creature that is equally deserving of both scorn and ridicule. The Juvenalian satirist often assumes the persona of the unblemished, morally superior critic who is beyond reproach, and as such, is uniquely qualified to deliver a crushing blow to whatever target happens to draw his or her ire. The object of Juvenalian satire is most often a specific person or social institution (as opposed to satirizing human folly in general), sometimes thinly cloaked in the guise of fiction or allegory.
In the mating of comedy and criticism that is satire, Juvenalian tone places much more emphasis on the latter. The Juvenalian satirist treads a fine line between satire and tirade. When successful, Juvenalian satire is a witty, clever condemnation of humanity's flaws. When unsuccessful, Juvenalian satire resembles an extended whine that may prompt the reader to wonder what crawled up the author's ass and died.
A classic example of (good) Juvenalian satire, other than the angry personal invectives that constitute the writing of Juvenal himself, is Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. In the novel, Swift uses allegory to deliver his attacks with such success that some people miss the satire completely and assume that it is a children's story. However, for readers who are over the age of ten and aren't complete dullards, the object of Swift's clever satire is immediately evident. For example, the land of Lilliput and its inhabitants satirize, among other things, the social institution of religion, particularly Christianity. Lilliputians are only six inches tall (small bodies, small minds), and are embroiled in an interminable civil war, the principle source of conflict being whether it is better to crack an egg on the big end or on the little end. The war between the Big-Endians and the Little-Endians (not to be confused with an equally stupid disagreement with the same name among computer architecture designers) directly symbolizes the conflict between Catholics and Protestants. In a delicious ironic twist that embodies Juvenalian pessimism, Gulliver, a giant to the Lilliputians, saves Lilliput's imperial palace from imminent destruction by fire by copiously pissing on it, thereby extinguishing the flames. Instead of thanking Gulliver for his heroic deed, the Lilliputians follow the letter of the law that states that urination within the palace grounds is a capital offense, and decide to put out Gulliver's eyes before slowly starving him to death, demonstrating the hypocrisy of religion's attempts to rigidly define and enforce morality.
Proceed to Task 6
Anonymous. "Juvenalian". Acquired 19 October 2007 from everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1282231
Juvenalian satire or tone, named for the Roman satirist Juvenal, is characterized by biting sarcasm, bitter irony, moral indignation, pessimism, and an antagonistic tone. Juvenalian satire presents Man as the Knave, an inherently evil creature that is equally deserving of both scorn and ridicule. The Juvenalian satirist often assumes the persona of the unblemished, morally superior critic who is beyond reproach, and as such, is uniquely qualified to deliver a crushing blow to whatever target happens to draw his or her ire. The object of Juvenalian satire is most often a specific person or social institution (as opposed to satirizing human folly in general), sometimes thinly cloaked in the guise of fiction or allegory.
In the mating of comedy and criticism that is satire, Juvenalian tone places much more emphasis on the latter. The Juvenalian satirist treads a fine line between satire and tirade. When successful, Juvenalian satire is a witty, clever condemnation of humanity's flaws. When unsuccessful, Juvenalian satire resembles an extended whine that may prompt the reader to wonder what crawled up the author's ass and died.
A classic example of (good) Juvenalian satire, other than the angry personal invectives that constitute the writing of Juvenal himself, is Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. In the novel, Swift uses allegory to deliver his attacks with such success that some people miss the satire completely and assume that it is a children's story. However, for readers who are over the age of ten and aren't complete dullards, the object of Swift's clever satire is immediately evident. For example, the land of Lilliput and its inhabitants satirize, among other things, the social institution of religion, particularly Christianity. Lilliputians are only six inches tall (small bodies, small minds), and are embroiled in an interminable civil war, the principle source of conflict being whether it is better to crack an egg on the big end or on the little end. The war between the Big-Endians and the Little-Endians (not to be confused with an equally stupid disagreement with the same name among computer architecture designers) directly symbolizes the conflict between Catholics and Protestants. In a delicious ironic twist that embodies Juvenalian pessimism, Gulliver, a giant to the Lilliputians, saves Lilliput's imperial palace from imminent destruction by fire by copiously pissing on it, thereby extinguishing the flames. Instead of thanking Gulliver for his heroic deed, the Lilliputians follow the letter of the law that states that urination within the palace grounds is a capital offense, and decide to put out Gulliver's eyes before slowly starving him to death, demonstrating the hypocrisy of religion's attempts to rigidly define and enforce morality.
Proceed to Task 6
Work Cited
Anonymous. "Juvenalian". Acquired 19 October 2007 from everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1282231