This study involves an investigation into the use of satire and humour as strategies of communication. The poetry of four Tsonga poets selected for study includes these strategies which are investigated for the purpose of determining the extent to which they function as strategies of communication. The study consists of four chapters which can be summarized as follows: CHAPTER 1 contains the introduction, aim, scope and method of approach of the entire study. Theories and definitions of satire and humour are also presented here. In CHAPTER 2 the poems selected for study are analysed in terms of invective, subtle and light-hearted satire. CHAPTER 3 focuses attention on the style of presentation of comic and derisive humour. CHAPTER 4 highlights and elucidates the most significant findings of the study. The most competent poet of the four at using satire and humour is identified and his excellence declared and justified / African Languages / M.A. (African languages)

Den här avhandlingen tar till syfte att närmare förklara hur det i svensk 1700-talslitteratur vanligt förekommande satiriska porträtterandet av en landsman som har låtit sig påverkas av fransk kultur, i seder, språk och mode, på sådant sätt att han har blivit en ”sprätthök”, utgör en kritik av det franska kulturinflytandet. Avhandlingen visar också hur det kritiska förhållningssättet till det franska kulturinflytandet, som kanaliseras i beskrivningarna av sprätthöksfigurens förfranskade later, är inbegripet i diskurser om nationell tillhörighet, kultur, moral och språk. Det åberopade källmaterialet, till större delen från perioden 1720-1772, består av varjehanda moralsatirisk litteratur, varav sedekomedier och moraliska veckoskrifter utgör kärnan i analysen. Den analytiska delen av avhandlingen är indelad i tre större kapitel. Det första analsykapitlet tar itu med hur sprätthöksfiguren definieras i källmaterialet. Dessutom visar kapitlet hur resandet till Frankrike och i synnerhet till staden Paris, samtidigt som det ingår i tidens allmänt hållna kritik mot unga adelsmäns bildningsresande, utpekas som förklaringen till att svenskar omskapas till förfranskade sprätthökar. Det andra analyskapitlet visar hur sprätthökarna kan sägas förkroppsliga de stereotypiska föreställningarna om en moraliskt fördärvlig fransk nationalkaraktär och därigenom bidra till konstruktionen av motbilden till en svensk, dygdig och positiv nationalkaraktär. Det tredje analyskapitlet behandlar de språkideologiska motiv och den kritik mot en förfranskad umgängeskultur som kan utläsas i åsikterna om och beskrivningarna av sprätthökarnas språkbruk. / The subject of this dissertation concerns 18th century literary depictions of a certain satirical character, the fop, or in Swedish the “sprätthök”. The overall aim of this study is to investigate how the portrayals of the “sprätthök” are involved in the creation of a critical discourse on French cultural influence and how this, in turn, has a bearing on 18th century conceptions of national identity, morals, culture and language. The material referred to in this dissertation consists of Swedish 18th century literature during the period 1720-1772, mainly comedies of manners and moral weeklies. The analytical part of the dissertation is divided into three major chapters, each dealing with a certain theme. The first of these chapters addresses the question of how the “sprätthök” is defined in the source material and moreover how the criticism of educational travel abroad, to France and Paris, is part of the discussion of how young male Swedes are transformed into Frenchified fops. The second of these chapters deals with the concept of national character and how Swedish fops can be said to embody the negative image of the French national character. The third major analytical chapter concentrates on the language used by fops, and the underlying criticism based on language ideology which is thereby evoked.

This dissertation analyzes selected pieces of work related to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) produced during the twenty-first-century as cultural artifacts to be considered in their historical and socio-political context. Specifically, my dissertation focuses on the relationship between the way the conflict is depicted and the message it conveys. Parting from the premise that there has been an overproduction of lieu de mémoire that has transformed the Spanish war into a cultural trend, the civil war-esque, I study a number of humor works. Precisely, these humorous works deconstruct such trend by considering its most common characteristics: the use of metafiction and nostalgia. The Introduction presents the socio-political situation of contemporary Spain, the civil war-esque trend, and different categories of humor. In the first chapter I focus on the TV-series Plaza de España (2011). By combining the theoretical framework of the sitcom and the Critical Analysis of Discourse, I demonstrate that the program reinforces the official message in regard to the Spanish recent past. In the second chapter I examine the novel La comedia salvaje (2009) by José Ovejero. This parody, understood by the lens of Bakhtin, invites the readers to be skeptical about what they know and what they have been told about the war. In the third chapter I study the film The Last Circus I (2010) by Álex de la Iglesia. Departing from an esperpento, the film leaves this genre behind and transforms itself into a satire which demythifies the traditional research method, such as visiting archives or interviewing witnesses, and opts for imagination to reproduce a traumatic past. Finally, the goal of this dissertation is to help envisage that a wider, and at the same time critical representation, of the Spanish Civil War its possible, and in turn could lead on to a potential change in the Spanish current cultural production as well as its social and political situation.

This thesis looks to explore Urinetown: The Musical through a critical and theoretical framework, analyzing the show's presentation and deconstruction of theatrical character tropes through musical satire. Using the theories of theatre theorists such as Bertolt Brecht, Peter Brook, and Augusto Boal, this thesis discusses the use of theatre as a device for political and social commentary. Additionally, this thesis focuses more specifically on the show's character of Penelope Pennywise as a new kind of character in the theatre: an "ingénue gone awry," within the context of approaching a performance of the character in a performance of the musical.

Dissertation (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis uses Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of dialogism, as well as postmodernism, to open up faultlines in satire, and to explore and challenge various perceptions and discourses surrounding and related to it. Both dialogism and postmodernism are used to suggest fresh approaches to satire, by repositioning it in relation to other discourses and reframing it as a complex dynamic, rather than a closed and inflexible system. Chapter 1 of the thesis opens with an historical survey of the beginnings and subsequent development of satire. It also contains a general discussion of the nature of satiric strategies and opens the door for the incorporation of postmodern perspectives into the argument. Chapter 2 contrasts the issues of morality and re-presentation in satire, arguing that satirists do not simply invite their audience to condemn, but offer them an opportunity to discover alternative worlds. The affinity between satire and postmodernism is emphasised by the postmodern predilection for modes highly favoured by satire: allegory, parody and fantasy. In Chapter 3 the issue of language and its referents is explored, starting with Saussure's theory of how the signifier and the signified function. It is argued that satire has never respected this fixed relationship, and that it is in this respect similar to deconstruction. The last part of the chapter is devoted to examining four key socio-political discourses - psychoanalysis, ideology, propaganda and political myth - in relation to satire. These four discourses are, like satire, intent on influencing the perceptions which people have of the world. The intention in juxtaposing these discourses is to create a dialogic process which will throw a fresh light on all of them, including satire itself. The four socio-political discourses named above play an important part in Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, and are relevant to the subsequent discussion of these novels. Chapter 4 consists of a detailed discussion of Animal Farm, in which the various layers comprising the work are examined. The satirical aspects of the novel are closely related to the fabular and fairy tale elements which are an important part of its constitution. These elements or levels are juxtaposed with the historical details alluded to continuously in Animal Farm and indicate its close concern with the world outside the novel. Chapter 5 consists of a detailed exploration of Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is illuminated by a process of dialogism between the modernist ideology from which the novel springs and the postmodern perspective introduced into the thesis, as well as the four socio-political discourses mentioned earlier. The main postmodern theories used in this chapter are those of Foucault. The last section of the thesis demonstrates how Orwell's personal experience drives his satire, and relates this specifically to a discussion of utopia / dystopia in satire. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Dialogiek van Satire: Fokuspunte en Breuke in Orwell se Animal Farm en Nineteen Eighty-Four: Hierdie proefskrif maak gebruik van Mikhail Bakhtin se teorie van dialogisme, sowel as die postmodernisme, om die breuke in satire bloot te le, en om die verskillende persepsies en diskoerse wat verband hou met die satire te ondersoek en te bevraagteken. Beide die dialogisme en die postmodernisme word gebruik om nuwe perspektiewe op satire te open, deur dit te herposisioneer in verhouding tot ander diskoerse en dit voor te stel in terme van 'n komplekse dinamika eerder as 'n geslote en onbuigsame sisteem. Die eerste hoofstuk van die proefskrif begin met 'n historiese oorsig van die oorspronge en daaropvolgende ontwikkeling van satire. Dit omvat ook 'n algemene bespreking van die aard van satiriese strateqiee en open die moontlikheid om postmodernistiese perspektiewe in die argument te integreer. Hoofstuk 2 kontrasteer die kwessies van moraliteit en representasie in satire met mekaar; daar word geargumenteer dat satirici nie net hulle gehore uitnooi om te veroordeel nie, maar hulle die geleentheid gee om alternatiewe werelde te ontdek. Die verwantskap tussen satire en postmodernisme word benadruk deur die postmodernisme se voorliefde vir die modi waaraan die satire so dikwels voorkeur gee: allegorie, parodie en fantasie. In hoofstuk 3 word die kwessie van taal en referensialiteit ondersoek, beginnende by Saussure se teorie oor die funksionering van die betekenaar en die betekende. Daar word geargumenteer dat satire nog nooit die vaste verhouding tussen betekenaar en betekende eerbiedig het nie, en dat dit in hierdie opsig verwant is aan die dekonstruksie. Die laaste gedeelte van die hoofstuk word gewy aan 'n ondersoek van vier sentrale sosio-politiese diskoerse - psigoanalise, ideologie, propaganda en politieke mitologie - in verhouding met satire. Hierdie vier diskoerse is, soos satire, daarop ingestel om mense se persepsies/opvattings van die. wereld te verander. Die doelstelling met die jukstaposisie van hierdie diskoerse is die skep van 'n dialogiese proses wat al vier hierdie diskoerse, insluitende satire, in 'n nuwe lig sal stel. Die genoemde sosio-politiese diskoerse speel 'n belangrike rol in Animal Farm en Nineteen Eighty-Four, en is relevant vir die daaropvolgende bespreking van die romans. Hoofstuk 4 bestaan uit 'n gedetailleerde bespreking van Animal Farm, waarin daar ondersoek ingestel word na die verskillende lae waaruit die roman bestaan. Die satiriese aspekte van die roman word in noue verband gebring met die fabulere en die feeverhaalelemente wat so 'n belangrike deel uitmaak van die roman se samestelling. Hierdie elemente of vlakke word gejukstaponeer met die historiese detail waarna daar deurlopend in Animal Farm verwys word en wat die noue bemoeienis met die wereld buite die roman aandui. Hoofstuk 5 bestaan uit 'n intensiewe ondersoek van Nineteen Eighty-Four, wat belig word deur 'n proses van dialogisme tussen die modernistiese ideologie waaruit die roman spruit en die postmodernistiese perspektiewe wat in die proefskrif ingevoer word. Die belangrikste postmodernistiese teoriee wat in hierdie hoofstuk gebruik word, is die van Foucault. Die laaste afdeling van die proefskrif demonstreer hoedat Orwell se persoonlike ervaring bepalend is vir sy satire en bring dit spesifiek in verband met 'n bespreking van utopie/distopie in satire.

Barbara Garson’s controversial play, MacBird!, was written and produced during the Vietnam War era and Johnson administration. The satirical Shakespeare adaptation equates LBJ with Macbeth, the villainous tragic hero who murders his king in order to gain the Scottish crown. The implication that Johnson was responsible for the assassination of JFK created a fury of controversy among critics and the public, as well as the political leaders who were parodied. The play was first published and circulated in 1966 as an underground leaflet. In 1967, it was produced off-Broadway with a cast that featured actors Rue McClanahan, William Devane, Cleavon Little, and Stacy Keach, who won an Obie Award for his performance of the title role. The show launched the careers of these actors. Critics were divided in their reviews of the play’s literary merit, but all seemed to agree that the piece was shocking and significant because it flew in the face of patriotism and of reverence for presidential authority. At the time of its production, acclaimed theater critic Robert Brustein named MacBird! “the most explosive play” of the Sixties theater movement. This dissertation presents the history of the play, within its social and political setting, from its inception through its production and abrupt disappearance at the peak of its success, which coincided with the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Relying upon methodology that includes primary and secondary sources, as well as interviews with the playwright and others involved in the play, this work presents the publication and production history of MacBird!, public and White House response to the play, a contextual analysis under a feminist lens, and a final chapter on MacBird! as a precursor to feminist adaptations of canonical works, Sixties-era Macbeth adaptations, and the notable women whose work intersected in MacBird! MacBird! was a tremendous event in theater history; it belongs at the fore of adaptation studies, particularly Shakespeare and feminist adaptation studies; it is a prime model of performance as a political tool and therefore earns a central place in performance studies; and because it is an attack on patriarchal power and a rare example of a Sixties radical play written by a woman, Barbara Garson needs to be recognized among remarkable women of theater. / text

新加坡是個經濟繁榮、法治嚴明、資訊科技發達的城市國家，主流平面及電子媒體由報業控股公司（SPH）及新傳媒（Media Corp.）兩大集團壟斷，奉行「政府說了算」的新聞學意理，網路使用普及後，公民媒體乘勢興起。 Mr. Brown Show是由新加坡人民製作的政治諷刺播客（podcast），主要作者為資深部落客李健敏（Mr. Brown），持續發聲已逾三年，廣受歡迎。播客內容多為重現新聞時事的幽默短劇，以人民的觀點針砭時政，實踐公民新聞學（citizen journalism）。 筆者以播客發聲至今顯著性高的新聞議題為指標，選出四大議題共二十三則播客，將之謄寫、節譯為文字稿，以主流媒體（如《海峽時報》）報導為事件背景，對照播客內容，呈現Mr. Brown Show觀點，並歸納製作群的慣用表述策略，如文字遊戲、雙關語、偽裝角色等，申論政治諷刺拓展公民新聞學實踐的範疇。 Mr. Brown Show以播客為載具，網路為傳播平台，正好規避當局對傳統媒介的管制，更甚者，當局未干涉播客的諷刺評論，Mr. Brown Show為另類媒介提供生存線索，並拓寬當前播客的使用目的。 傳播科技帶來新媒體發展的可能性，本文取Mr. Brown Show為個案，以小窺大，除了看它如何利用播客實踐公民新聞學，也探討新媒體對統治當局的挑戰。 / This study examines the production of podcast by a Singaporean blogger Lee Kin Mun, a.k.a. Mr. Brown. He and his team have been utilizing the outcome of a technological convergence — podcast, in a most creative way to express their political views. By its own unique style of satire, Mr. Brown Show has survived in this city state’s closely regulated Internet sphere. In addition, it emerged as a good example of citizen journalism, providing survival tips for local alternative media. It remains to be seen, however, in what way Mr. Brown Show or its likes can make a difference on Singapore’s online democracy.

À la charnière des XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, une ample production satirique témoigne d'un mouvement de défiance à l'endroit de la philosophie des Lumières, accusée d'être responsable des exactions commises durant l'épisode révolutionnaire. Il s'agit alors de procéder à la liquidation de l'héritage des Lumières : en une période caractérisée par son instabilité politique, la satire lucilienne en vers, genre alors finissant, bénéficie d'un effet de mode qui la rend à nouveau légitime. Les désordres sociaux et moraux justifient le recours au genre polémique par excellence. La satire devient un observatoire privilégié pour saisir toutes les tensions qui parcourent le pays, aux niveaux politique, religieux et philosophique. Le satirique est cependant un poète à la marge ; la prétendue performativité de sa parole poétique et le danger qu'elle représente pour les victimes de sa dénonciation font du poète satirique un individu suspect qui, perpétuellement, doit chercher à autoriser sa parole polémique. L'analyse de la constitution éthique du satirique permet d'apercevoir le jeu de filiation entre les auteurs de notre corpus et les grands auteurs qui ont valu au genre son honorabilité littéraire, ceux-ci revendiquant perpétuellement l'héritage de ceux-là. Le satirique, en se créant une persona éthique stable, rend légitime sa dénonciation et justifie le recours à l'invective au nom d'un idéal supérieur : le maintien de l'État, la restauration de la morale et des valeurs, la régénérescence de l'Art. Tous les domaines sont concernés. Car dans la production satirique de la période entre Thermidor et l'Empire, c'est véritablement à un procès du siècle que procèdent les satiriques, s'inscrivant pour cela dans la tradition ronsardienne et albinéenne de la satire politique. Politique, philosophie et religion sont autant d'objets de questionnements, de débats et de polémiques au sein de la production satirique de cette période. La redéfinition du statut de l'Église en France durant la Révolution, les tentatives infructueuses de création d'un culte concurrent du catholicisme et de plus larges antagonismes entre des visions du monde inconciliables créent des réseaux d'oppositions qui structurent les troubles de l'époque : l'athéisme contre la religion, la république contre la monarchie, la raison contre la foi.

This thesis examines the articles the Brazilian writer Lima Barreto (1881-1922) published in the popular satirical magazine Careta. It argues that Careta epitomises Lima Barreto’s aim to create social impact through literature, as it provided him with the largest readership he enjoyed in his lifetime, reaching hundreds of thousands of readers weekly nationwide and internationally. The thesis expands the knowledge about the strategies Lima Barreto used to convey his ideas, showing how he endeavoured to engage with mass audiences in order to combat social fragmentation and intellectual alienation in early twentieth century Brazil. The significance of this thesis is evident on two levels. First, I demonstrate throughout the chapters that Barreto fully engaged with Careta to convey his ideas to a mass audience, choosing the magazine as his main periodical voice in the last years of his life. This argument challenges the idea that Lima Barreto was a marginal writer in the First Republic. Second, the originality of this thesis lies in locating and uncovering almost one hundred and fifty hitherto unknown texts, most of them published pseudonymously in Careta. Chapter one discusses the militancy of Barreto's works. Chapter two argues that Barreto elected magazines, more than newspapers, to convey his message to a large audience. Chapter three relates the early history of Careta. Chapter four suggests that Barreto incorporated pictorial strategies into his articles. Chapter five argues that Barreto embraced Careta's central theme derived from the Commedia dell'Arte. Chapter six discusses systematically the pseudonyms attributed to Barreto in Careta and provides robust evidence that he published many hitherto unknown texts pseudonymously. Finally, I conclude that Careta encapsulates Barreto's efforts to reach a mass readership and communicate with readers beyond literary circles.

Literary medievalism has always been critically controversial; it has often been dismissed as reactionary or escapist. This survey of major medievalist writers from America, England, Ireland and Iceland aims to demonstrate instead that medievalism is one of the characteristic literatures of modernity. Whereas realist fiction focuses on typical, plausible or common experiences of modernity, medievalist literature is anything but reactionary, for it focuses on the intellectual circumstances of modernity. Events such as the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, many political revolutions, the world wars, and the scientific discoveries of Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and above all those of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), each sent out cultural shockwaves that changed western beliefs about the nature of humanity and the world. Thus, intellectual anachronisms pervade medievalist literature, as some of the greatest writers of modern times offer new perspectives on old legends. The first chapter of this study focuses on the impact of Darwin’s ideas on Victorian epic poems, particularly accounts of natural evolution and supernatural creation. The second chapter describes how late Victorian medievalists, abandoning primitivism and claims to historicity, pushed beyond the form of the retelling by simulating medieval literary genres. The third chapter crosses into the twentieth century and examines the relationship between the skepticism of a new generation of medievalist writers and their exploration of radical new possibilities in artificial mythology. The fourth chapter examines the gender dynamics of medievalist works, discussing how medievalist writers reinterpreted stock character types through metafiction. The final chapter’s focus is on war, propaganda, and human nature; it documents the iconoclastic trend in postwar medievalism, as writers examine the role of literature in encouraging nationalism and organized violence. Tying together the major threads of medievalism from the previous chapters, this final chapter chases the greatest shockwave of the twentieth century through inverted medieval landscapes where the author may be the greatest villain of all. Rejecting the critical Balkanization of medievalism, this study instead offers a unified view of nineteenth- and twentieth-century responses to northern legend, one which shows medievalism closely tracking the shocks of modernity. / October 2016