The aim of the essay is to show that Albert Camus’ novel The Fall despite the seriousness of the subjects it deals with can be read as a satirical work. To support thisargument a brief explanation of the term satire will be made and the definitions itholds will likewise be discussed.A careful textual analysis shows that satirical ruses are evident in The Fall.Another aim of the paper is to depict how the satirical devises that are used, confront and discuss the objects of “attack”. The essay will focus on finding satirical instances in relation to two major themes that are targeted in the novel: Christianity and modernity. The research method is based on a close reading and the support of secondary sources. The conclusions made, based on argumentative and analytical explorations, are that The Fall in fact can be read as a satirical novel; that the book, through mockery and satire, tries to criticize Christian and Modern values.

This MFA thesis, More Stories About Disappointment and TV, is a collection of short stories. I see them as being interconnected, if only in the loosest possible sense. I have certain ideas and themes that recur throughout my work, which I hope gives the stories a sense of cohesion without making the collection feel too monochromatic. The stories vary in narrative approach and point of view. My stories are character-driven literary fiction, to put it broadly, though they often incorporate characteristics of genre fiction. Some of them are more realistic than others, but they almost always have elements of the weird, the fabulist, and/or the absurd.

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Since 1920, Lewis has written only novels in which he has ridiculed the leading phases of American life. He has given an exact picture; he has left no faults uncovered. He loves America and he hates to see her in a state of degeneration. He has tried to appeal to the human side of his public in order to open the eyes of America to her own defects. He has been cynical, satirical, and humorous in his attempt to picture America as she really is. I have chosen the novels that Lewis has written since the year 1920 to show that he has satirized America in her various phases of life. I have not explored the fields of poetry and drama nor the earlier novels; for beginning with Main Street in 1920 and ending with the Prodigal Parents in 1938, Lewis has depicted the faults of a nation struggling for peace and security in a world of materialistic ideals.

Against the backdrop of a possible US military attack on Iran, this report examines a film that advances the case for independent political reform from within Iran’s borders. The case study analyzes the cultural and political instrumentality of satire in Kamal Tabrizi’s film, The Lizard (2004). By determining the socio-political restrictions that inform Iran’s society and film industry, it demonstrates that The Lizard uses satire to transgress the value-system that the Iranian theocracy is upheld by. The study draws on narrative analysis to explore the film’s satiric devices of parody and masquerade and discusses their significance in creating new images of clergy that combine to build an alternative reality to the one portrayed in mainstream Iranian media. The report argues that this utopian space undermines the established order by redefining or rejecting the terms and dichotomies communicated through its official channels.

As Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias são reconhecidas pela crítica especializada como um marco na literatura nacional, pelo êxito que tiveram em tratar de forma cômico-irônica das circunstâncias socioculturais do Brasil da primeira metade do século XIX. Ao tecer seus elogios à obra, não é incomum que os críticos comparem seu autor com Machado de Assis. No entanto, as comparações costumam se restringir a comentários genéricos, sem o escrutínio analítico. Assim, o presente trabalho de pesquisa parte do questionamento sobre os pontos de convergência, similaridades e diferenças entre os autores. Notamos que ambos recorrem ao humor, à caricatura e à ironia em seus textos e que estes elementos estéticos servem a propósitos satíricos em suas obras. Portanto, buscamos analisar, a princípio, como estes componentes se manifestam nelas. No recorte comparativo, optamos por analisar a novela O Alienista no cotejo com as Memórias de um sargento de milícias, uma vez que é nesta obra machadiana que o humor, a caricatura e a verve satírica se encontram mais destacados. Sendo ambos os textos satíricos, tratamos de determinar quais os estilos deste gênero a que se filiam, o que os define, como se manifestam nas obras estudadas, quais são os objetos de motejo e de que modo são escarnecidos. Finalmente, examinamos se estes textos se prestam ao julgamento e à condenação moral da conduta de suas personagens, se são distanciados e como se dá esse distanciamento. / Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias are acknowledged by specialized critics as a milestone in Brazilian literature, for the novel was greatly successful in tackling the socio-cultural circumstances of the first half of the 19th Brazil in a comic-ironic way. When complimenting this work, it is not uncommon that critics compare its author to Machado de Assis. However, these comparisons tend to be restricted to general comments, without the analytical scrutiny. Thus, this research work questions at first how these authors are similar and converge and what differs them. We have noticed that both recur to humor, caricature and irony in their texts and that these aesthetic elements lend themselves to satire. Therefore, our starting point is to analyze how these aspects manifest in their narratives. We have opted, as a research focus in relation to Memórias de um Sargento de Milícias, to analyze O Alienista, once this is the narrative by Machado de Assis in which humor, caricature and the satirical verve outstand the most. Being both texts satirical, we set out to determine which style of this genre they abide by, what defines them, how they manifest in the narratives studied, what the objects of mockery are and by what manner they are derided. Finally, we examined if these texts engage in moral judgements and condemnation of their characters, if they are detached and how this detachment takes place.

Satire is often construed as little more than an entertaining form of mockery, of which political and religious satire are only topical instances. However, trends in contemporary satire suggest that it can operate as a sui generis mode of rational discourse. I argue that recent satire often trades in undermining the exchange of coercive ideas, that in doing so it exhibits specific social/political commitments, and that it suggests ways of diminishing the harmfulness of abusive speech through practices of reading or hearing such discourse which do not permit violent ends. This argument proceeds along the following steps: First, satire’s rational function is to undermine the strength of reasons through repeating and embellishing their irrational use. Employing arguments of JL Austin and Robert Brandom, I describe satire as a way of interrupting the giving and asking for reasons by supposing expressed beliefs to have unrealistic intentions, and thus employing them toward unlikely ends. Second, political and religious satire exhibits at least two identifiable commitments which are central to classical social contract theory: that political power should be subject to the collective consent of the governed, and that those in power should not cause harm to the governed. Third, especially within liberal democratic contexts, satire can function to undermine the abuse of power by employing such coercive speech towards socially just ends. Undermining harmful speech implies an ontological consequence that one is denied the social role of perpetrator. This consequence is suggestive for the view that human identity is significantly rooted in public discursive performances; that is, satire exhibits strategies both for diminishing the effectiveness of harmful speech and creating for the perpetrator a new public role. The approach to theorizing from recent satirical trends has consequences which evoke explicitly theological themes of justice and reconciliation.

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This satire offers an update of Jane Collier's "An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting," an instruction manual for sadists. It includes directions for the beginning tormentor with specific instructions for tormenting strangers, acquaintances, friends, lovers and relatives.