Can Parody Change the World?
On the Philosophical and Political Aspects of Satirical Parody
Keywords:
parody, political satire, Derrida, deconstructionAbstract
Satire is to an increasing extent a part of the formation of our political consciousness. But what happens when political matters are expressed through satire? The purpose of this article is to investigate a satirical mode of expression, namely parody, in order to determine the contribution that parody lends to satire as well as making an assessment of the critical potential of parody itself. I argue that parody can be understood as an instance of Derridean deconstruction and that its critical potential lies in its ability to destabilize political assumptions that are taken for granted in our society.
References
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Derrida, Jacques. 1986. “Différance”. In Margins of Philosophy (Bass, Alan, Trans.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 1-29.
Derrida, Jacques. 1988. “The Original Discussion of ‘Différance’ (1968)” (Wood, David et al., Trans.). In Derrida and Différance (Wood, David, and Robert Bernasconi, Ed.). Evanston, Illinois: Northwester University Press, pp. 83-97.
Derrida, Jacques. 1996. “Remarks on Deconstruction and Pragmatism” (Mouffe, Ed.). pp. 77-88.
Derrida, Jacques. 1997. Of Grammatology (Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty, Trans.). Baltimore & London: The John Hopkins University Press.
Householder Jr., Fred W. 1944. “Parodia”. In Classical Philology, Vol. 39, No. 1. The University of Chicago Press, Jan. pp. 1-9.
Hutcheon, Linda. 1985. A Theory of Parody. New York & London: Methuen.
McClennen, Sophia A., and Remy M. Maisel. 2014. Is Satire Saving Our Nation? - Mockery and American Politics. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Morson, Gary Saul. 1981. “Part 1: Theory of Parody”. In The Boundaries of Genre: Dostoevsky’s Diary of a Writer and the Traditions of Literary Utopia. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, pp. 107-15.
Mouffe, Chantal (Ed.). 1996. Deconstruction and Pragmatism. London & New York: Routledge.
O’Connor, William van. 1964. “Parody as Criticism”. In College English, Vol. 25, No. 4. National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 241-48.
Phiddian, Robert. 1997. “Are Parody and Deconstruction Secretly the Same Thing?”. In New Literary History, Vol. 28, No. 4, Philosophical Thoughts. The John Hopkins University Press, Autumn, pp. 673-96.
Rose, Margaret A. 1979. Parody//Meta-Fiction. London: Croom Helm Ltd.
Swift, Jonathan. 2018. “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or Country; and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick”. In Irish Political Writings after 1725 (D.W. Hayton, and Adam Rounce, Ed.). Cambridge University Press, pp. 143-60.
Zuckert, Catherine. 1991. “The Politics of Derridean Deconstruction”. In Polity, Vol. 23, No. 3. The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Spring, pp. 335-56.
Derrida, Jacques. 1986. “Différance”. In Margins of Philosophy (Bass, Alan, Trans.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 1-29.
Derrida, Jacques. 1988. “The Original Discussion of ‘Différance’ (1968)” (Wood, David et al., Trans.). In Derrida and Différance (Wood, David, and Robert Bernasconi, Ed.). Evanston, Illinois: Northwester University Press, pp. 83-97.
Derrida, Jacques. 1996. “Remarks on Deconstruction and Pragmatism” (Mouffe, Ed.). pp. 77-88.
Derrida, Jacques. 1997. Of Grammatology (Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty, Trans.). Baltimore & London: The John Hopkins University Press.
Householder Jr., Fred W. 1944. “Parodia”. In Classical Philology, Vol. 39, No. 1. The University of Chicago Press, Jan. pp. 1-9.
Hutcheon, Linda. 1985. A Theory of Parody. New York & London: Methuen.
McClennen, Sophia A., and Remy M. Maisel. 2014. Is Satire Saving Our Nation? - Mockery and American Politics. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Morson, Gary Saul. 1981. “Part 1: Theory of Parody”. In The Boundaries of Genre: Dostoevsky’s Diary of a Writer and the Traditions of Literary Utopia. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, pp. 107-15.
Mouffe, Chantal (Ed.). 1996. Deconstruction and Pragmatism. London & New York: Routledge.
O’Connor, William van. 1964. “Parody as Criticism”. In College English, Vol. 25, No. 4. National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 241-48.
Phiddian, Robert. 1997. “Are Parody and Deconstruction Secretly the Same Thing?”. In New Literary History, Vol. 28, No. 4, Philosophical Thoughts. The John Hopkins University Press, Autumn, pp. 673-96.
Rose, Margaret A. 1979. Parody//Meta-Fiction. London: Croom Helm Ltd.
Swift, Jonathan. 2018. “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or Country; and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick”. In Irish Political Writings after 1725 (D.W. Hayton, and Adam Rounce, Ed.). Cambridge University Press, pp. 143-60.
Zuckert, Catherine. 1991. “The Politics of Derridean Deconstruction”. In Polity, Vol. 23, No. 3. The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Spring, pp. 335-56.
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Published
2019-09-19
How to Cite
Nielsen, A.-S. S. (2019). Can Parody Change the World? On the Philosophical and Political Aspects of Satirical Parody. Journal of Media, Cognition and Communication, 7(2), 18. Retrieved from https://tidsskrift.dk/mef-journal/article/view/112507
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