Satire

Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. In Celtic societies, it was thought a bard's satire could have physical effects, similar to a curse. A satirist is one who satirizes.

Notable examples of satire

• Ovid The Art of Love
• Juvenal (c. A.D. 55-140) - 16 Satires
• Petronius (c. A.D. 55-140) - Satirae
• Lucian of Samosata (c. A.D. 160) - True History and "Alexander"
• Nigel of Canterbury - Speculum Stultorum (Mirror for Fools), 12th c. satire of monks and universities
• De Nugis Curialibus (The Courtiers' Jests), 12th c. satire of life at court in England
• Jonathan Swift - A Tale of a Tub, Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal.
• Alexander Pope - Rape of the Lock
• Bill Hicks - The late Hicks was a revolutionary satirist and stand-up comedian.
• Voltaire - Candide, satirizing optimism
• Erasmus - In Praise of Folly, a satire of corruption in clergymen.
• George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four, a dystopia, a form of literature which also commonly satirizes.
• George Orwell - Animal Farm, satire of Stalinist Russia
• Anatole France - Penguin Island, a utopia
• Aldous Huxley - Brave New World, a dystopia
• Mark Twain - Later works, notably The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg
• Flannery O'Connor - Wise Blood, satirizing contemporary religious attitudes
• Thomas Nast - Political cartoons against Boss Tweed
• Stanley Kubrick - Movies Doctor Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange.
• Robert Clark Young - controversial novel, One of the Guys
• Dario Fo - Accidental Death of an Anarchist
• le Canard Enchaîné publishes satirical cartoons and columns along with well-researched information on French political or economic life.
• Private Eye publishes satirical cartoons and columns along with well-researched information on British political or economic life.
• Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Cat's Cradle is a political satire, adopting a sci-fi motif.
• Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club, a satire of masculinity, consumerism, and nihilism.
• Paul Fericano - Sinatra, Sinatra, a satire on conservatism in America.
• Yossarian Universal News Service or YU News Service, a parody news and disinformation syndicate.
• The Onion and The Daily Show, satires of the American news media
• The Landover Baptist Church - Internet parody of Christian fundamentalism
• Don DeLillo - White Noise, satire of consumerism and modern society
• Witold Gombrowicz - Ferdydurke, satire of modern society
• Father of the Pride, an animated satire which criticises many different aspects of society in its one season.
• Joseph Heller - Catch-22, novel, satire of the military, war, consumerism, capitalism and communism.
• Richard Condon - The Manchurian Candidate, novel, satire of Cold War paranoia and patriotism
• Spitting Image - a satirical puppet-show that ran on Britain's ITV Network from 1984 to 1996.
• South Park - An animated television program that depicts children coming of age to learn that the real world is just as crude as middle school.
• Flying Spaghetti Monster - Satirical paradoy relgion invented by Bobby Henderson in response to the Kansas Board of Education's insistince that Intelligent Design be taught alongside evolution in science classes.