Linguistic and Stylistic Means of Satire Construction in the Animated Series

The study is devoted to the description of linguistic and stylistic means of satire construction in modern American animated series. The article deals with a detailed analysis of the linguistic and stylistic means that actualize the satiric and ironic meanings for a satire creation based on the examples of American series. Cartoonists often resort to satire as a unique genre of art to express direct or indirect criticism of the structure of modern society. Modern satirical cartoons contain vivid elements of parody and caricature. An obligatory consequence of satirical creativity is exposure and laughter. The methods of socio-political satire of modern animated serials are enhanced by the interplay of irony and sarcasm, hyperbole and grotesque, allegory and allusion, paraphrase and play on words. American animated series mirror modern reality, they reflect numerous facts of daily life and current environment touching their most critical sides: economics, politics, education, religion, ethnic issues, international ties and relations, interpersonal dealings. Socio-political satire is peculiar in that it does not spare not only the ruling branch of power, but also an ordinary, ordinary, gray person. In this dullness and ignorance of his, the average man in the street is ready to blindly obey the most ridiculous and absurd orders. Of course, an animated series cannot solve acute social or political problems facing society. But the fact that these questions are raised means that the problems are urgent. The purpose of such satire is to reflect on mistakes and not repeat them in the future. For example, South Park, Rick and Morty, Family Guy, F is for Family parody the modern family, social order, exaggerate social issues to the extreme. The relevance of this study is due to several reasons: first, the abundance of cartoon products on the modern film industry market. Secondly, the role that cartoons and serials play in the life of a modern person and in the culture of postmodernity. It is common knowledge that over the past few years, the TV series and animated series industry has changed a lot: streaming services (Netflix, Hulu and Amazon) appear, new formats are released, and more and more cartoon characters are voiced by famous actors. Thirdly, it is confirmed by the idea of the existence of the phenomenon of the "Big Serial Bang", expressed by Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Higher School of Economics V.A. Kurenniy. The fact that modern TV series are a cultural product that accurately reflects the spirit of the times remains an indisputable fact. Such a visual narrative fits perfectly into the framework of modern society.

Political Satire and Its Influence on the Youth Political Perception

This article is based on research that explored the different forms of political satire on social media and examined whether political satire has any impact on the political perception of the youths. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on. A mixed methodology was adopted in this research involving content analysis and survey. This study was conducted in Kuala Lumpur involving 50 respondents from the age of 18 to 40 years old. Content analysis was used to explore the forms of political satire. There were seven different forms of political satire analysed in this research, namely, political graphics by Fahmi Reza, political cartoons by Zunar, political anime from a Facebook page entitled “Bro, don’t like that la, bro”, memes from “SarawakGags”, “HarakatDaily” satirical news site, Dr Jason Leong’s satirical tweets on Twitter and parody videos by Douglas Lim. These themes were derived from social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The study found that political satire has profound impacts on the political interests of the youths as it not only helps to increase their political understanding, it also presents political issues to the youths in creative and interesting ways. It is argued that political satire will grow faster and shape the political thinking of the youths especially. The direct effects of political satire, however, on voting inclination, are still inconclusive and need to be explored further.

“Never in my life have I heard such a load of absolute nonsense. Wtf.” Political satire on the handling of the COVID-19 crisis

This paper problematises political satire in a time when the COVID-19 virus has provoked numerous deaths worldwide, and had dramatic effects on social behaviour, on a scale unknown in western nations since World War II. Most populations have endured lockdown, periods of enforced domestic imprisonment, which led to images of the empty streets of big cities appearing in media, symbols of the drastic changes that the health emergency was making necessary. Yet, from the outset, comic memes began to circulate across (social) media, while in mainstream print media political satirists continued to lampoon official responses to the ongoing crisis. The paper thus aims to explore the connection of political satire and humour, asking two principle research questions: firstly, how to explain the humorous effects of these multimodal artefacts in such depressing circumstances; secondly, from a pragmatic perspective, to account for their overall socio-political function.The study uses memes taken from various online sources (Facebook, Twitter, Google) during the crisis, analysed according to a mixed approach that blends notions from Humour studies, especially incongruity (Morreall 2016), with insights from linguistic pragmatics (e.g. Kecskes 2014). The findings emphasise the emotional dimension of this form of satire, as the memes work against the backdrop of a range of feelings (anger, bitterness, disappointment, frustration, despair, etc.), many of which have been widely generated by the COVID-19 crisis and political responses to it. In short, to paraphrase Walter Benjamin (2008: 378), man may run out of tears but not of laughter. The findings contribute to our understanding of online satire as an emergent genre, one that uses the affordances of new media to extend the social potentialities of a traditional subversive discourse form.

Political Comedy as Fuel for Populist Rhetoric?

In popular culture, politics are frequently framed with negative stereotypes, and there is some overlap between the anti-establishment rhetoric of political humor and populist challengers. This article probes similarities shared by politicians as presented in the television comedies Eichwald MdB (about a backbencher in the Bundestag) and Ellerbeck (about a kindergarten teacher turned mayor) and supporters of the (right-)populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD). The analysis of the storylines uncovers representations of self-serving and incompetent politicians that align with the fundamental critique expressed by the AfD. However, the negative depictions in the shows are interwoven with positive elements that speak to a responsiveness of democratic institutions. The two case studies help us better understand the specific form of German political satire produced by a public broadcaster and how satirical entertainment oscillates between negativity and meaningful critique of political power.

Interconnection of Orwell's Novel Animal Farm as a Micro-Universe and Our Macro-Universe

George Orwell is best known for his allegorical political novel, Animal Farm (1945), written in the period of Modernism in English literature. This novel is read as an offensive on totalitarianism in general, and a political satire against Stalinism Communist totalitarianism in particular. The current paper is conducted to investigate the relationship between the micro-universe which is represented by the narrative text of Orwell's novel Animal Farm, and macro-universe which represents the reality or the real world. The main aim of this study is to determine the interconnection of the micro-universe (the narrative text), and the macro-universe (the reality) through finding a convergence between the topics and events of the narrative text and our real world. Marxist Criticism and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) are used together as analytical approaches to investigate the selected narrative text and the historical, political, and social context in which the narrative text was written. The findings of this study points out that the narrative text of Animal Farm represents reality. This confirms the social and moral function of the committed literature which expresses human sufferings and aspirations for better conditions. The significance of the current study lies in provides better comprehension of the interconnection of the narrative text and reality as a missing feature in literature on this novel. This study contributes to literature on Orwell's novel Animal Farm particularly, and the field of the political English novels in general. Thus, this study extends the base of the researchers' knowledge in this literary area. Keywords: Micro-universe and Macro-universe, Modernism, Totalitarianism, Animal Farm.

Ian McEwan’s Aesthetic Stakes in Adaptation as Political Rewriting: A Study of Nutshell (2016) and The Cockroach (2019)

This essay will examine two of Ian McEwan’s recent novellas as political rewritings of William Shakespeare and Franz Kafka. McEwan’s Nutshell (2016) repositions the avenger figure in Hamlet as an unborn child whose melancholic awareness of the condition of modern existence allows him a mode of ironic commentary about the possibilities of moral and political choices in a world soon to be destroyed by climate change and nuclear apocalypse. The Cockroach (2019) turns Kafkaesque absurdity into political satire as the protagonist-turned-insect first encountered in The Metamorphosis (1915) is arrogated a position of absolute power in a fictional dystopia eerily resonant of Britain on the verge of Brexit. I argue that McEwan’s re-scripting of these two works of canonical literature imbues his narratives with political resonance, as the formulations and distortions of the physical body in his two novellas map onto the articulations of political belief. In effect, McEwan posits the Foucaultian notion that the body is determined by symbolic systems of power. However, he succeeds in turning the gaze back onto the political by instantiating the radical dimension of a subject whose coming into being is already a political act and event. In other words, McEwan’s artistic intervention in rewriting the narratives of Hamlet and Gregor Samsa explodes the hermeticism of the family drama in the originals by relocating the theatre of subjectivity within the sphere of the political.