Satire: Gulliver to South Park

Catalog description

In this course, students will read key satirical novels from the 1700s to the 2000s (and look at a contemporary satirical TV show), in order to investigate the human need to tell stories, make art, and foster social change. Through textual analysis, class discussion, and critical response essays, students will examine how satirical writers employ distinctive literary devices, structures, and genres to affect and inform their contemporary readers and to reveal to later readers the complexities of earlier cultures. By exploring these works, students will gain a greater understanding of human diversity, since by seeking to understand earlier and more distant discourses of class, gender, identity, and art, we can recognize better the roots and stakes of our current American moment. In addition, we shall explore the social conventions of Ireland, England, and the USA in the 1700s to 2000s, in order to understand why these satires continue to be enjoyed and studied, even though current contexts and social conventions are often significantly different.