Is mockery the best weapon? A Wiltshire builder has used it to get his own back on a local politician, in a satirical tradition which goes back many centuries.
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Meet the gargoyle who runs a town council
Is mockery the best weapon? A Wiltshire builder has used it to get his own back on a local politician, in a satirical tradition which goes back many centuries.
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Michael Thomas was full of glee. The builder had been told by the local council to stop converting an old pizza shop. But he had taken his revenge - by commissioning a gargoyle (or more accurately, a grotesqueA figure or face carved out of stone and fixed to the roof or walls of a building. They are similar to gargoyles, but gargoyles include a spout for water to drain through. ) of the council's leader. It was the talk of the town!
Earlier this year Spain's ex-king Juan Carlos was the subject of a satirical statue in Madrid. In a comment on his love of hunting wild animals, sculptor Nicolas Miranda showed him pointing a rifle. Then he placed the sculpture next to a statue of the city's emblem, a bear.
Few public figures are good at taking a joke. But that has not stopped artists and writers making fun of them across the centuries.
The Roman poet JuvenalDecimus Junius Juvenalis was a Roman satirical poet. became famous for his satires in the 1st Century. But he was exiled after insulting an actor who was popular with the emperor.
Britain has a rich tradition of satire, including works such as John Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Among the other classics of the kind is Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls, about political corruption in Russia. The Czech novelist Franz KafkaA 20th-Century novelist and short story writer, known for works including The Metamorphosis. wrote a chilling portrait of bureaucracyA system for controlling or managing a country, company, or organisation that is operated by a large number of officials employed to follow rules carefully. called The Trial.
Writing in Foreign Policy, Srdja Popovic and Mladen Joksic say satire is more important now than ever. It is effective because it is cool and makes people want to join in with the fun. It also helps to "corrode the very mortar that keeps most dictators in place: fear".
Examples include protesters during the Arab SpringA series of mass protests across the Arab World against dictatorships that had stood for decades. In Tunisia, the protesters succeeded in creating a democratic government, but many other countries collapsed into civil war or experienced new dictatorships. portraying Egypt's president Mohammed MorsiThe president of Egypt from 2012 to 2013, who was removed in a coup. as Super Mario.
But in an article for the Independent, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown sounds a warning: "Laughing at politicians and deriding the political system may be creating apathyLack of interest or enthusiasm. , rage, disengagement and, worst of all, profound pessimismAlways expecting the worst. . Public pessimism is lethal in a working democracy."
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Is mockery the best weapon?
Yes: Funny things tend to stick in people's minds more than serious ones. And it is very hard for someone who is satirised to hit back - if they get angry they only look more ridiculous.
No: It may be entertaining, but it does not achieve much, since it only highlights people's faults. Coming up with suggestions for how things could be done better is much more constructive.
Or... We live in such a ridiculous age that it is hard to satirise anything. No writer could invent a more ridiculous figure than Donald Trump so there is no point in even trying.
Keywords
Grotesque - A figure or face carved out of stone and fixed to the roof or walls of a building. They are similar to gargoyles, but gargoyles include a spout for water to drain through.
Juvenal - Decimus Junius Juvenalis was a Roman satirical poet.
Franz Kafka - A 20th-Century novelist and short story writer, known for works including The Metamorphosis.
Bureaucracy - A system for controlling or managing a country, company, or organisation that is operated by a large number of officials employed to follow rules carefully.
Arab Spring - A series of mass protests across the Arab World against dictatorships that had stood for decades. In Tunisia, the protesters succeeded in creating a democratic government, but many other countries collapsed into civil war or experienced new dictatorships.
Mohammed Morsi - The president of Egypt from 2012 to 2013, who was removed in a coup.
Apathy - Lack of interest or enthusiasm.
Pessimism - Always expecting the worst.
Meet the gargoyle who runs a town council
Old joke: Gargoyles based on real people are a feature of many medieval buildings. Glossary
Grotesque - A figure or face carved out of stone and fixed to the roof or walls of a building. They are similar to gargoyles, but gargoyles include a spout for water to drain through.
Juvenal - Decimus Junius Juvenalis was a Roman satirical poet.
Franz Kafka - A 20th-Century novelist and short story writer, known for works including The Metamorphosis.
Bureaucracy - A system for controlling or managing a country, company, or organisation that is operated by a large number of officials employed to follow rules carefully.
Arab Spring - A series of mass protests across the Arab World against dictatorships that had stood for decades. In Tunisia, the protesters succeeded in creating a democratic government, but many other countries collapsed into civil war or experienced new dictatorships.
Mohammed Morsi - The president of Egypt from 2012 to 2013, who was removed in a coup.
Apathy - Lack of interest or enthusiasm.
Pessimism - Always expecting the worst.