The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives

A considerable body of academic literature has lauded political satirists as rebellious defenders of democracy and free speech against an establishment. Although satire is not always rebellious, this reputation of satirists and of satire may itself be the object of partisan capture. In this article...

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Autor principal: Mark John Rolfe
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Cracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language Studies 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/bb40062a6c9e4fa5bd3c67591ac2c972
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:bb40062a6c9e4fa5bd3c67591ac2c9722021-11-05T08:49:58ZThe Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives10.7592/EJHR2021.9.3.5382307-700Xhttps://doaj.org/article/bb40062a6c9e4fa5bd3c67591ac2c9722021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://europeanjournalofhumour.org/ejhr/article/view/538https://doaj.org/toc/2307-700X A considerable body of academic literature has lauded political satirists as rebellious defenders of democracy and free speech against an establishment. Although satire is not always rebellious, this reputation of satirists and of satire may itself be the object of partisan capture. In this article, it is the object of capture by right-wing populists. In that respect, satire and the meta-discourse about satire can be used like any political rhetoric in gathering like-minded allies, claiming standards, and fighting opponents. With the Danish cartoons crisis of 2005-2006 and the Charlie Hebdo massacre of 2015, proponents of culture wars rhetoric added satire to their list of Western cultural legacies that needed defence against Islamic terrorism as well as left authoritarian elites who suppressed free speech through political correctness. They constructed simplistic global political dichotomies about satire, free speech, and civilisation and lifted events out of local contexts in a process of global framing. The culture war rhetoric was absolutist in support of free speech and satire on the international level. But the national level reveals the hortatory and partisan side to this rhetoric and the complexities that belie the absolutist stand. Nations are the arenas where struggles over free speech and political humour are played out. Mark John RolfeCracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language Studiesarticlesatireculture warsrhetoricAustraliaIsraelAmericaLanguage and LiteraturePENThe European Journal of Humour Research, Vol 9, Iss 3 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic satire
culture wars
rhetoric
Australia
Israel
America
Language and Literature
P
spellingShingle satire
culture wars
rhetoric
Australia
Israel
America
Language and Literature
P
Mark John Rolfe
The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives
description A considerable body of academic literature has lauded political satirists as rebellious defenders of democracy and free speech against an establishment. Although satire is not always rebellious, this reputation of satirists and of satire may itself be the object of partisan capture. In this article, it is the object of capture by right-wing populists. In that respect, satire and the meta-discourse about satire can be used like any political rhetoric in gathering like-minded allies, claiming standards, and fighting opponents. With the Danish cartoons crisis of 2005-2006 and the Charlie Hebdo massacre of 2015, proponents of culture wars rhetoric added satire to their list of Western cultural legacies that needed defence against Islamic terrorism as well as left authoritarian elites who suppressed free speech through political correctness. They constructed simplistic global political dichotomies about satire, free speech, and civilisation and lifted events out of local contexts in a process of global framing. The culture war rhetoric was absolutist in support of free speech and satire on the international level. But the national level reveals the hortatory and partisan side to this rhetoric and the complexities that belie the absolutist stand. Nations are the arenas where struggles over free speech and political humour are played out.
format article
author Mark John Rolfe
author_facet Mark John Rolfe
author_sort Mark John Rolfe
title The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives
title_short The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives
title_full The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives
title_fullStr The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives
title_full_unstemmed The Danish Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives
title_sort danish cartoons, charlie hebdo and the culture wars: satiric limits in comparative national and transnational perspectives
publisher Cracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language Studies
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/bb40062a6c9e4fa5bd3c67591ac2c972
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