Satire is a sharp manifestation of the comic, when laughter becomes a weapon in the fight against various human vices. Since ancient times, satirical writers have played a special role in society, they were called accusers and truth-tellers. Through the allegorical and ambiguous nature of their works, they tried to talk about what was forbidden to take out on people and what was sometimes punishable by law.
A Brief History
The genre originates in ancient Rome. It was then that an understanding of what the role of a satirist writer in society is born. The first authors of a special form of the literary word - Aristophanes, Menander, Lucilius and others - created short poems in which they ridiculed the policy of this or that ruler, the life of the nobility and other social facts.
The public role of the satirical writer began to take shape in the Middle Ages, when classics of humor were created in Europe - Giovanni Boccaccio, Francois Rabelais andMiguel de Cervantes. The first accusers of church inertia, the feudal system and romantic views significantly influenced the minds of a poorly enlightened Europe. Forced to see, evaluate and fight the vices of the century.
Feature of the genre
Satire deliberately distorts reality, reproduces reality in a special way, where all the characters and events are conditional images that reflect the vices and lives of individuals or sections of the population. A distinctive feature of this genre is a sharply negative assessment of what is happening. The main weapon of satire is grotesque and hyperbole, ridicule and denunciation is built by introducing an improbable or greatly exaggerated phenomenon into the text.
Satire often becomes very subjective, which is why satirical writers are often criticized themselves. All of them can be called in one word - enlighteners, through ridiculing social shortcomings, people learned to look deep into the problem, see imperfection and, as a result, look for new guidelines. This is the essence of satire - the assertion of high moral ideals, truth, love, honesty and freedom.
The origins of satire in Russia
Back in the 19th century, A. S. Pushkin deduced a formula that is true for all our people - “a poet in Russia is more than a poet.” Until recently, it was literature that formed the self-consciousness and civic stand of the Russian people. And a special role here belonged to satirical writers.
In Russia, sharp accusatory humor originated in the Middle Ages, but then he still wandered among the people inin the form of fairy tales and jokes and was transmitted orally. The authors did not name themselves, preferring anonymity, but the Parable of the Hawk Moth, The Virgin's Passage Through Torments, The Tale of Ersh Yershovich and others went around for a very long time. The influence of these stories was very great, because they showed the truth of life and allowed people to see a different point of view, different from the church.
The first professional satirical writers appeared in the 18th century. A. P. Sumarokov, A. D. Kantemir created works in the image and style of ancient Greek authors. Truly Russian satire began its ascent from the fables of I. A. Krylov and the play by D. I. Fonvizin “Undergrowth”. The last work literally blew up Russian society, until that moment no one had tried to ridicule representatives of the nobility so sharply. The popularity of this genre is becoming extraordinary, dozens of weekly magazines appear, on the pages of which pamphlets, fables, comedies, epigrams are printed, revealing one or another side of reality.
19th century satirists
With the beginning of the golden age of Russian literature, satire is getting a new development. Laughter becomes a truly formidable weapon, aimed not only at the vices of individuals or classes of society, but at the state and the emperor. The feuilleton genre prevails, but comedy also receives a special sound. The play by N. V. Gogol "The Government Inspector" gained immense popularity among the people and furious indignation from the authorities.
The satirical writers of the 19th century were forced to constantly be underclose supervision of the country's leadership. The emperor and his ministers felt the power of laughter and how the people trusted the authors, therefore they were afraid of them, arrested, exiled and put constant obstacles in literary activity.
And as time has shown, this fear was not groundless, satire and other areas of literature for several decades shaped the consciousness of Russian people, showed them the real state of affairs and called for the struggle for another life. What was the cost of Nekrasov's work "Who Lives Well in Russia", it is still called a direct call for revolution.
S altykov-Shchedrin
A huge role in the formation and development of this genre in our country was played by the satirist writer S altykov-Shchedrin. Critics called his work a chronology of the events of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. All the most important reforms and transformations in the state are reflected in his works. The writer observed the refinement of people and morality in the highest structures of power, the dominance of corruption and nepotism, which could not but cause protest and indignation in an intelligent person.
Satire in the books of S altykov-Shchedrin acquired a particularly cruel, punishing meaning. Images of two stupid generals or a governor with an empty head have become part of Russian culture and are relevant even now, 200 years later.
20th century satire
The new century brought new, unusual artistic and moral ideals. In our country, first the political structure broke down, then the social and literary one. Writers-satirists of the country of the Soviets worked in hardconditions of censorship and fear for their lives. In the first half of the century, free comic magazines still operated, but gradually they became predictable in subject matter and denounced predominantly bourgeois ideals of life.
This period is associated with the appearance of satirical works by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "The Twelve Chairs" and "The Golden Calf". The new and old worlds are vividly reflected in the images of the swindler Ostap Bender and the former nobleman Ippolit Vorobyaninov. If these novels had been written a little later, they would hardly have seen the light of day, so strong was the pressure on free creativity. A vivid example of this is M. Bulgakov, censorship haunted him all his life, and one of his main creations - "Heart of a Dog" - was released only after the death of the author.
New time
Modern reality establishes completely different laws for the formation of humor. First of all, the way of presenting information has changed, paper is no longer the best way to talk about your vision of the world. Now communication with people takes place on TV or directly at concerts. And the format of the arbitrariness itself has become more capacious, specific and targeted.
But the role of the satirical writer in society has remained the same - to ridicule the vices of society and proclaim the true ideals. Today there is another problem - the amount of information and texts in this direction is simply huge, they write and speak by anyone and not always at a high level. Therefore, it is not so easy to find among this rubbish a really valuable observation worthy ofbe called satire.
Conclusions
Humanity will never become perfect, vices, evil or envy will never disappear. This is the choice of each person, which way he should go through life. But this choice is often formed under the influence of external factors: examples of parents, the negative influence of friends, improper upbringing, etc. Not everyone can see and notice negative tendencies, and in this case it is simply necessary to meet some kind of “mirror” that reflects individual traits of thought and behavior.
This is the role of the satirical writer, his work allows you to see yourself in a distorted form. Nothing whips conscience and pride as much as laughter, sharp criticism makes you think and reconsider your usual ideals.
