Essay Research 2

Jonathan Coe

I found a Quote from Jonathan Coe who wrote the novels 'What a Carve UP!' and 'The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim'. In the opening paragraph of his writing he says-

"What was, back in the 1960s, a genuinely galvanising movement, sweeping aside centuries of conservatism and deference, has now become a sort of toothless default setting."

I want to investigate whether this assertion is true. Has satire changed with the times and is it now as effective as it was in the 1960's. Changes in technology and the social/political climate could have had a huge effect on satire. He went on to say that-

"However, far from tearing down the established order, most satire (except in a few very great, very extreme cases – Swift’s A Modest Proposal being the obvious example), does the exact opposite. It creates a welcoming space in which like-minded people can gather together and share in comfortable hilarity."

Coe suggests that in most cases satire is not only detrimental to the government but could actually be beneficial to them as it provides an opportunity for people to let of steam and share their views without and real form of protest or activism. This is not to say that satire has become completely toothless but highlights the importance of the platform used to reach the audience.

If satire only reaches a like minded audience or immediately alienates anyone with opposing views then the likelihood of it affecting any change is extremely unlikely.