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In:The Power of Satire
Edited by Marijke Meijer Drees and Sonja de Leeuw
[Topics in Humor Research 2] 2015
► pp. 217–234

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Enlightenment Subverted

Parody as Social Criticism in Pieter van Woensel's Lantaarn

Published online: 22 October 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/thr.2.16nie
This article argues that the common satirical technique of parody does not only mock the formal qualities of genres and media, but also functions as a tool for social criticism. This view is illustrated by means of a Dutch satirical case from the late eighteenth century, the almanac-like periodical De Lantaarn (1792–1801) by Pieter van Woensel. It is shown that De Lantaarn’s parody of the almanac, a genre that had strong educational and ‘Enlightening’ connotations at the time, can be interpreted as a critique on contemporary (ab)uses of the Enlightenment discourse. This ‘social criticism through parody’ is what makes satires like De Lantaarn subversive.
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