Satire may be defined as a literary form which disparages its subject matter by provoking amusement thereby stimulating the reader to hold the object in contempt.

from A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire, by John Dryden.

The Art of Satire

***How easy is it to call rogue and villain, and that wittily! But how hard to make a man appear a fool, a blockhead, or a knave without using any of those opprobrious terms! To spare the grossness of the names, and to do the thing yet more severely, is to draw a full face, and to make the nose and cheeks stand out, and yet not to employ any depth of shadowing. This is the mystery of that noble trade, which yet no master can teach to his apprentice; he may give the rules, but the scholar is never the nearer in his practice. Neither is it true that this fineness of raillery is offensive. A witty man is tickled while he is hurt in this manner, and a fool feels it not. The occasion of an offense may possibly be given, but he cannot take it. If it be granted that in effect this way does more mischief; that a man is secretly wounded, and though he be not sensible himself, yet the malicious world will find it out for him; yet there is still a vast difference betwixt the slovenly butchering of a man, and the fineness of a stroke that separates the head from the body and leaves it standing in its place. A man may be capable, as Jack Ketch's wife said of his servant, of a plain piece of work, a bare hanging; but to make a malefactor die sweetly was only belonging to her husband. I wish I could apply it to myself, if the reader would be kind enough to think it belongs to me. The character of Zimri in my Absalom is, in my opinion, worth the whole poem: it is not bloody, but it is ridiculous enough; and he, for whom it was intended, was too witty to resent it as an injury. If I had railed, I might have suffered for it justly; but I managed my own work more happily, perhaps more dextrously. I avoided the mention of great crimes, and applied myself to the representing of blindsides, and little extravagancies; to which, the wittier a man is, he is generally the more obnoxious. It succeeded as I wished; the jest went round, and he was laughed at in his turn who began the frolic.***

1693

On the Art of Satire

How the author uses figurative speech to breathe life in to this classic piece.

“The Art of Satire” by John Dryden is a complex piece. He uses a metaphor of art and drawing to convey the message that satire is indeed a fine art. “How hard to make a man appear a fool, a blockhead, or a knave without using any of those opprobrious terms! To spare the grossness of the names, and to do the thing yet more severely is to draw a full face, and to make the nose and cheeks stand out, and yet not to employ any depth of shadowing.” Dryden states here that to call a fool out without calling him a fool is like drawing a face and making it's most prominent features shine out. Dryden states that this is extremely hard to do.

The fact that it is hard means that one must master it for one to do it right. Dryden goes on to say, “this is the mystery of that noble trade, which yet no master can teach to his apprentice”(Dryden, 915). Dryden hints here that a writer can only be guided into satire, the rest has to come from instinct, passion, luck and practice. “No master can teach to his apprentice; he may give the rules, but the scholar is never nearer the nearer in his practice.

“Yet there is still a bast difference betwixt the slovenly butchering of a man, and the fineness of a stroke that separates the head from the body and leaves it standing in its place”(Dryden, 915). Dryden uses yet another metaphor to show that satire must be done with just the right touch. It must not be sloppy like a butchering, but neat like a stroke that leaves the head in place. This death imagery and the earlier art imagery helps Dryden convey that not only can satire be beautiful and sweet and something that can be appreciated, but it can hurt and cut to the bone. Satire has to be able to cut and leave in tact. It must also be capable of being light and witty.

Dryden's message in using drawings and murder together? Satire has many angles, applying just the right shade in the right place is the key to writing great satire. It is interesting that Dryden leaves the head in place. if the head is in place, that hints that there is room for healing and possibly reattachment. The body could heal it's self with some aid. Perhaps the satire is to aid in the healing since it aided in the wounding. Satire mocks a situation to fix it. Perhaps by beheading a person or society, it simultaneously heals it and gives it a second chance by leaving it intact.

To the causal observer it would seem that nothing happened to the head. Dryden hints that his sword slash was laughed off. But in the end, “it succeeded as I wished; the jest went round, and he was laughed at in his turn who began the frolic”(Dryden, 915). By working through satire, Dryden changes his situation. His message: learn the art of satire, work it and it will work for you.

دكتر جانسون طنز را اين گونه معنی می کند: «شعری که در آن شرارت و حماقت سانسور شده باشد.»^[۴]

استعمال كلمه طنز برای انتقادی که به صورت خنده آور و مضحک بیان شود در فارسی معاصر سابقه زیاد طولانی ندارد. هرچند که طنز در تاریخ بیهقی و دیگر دیگر آثار قدیم زبان فارسی به کار رفته، ولی استعمال وسیعی به معنای satire اروپایی نداشته است. در فارسی، عربی و ترکی کلمه واحدی که دقیقا این معنی را در هر سه زبان برساند وجود نداشته است. سابقا در فارسی هجو به کار می رفت که بیشتر جنبه انتقاد مستقیم و شخصی دارد و جنبه غیر مستقیم ساتیر را ندارد و اغلب آموزنده و اجتماعی هم نیست. در فارسی هزل را نیز به کار برده اند که ضد جد است و بیشتر جنبه مزاح و مطایبه دارد.

منبع: http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B7%D9%86%D8%B2