Satire as the Comic Public Sphere: Postmodern "truthiness" and Civic Engagement

Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, Trevor Noah, John Oliver--these comedians are household names whose satirical takes on politics, the news, and current events receive some of the highest ratings on television. In this book, James E. Caron examines satirists such as these through the lenses of political and social philosophy, arriving at a new definition of the comic art form.

Tracing the history of modern satire from its roots in the Enlightenment values of rational debate, evidence, facts, accountability, and transparency, Caron identifies a new form of the comedic genre: "truthiness satire." He shows how satirists such as Colbert, Bee, Noah, and Oliver--along with writers like Charles Pierce and Jack Shafer--rely on shared values and on the postmodern aesthetics of irony and affect to create engagement within a comic public sphere. Using case studies of bits, parodies, and routines, Caron reveals a remarkable fact: as news reporting moves away from evidence and toward a discursive space in which alternative facts exist, satire is increasingly employed as a way to critique these stories and to generate reflection, thought, and even action in the body politic.

With rigor, humor, and insight, Caron shows that truthiness satire pushes back against fake news and biased reporting and that the satirist today is at heart a citizen, albeit a seemingly silly one. This book will appeal to anyone interested in and concerned about public discourse in the current era, especially researchers in media studies, communication studies, political science, and literary and cultural studies.