Satire: An explication

Abstract

Abstract Over the past two millennia, satire has transformed from a uniquely Greco-Roman theatrical and poetic form into an ambiguous catch-all applied to political and sociocultural commentary, humor, parody, sarcasm and irony. Despite being a subject of study in any number of fields, explications of satire are limited. It is likely for this reason that there are inter- and intra- disciplinary disconnects in theoretical and methodological approach. Given the contemporary proliferation of satirical work, a proper explication of satire will improve text identification, empirical measures, and interdisciplinary collaboration in satirical research. To that end, this paper explicates satire, evaluates contemporary satirical research in the context of this explication, and recommends future research lines to expand the study of a pervasive construct.