FW: RAT BLOOMSDAY 1999

["Lyle Smith" <el.smith@worldnet.att.net>]

Relatively new to the list - Listening in for some time - First, humble,
contribution.

On the authenticity/satire question...
In order to twist something effectively - and lets face it, that's what
makes satire - it is necessary to have a strong understanding of that which
is being twisted. Take Swift's "A Modest Proposal."

The wealthy, political, British-loyals of the day were always looking for a
solution to "the problem of Ireland" (read: rid the country of disloyal poor
people and rabel rousers). Historical solutions ranged from Cromwell's
pushing them off the Burrens in the West to actively not granting financial
support through famine years because it would promote laziness. Better to
have them die of starvation than become wards of the state, don'cha'know?

As curate of St. Pat's Cathedral in Dublin (Protestant, btw), Swift had an
intimate knowledge of both extremes of the social strata. In "...Proposal,"
he took these ideas and suggested that all the poor and hungry of Ireland
boil and eat their own children or sell them as a delicacy for a profit. An
unlimited resource considering the poor Catholics of Ire spit out kids as
fast as rabbits. The result: No more hungry. No more poor.

Just a thought.

Lyle Smith
<el.smith@att.net>





----------
From: Troy Hollar <thollar@cohn-wells.com>
To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
Subject: RE: RAT BLOOMSDAY 1999
Date: Thu, Jun 17, 1999, 7:57 PM


I'm not sure that's the best way to say what I mean.  It just seems to me
as if, in order for satire to be especially good, the author should have a
complete understanding of his subject, and of the tools with which he/she
is building his/her satire.

I'll try to come up with an example.


>Now that is an interesting statement. Why is authenticity crucial to satire?
>That doesn't immediately strike me as true. Please elaborate.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Troy Hollar [SMTP:thollar@cohn-wells.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 1999 3:21 PM
>> To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>> Subject: RE: RAT BLOOMSDAY 1999
>>
>> Sorry.  I had a stroke and turned briefly into a despot.  Or an academic.
>> Or something.
>>
>> Might I suggest merely that authenticity is crucial to satire?
>>
>> >Help! Help! I'm bein' suppressed!
>> >
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: Troy Hollar [SMTP:thollar@cohn-wells.com]
>> >> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 1999 2:09 PM
>> >> To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>> >> Subject: Re: RAT BLOOMSDAY 1999
>> >>
>> >> With all due respect:
>> >>
>> >> Actually, in literature anywhere (N, S, E or W), prose is a medium (not
>> a
>> >> genre), and it comprises all that is not verse (the other medium), and
>> >> vice
>> >> versa.
>> >>
>> >> Genres in literature: story, novel, essay, poem, play, etc.
>> >>
>> >> Easterners, let's inform ourselves before we argue, lest we
>> (justifiably)
>> >> gain a reputation of being sophists.  And let's argue about something a
>> >> little more interesting than East vs. West, at least as it pertains to
>> NY
>> >> vs. LA.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> >Oh, sorry for the confusion out there. Back east, prose is a book
>> that's
>> >> >not poetry or plays. More commonly, "prose" = "fiction". So basically,
>> >> >it's what you in LA call a "storybook,"  Or, maybe a Rand-McNally Road
>> >> >Atlas counts as prose.
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>