The Responsibility and Abuse of Satire
Author
Mathiesen, Mads Skov
Term
4. term
Publication year
2015
Submitted on
2015-05-31
Pages
160982
Abstract
Efter skuddene mod Charlie Hebdo den 7. januar 2015 opstod en bred debat om ytringsfrihed, selvcensur og demokrati. I denne debat beskrev nogle kommentatorer bladet som racistisk, mens de dræbte tegnere havde sagt, at deres projekt var sekulært, antiracistisk og antiautoritært. Dette speciale spørger, hvorfor nogle opfatter udgivelsen som racistisk. Det bruger kritisk diskursanalyse (en undersøgelse af, hvordan sprog og billeder skaber mening og magt) og trækker på semiotik i læsningen af specifikke, omstridte tegninger. Studiet inddrager også teorier om satire og humor for at forstå politiske tegningers formål. Materialet består af tre tekster: en tale, et blogindlæg og en avisleder, som alle er stærkt kritiske over for Charlie Hebdo og fremstiller det som en racistisk institution. Resultaterne peger på tilbagevendende temaer og retoriske strategier, der bruges til at sætte bladet i et negativt lys, og diskuterer, hvad det betyder for den offentlige debat, når en udbredt fortælling hævder, at Charlie Hebdo spreder racistiske idéer.
After the shootings at Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, a broad debate emerged about free speech, self-censorship, and democracy. In this debate, some commentators described the magazine as racist, while the cartoonists who were killed had said they pursued a secular, anti-racist, and anti-authoritarian agenda. This thesis asks why some people view the publication as racist. It uses critical discourse analysis (examining how language and images shape meaning and power) and draws on semiotics to read specific controversial cartoons. The study also uses theories of satire and humor to understand the aims of political cartoons. The material consists of three texts: a speech, a blog post, and a newspaper editorial, all strongly critical of Charlie Hebdo and portraying it as a racist institution. The findings identify recurring themes and rhetorical strategies used to cast the magazine in a negative light, and discuss what it means for public debate when a widespread narrative claims that Charlie Hebdo spreads racist ideas.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
Keywords
Charlie Hebdo ; Fairclough ; Raskin ; Trudeau ; Baquet
Documents
Other projects by the authors
Mathiesen, Mads Skov:
- Kony 2012 (2013)