In satire, evil, folly, and weakness are held up to ridicule - to the delight of some and the outrage of others. Satire may claim the higher purpose of social critique or moral reform, or it may simply revel in its own transgressive laughter. It exposes frauds, debunks ideals, binds communities, starts arguments, and evokes unconscious fantasies. It has been a central literary genre since ancient times, and has become especially popular and provocative in recent decades. This new introduction to satire takes a historically expansive and theoretically eclectic approach, addressing a range of satirical forms from ancient, Renaissance, and Enlightenment texts through contemporary literary fiction, film, television, and digital media. The beginner in need of a clear, readable overview and the scholar seeking to broaden and deepen existing knowledge will both find this a lively, engaging, and reliable guide to satire, its history, and its continuing relevance in the world.

Jonathan Greenberg is Professor of English and Department Chair at Montclair State University, New Jersey, and was awarded the Andrew J. Kappel Prize for Literary Criticism in 2007. He is the author of Modernism, Satire and the Novel (Cambridge, 2011), a Choice Outstanding Academic Title. With Nathan Waddell he co-edited Brave New World: Contexts and Legacies (2016). He has also won an Emmy Award for his writing on the classic Nickelodeon cartoon series, Rugrats.