2014/06/01 by Bernd Renner · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Renaissance Literature and Culture #French Literature and Criticism #Historical and Literary Studies #Appropriation #The Renaissance #Literature #Art #Invective #Ideal (ethics) #Philosophy #Art history #Epistemology #Law
paper · doi:10.1086/677406
openalex publication_date 2014/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Renaissance satire has long been a neglected field of study, which is most likely due to the difficulty decoding its targets, to its nonliterary utilitarian purpose, and to the menace of invective that always hovers over the satirical metagenre. This study aims at two objectives: to retrace the formal development of early modern satire by showing how the blending of four disparate traditions — Roman satura, Greek satyr play, Menippean satire, and medieval popular theater — created a form that not only dominated the period, but also laid the groundwork for the development of the modern variants of satire. This pivotal moment in the history of satire then gives way to the second objective: a concrete illustration of this theoretical development in the four authentic Pantagrueline chronicles of François Rabelais, an ideal case study that will considerably enhance the understanding of early modern satire in all its implications and intricacies.