Tag Archives: satire

And Universal Darkness Buries All

By Robin Bates | Published: July 15, 2010

Yesterday I talked about irresponsible political commentators and politicians and how they reminded me of the scribblers that John Dryden was worried about in the 1680’s. In the 1740’s Alexander Pope was even more pessimistic about the threat they posed. In The Dunciad he imagines an inevitable cultural slide until “universal darkness buries all.” Harold […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , | Comments closed

Enough Already, Rush, Glenn, Shadwell!

By Robin Bates | Published: July 14, 2010

Last week when I complained about Christopher Hitchens, I think I was reacting as much to the incessant chatter of pundits as to Hitchens himself. At present there appear to be non-stop voices competing with each other to see who can make the most outrageous claims or confrontational statements, whether on talk radio, cable television, […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Better Austen than Bronte on the Court

By Robin Bates | Published: May 12, 2010

An interesting New York Times column by David Brooks has me doing some more thinking on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s enjoyment of Pride and Prejudice.  Here is some of what he wrote: About a decade ago, one began to notice a profusion of Organization Kids at elite college campuses. These were bright students who […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed

The Damned Human Race

By Robin Bates | Published: April 27, 2010

Last Wednesday was the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain’s death.  To mark the occasion, Ben Click, our enterprising department chair, set up a panel to discuss what Twain had to say about  “race, religion, politics, and the ‘damned human race.’”   On the panel were Peter Sagal, star of National Public Radio’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

Playing Cards in Rape of the Lock

By Robin Bates | Published: October 1, 2009

The rules for ombre and how the hands are played in “Rape of the Lock.” Altogether brilliant.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Bush, Obama, and Gulliver’s Travels

By Robin Bates | Published: June 3, 2009

I return for one last time to Swift, who provides invaluable perspectives for understanding contemporary politics. Swift was a shrewd student of political dynamics. His satire is often an allegorical depiction of real life people and incidents, and if one knows one’s history, one can read parts of Gulliver’s Travels as a roman à clé, […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Can Satire Change Lives?

By Robin Bates | Published: June 2, 2009

For a website devoted to whether and how literature can change lives, satire presents a special case. That’s because satire seems to have changing lives as its goal. Because of this apparent agenda, it fell out of favor with the high culture crowd in the heyday of the New Criticism.  The New Critics, who dominated […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed

Swift, Obama, and Idealism

By Robin Bates | Published: May 25, 2009

Like many Americans, I was excited, inspired, and rendered hopeful by the election of Barack Obama as president last November. I felt that, at long last, we could accomplish great things in this country. I have also been thinking how I will respond when my high hopes run up against reality. At least I’m old […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments closed