Political satire

This chapter provides an overview of the current literature about political satire. The current chapter extends most previous literature reviews by providing a more comprehensive overview on this genre-from the production of satire, via the content and its audience, to the effects that satire may have. Moreover, we highlight the information and opinion functions of satire as well as its entertainment function. First, we discuss the producers’ side by focusing on the intentions and objectives with which political satire is actually being produced. Second, we describe important content features of political satire and the different forms in which it emerges across media (e.g., TV, online) and formats (e.g., satirical monologues, satirical imitation/parody). Third, we look at the audience of political satire and explore their characteristics. Fourth, we provide an overview of the different effects of political satire on its audience, such as on enjoyment, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. We close the chapter with suggestions for future research regarding the satire genre.