Satire as the Comic Public Sphere: Postmodern "Truthiness" and Civic Engagement

Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, and Jimmy Kimmel—these comedians are household names whose satirical takes on politics, the news, and current events receive some of the highest ratings on television. In this book, James E. Caron examines these and other satirists through the lenses of humor studies, cultural theory, and rhetorical and social philosophy, arriving at a new definition of the comic art form.

Tracing the history of modern satire from its roots in the Enlightenment va...