19 Parody

Parody is probably the oldest genre of art. In Russia, parody constituted the most important part of jokes. Without parody it is difficult to imagine theater at all stages of its development. A political, philosophical (or other) argument (Aristophanes and Euripides) does not go without parodies. Parody is the favorite “fad” of many modern writers. However, if you look closely, you can see that not only “high art”, but also ordinary, everyday life cannot do without parody. Parody has many names. For example, only in Russia parody was called both "rozhekorchenie", and "grimacing", and "hypocrisy." Over time, these concepts received a different content, but they noticed one important feature explaining the essence of the genre.

This trait has a psychological nature and acts as a manifestation of such an important natural mechanism of formation (learning) of an animal, man, as imitation (imitation). As he was separated from the animal world, man began to consciously use imitation, and not only for learning. So, by specifically imitating the behavior of other people (i.e., mimicking them, “grimacing”, “hypocrite”, “making faces”), you can make fun of them. Of course, journalism could not help but use the possibilities of parody for its own purposes.

The subject of parody in journalism are a variety of phenomena. It can be actions of public, state figures, politicians, some folk traditions, creative manner of any artists, writers, works of literature, way of thinking, features of the language, appearance of famous personalities, etc. The main methods that help the author of a speech in the press create a parody are hyperbole, grotesque, litos, irony. Hyperbola is usually used to exaggerate some insignificant, but characteristic features of the person being parodied. The grotesque is suitable in cases where it is necessary to highlight some negative features of the parodied phenomenon. Lithoka is used to minimize the significance of the consequences of, say, some mocked imaginary great deeds. The irony allows you to hint at the real desires, possibilities and actions of the parodied person. Parodying usually requires a very high accuracy in repetition of the nuances of the parodied phenomenon, since such accuracy gives a certain necessary similarity to the result of the parody with that which is parodied.

Parody as a genre in some way resembles a satirical commentary. However, this does not deprive her of independence. The goals and possibilities of publishing in these genres are different. The purpose of the satirical commentary is to criticize certain shortcomings of a phenomenon. Parody does not set such a goal. Its task is to create a certain model of the phenomenon that has become the subject of attention of the parodist, to imitate it (the phenomenon) in her work from a certain point of view. It is this imitation that can cause (or not cause) the reader to laugh. And it would hardly be right to identify such laughter with criticism. In addition, the satirical commentary simply indicates the shortcomings of a phenomenon, but does not imitate them at all. The difference between the two genres lies in the fact that any phenomenon can be commented on the press pages (sports competitions, medical surgery, harvesting, etc.), and only an informational phenomenon can be parodied (book, film, performance, etc.). .).

Artists (A.I. Raikin, M.N. Zadornov, and others), writers (N.V. Gogol, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, MM Zoshchenko, etc.), journalists (N.A. Dobrolyubova) ,

See also

• Reportage
• 15 Review