How would you account for the relative ascendancy of sarcasm and descent of satire?

Question

in contemporary literature, and in the media and social interaction in general?

Does this have something to do with the limited attention span of 21st century man? Is it related to Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Can we blame it all on that and Ritalin? Does it date back to August 1, 1981, the fateful date when MTV began broadcasting? Or does it go back to the earliest sitcoms or the advent of television itself? Does it perhaps predate even television?

Please share your views. I am open to controversy, welcome it in fact. Is my supposition itself full of holes? Tell me so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_disorder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritalin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV

zipmark: I got everything except "a fear of death" or even how that might be a source unless you're saying we all have to be in a big hurry (ergo sarcasm "kills" satire) in order to beat death or at least "get it all in" before the inevitable descends and snuffs out our "reading light" so to speak. So how far off base am I here?

Answer 1

I believe it is because while satire is a higher-context art form, it tend to use low-context styles to communicate. Communication values these days are reversed, and so art is expressed in low-context forms, but with a high-context style.

Satire requires one to engage in an "as if" imaginative reality with another, and then suspend disbelief about relations between others with this imaginative reality. While it obliquely refers to a shared understanding of actual relationships, it directly refers to simple pretend reversals of relationships in this imaginative reality. Lots of Saturday Night Live skits use satire to poke fun of the relationship between President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, for example. Think Bush shown sitting on Cheney's lap.

Sarcasm, on the other hand, is a here and now communication, and it refers directly to knowledge about actual shared relationships. The reversal within sarcasm is high-context, however, and one must perceive the high-context communication to perceive the humor. The co-stars in "Friends", for example, frequently used sarcasm. Think how the particular manner the Chandler character said "Sure, that would be great!" could be humorous if one perceived the particular arch of the brow and tone of the voice.

As to why (or if) these valuses are reveresed, there is no doubt the communication efficencies gained by the training we all recieve using multiple communication devices has had an effect on perfered communication style in art. It can be seen in contemporary painting, architexture, sculpture, and of course, T.V.. Think of the high-context nature of Disney Hall, verses the low context of, say, Barouque architexture.

Efficencies in the production of anything typically results in increased consumption. Maybe if we slowed down our rate of consumption the preference for satire over sarcasam would increase, but maybe one would not be able to read a tailor-made short essay on commincation style and art, either.

Answer 2

sarcasm, has always been the mother of invention, all thngs have come to be due to sarcasm. That is the fuel that drives us. Satire is just a form of release in an every situation when no words are the right words. T.V. has nothimg to do with any one . because you need sarcasm to create satire..ADHD, is just a word . It really means I'm Bored..

Answer 3

early television was slapstick, that is satire. sarcasm takes more intelligence so that rules out modern television. sarcasm is a more advanced art form than satire.