Kulturne vrednosti liberalizma u savremenoj američkoj političkoj TV satiri u doba kulturnih ratova i postistine

Abstract

Oko političkog humora, posebno satire, izgrađeno je semantičko polje, kako u javnoj, tako i u naučnoj sferi, čija je ključna odlika nada u njegovu društveno-političku potentnost i doprinos društvenoj borbi. Ovo se posebno odnosi na američku liberalnu satiru, pa je ova studija u dijalogu s proučavanjima iste koji je vide kao oblik društveno-političkog angažmana u doba društvene krize, a koja se mahom uzdaju u njene kritičke, inovativne, subverzivne, inspirativne, antiritualne kapacitete. Istraživanje se fokusira na kulturne vrednosti, moralno-političke osnove i okvire koji oblikuju viziju društva američke liberalne satire, kao i na preispitivanje njenog „antiritualnog“ odnosa prema svom postojećem društvenom kontekstu. Cilj je sticanje podrobnijeg i jasnijeg saznanja o konstituisanom semantičkom polju satire, te utvrđivanje društvene uloge ove popularne forme u kontekstu društvene krize. Za paradigmatsku studiju slučaja uzet je Pregled protekle nedelje sa Džonom Oliverom (2014– , HBO) čiji je voditelj jedan od najistaknutih liberalnih satiričnih boraca i značajan predstavnik liberalne satirične zajednice. Odabranih šest sezona (2016–2021) razmatraju se kao liberalna satirična produkcija u eri „trampizma“ – percipirane kulminacije krize američke demokratije, kristalisanja koncepta postistine i shodnih praksi u javnoj sferi, kao i intenziviranja američkih kulturnih ratova. Analiza je izgrađena oko tri para identifikovanih dominantnih vrednosti američke liberalne kulture: razum i razboritost, osećajnost i tolerancija, progres i aktivizam, a uokvirena je teorijom šale Meri Daglas i konceptima kontrole, kontrolisanog i gnusnog. Ključni argument istraživanja jeste da američka liberalna satira deluje kao oblik rituala liberalnog konsenzusa u kontekstu njegove percipirane krize.

A semantic area has been constructed around political humor, notably satire, both in public and scholarly spheres, whose key aspect is hope for its socio-political potency and contribution to social struggle. This is especially true of American political satire, so this research is in conversation with the studies that interpret it as a form of a socio-political engagement in time of social crisis and center their hopes on its critical, innovative, subversive, inspirational, anti-ritual capacities. This work focuses on the cultural values, moral-political foundations and frameworks which shape American liberal satire’s vision of society, as well as on this vision’s “anti-ritual” relation to its existing social context. The goal is to gain a more detailed, clearer knowledge of the constituted semantic area, as well as to determine this popular genre’s social role in the context of a social crisis. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014– , HBO), hosted by one of the most prominent liberal satiractivists and an acclaimed representative of the liberal satirical community, is chosen as the paradigmatic case study. The selected six seasons (2016–2021) are considered as the satirical liberal production in the era of “Trumpism” – the perceived culmination of the crisis of American democracy, the crystallization of the concept of post-truth and corresponding practices in the public sphere, as well as the intensification of American culture wars. The analysis is built around three pairs of identified dominant values of American liberal culture: rationality and reasonableness, sensitivity and tolerance, progress and activism, and is framed by Mary Douglas’ theory of joke and concepts of control, the controlled and abomination. The study’s key argument is that American liberal satire operates as a ritual of liberal consensus within the context of its perceived crisis.