Esprit2013-05-22Abstracts for Esprit 5/2013What do we laugh at?Eve Charrin
Laughing as a defense against the world
In Western democracies, irony has turned into a mental habit that makes it possible to keep at one remote from appalling reality while maintaining a clean conscience. However, this is not universal. There is something like a cycle of irony. In July 1830 France as in Tunisia under Ben Ali, irony did carry a fair degree of efficiency. Can we return to primeval irony? Hind Meddeb
"Dégage!" When Tunisians deride government
In Tunisia, humour is of a determinedly subversive kind. Whether emanating from activists like Azyz Amami, the singer Bendirman or cartoonist Nadia Khiari, humour was another force behind Ben Ali's toppling. To this day, cartoonists and satirists alike keep lambasting the censorial, conservative and hypocritical Ennahda party. As they have a go at the novel ubiquity of the sacred in the public space, what they are really fighting for is pluralism. An interview with François Boespflug
Mocking through pictures: revisiting blasphemy?
Deriding religion is nothing new, and Christianity, from its earliest origins, has had its own fair share. Since the early 20th century, increasing numbers of artworks have had a go at religion as Western societies became more secularised. However, in this early 21st century, worldwide dissemination of images and their political uses call for a fresh look at the concept of "blasphemy". An interview with Benoît Peeters
Ironic overkill
Belgium is like a miniature model of the systematic ironic posture. Her "live" disbanding during a satirical TV show in 2006 has triggered an abundance of reflection on the dangers of irony. Subversive as irony can be, it can also become some sort of reflex action that ends up destroying political discourse and leads on to nihilism. Perry Link
Mo Yan: When mockery does not make any waves
The granting of the 2012 Nobel prize for literature to Mo Yan triggered a vast amount of controversy, often of a more political than literary nature, over the dangers of rewarding in such a prestigious way an author who has gained recognition from China's powers that be. Because whereas Mo Yan, in his books, is keen on the grotesque, sarcasm and irony, the outcome is nothing like any in-depth critique, but instead an all -encompassing fit of laughter that puts victims and bullies on one and the same level -- but then without making too many waves. Michaël Foessel
Hegel, Kierkegaard and contemporary irony
Irony primarily is a language play that makes fun of its own disconnection with reality. Short of offering an alternative view of the world s/he is criticizing, the ironist, as castigated by Hegel, can appear to be looking down on things without any concern for anyone or anything but themselves. Conversely, the ironist can be humble and, as Kierkegaard remarked of Socrates, be content with debunking overwhelming certainties through ignorance and doubt. Feature articlesPaula La Marne
Dignity in the debate over the end of life
The perspectives currently under scrutiny for end of life protocols once again put dignity at the forefront. Now what does 'dignity' actually mean, when used in connection with palliative treatment or by supporters of voluntary assisted death?An interview with Patrick Fridenson
Periodicals and free access: The snares of transparency
The digital universe keeps expanding, scientific publishing is in the throes of mergers and acquisitions and the role of libraries is being redefined. These changes come with significant implications for periodicals and their generic economic model. Should articles from publicly-funded research be made freely accessible, as recommended by the European Commission? Would this not risk imposing a model designed for hard science on the much more diverse and fragile world of social science publishing? Jacques Rupnik
Hungary's post-democratic regression
Once considered the "good pupil" among post-Soviet democracies, Hungry today leaves a good many observers nonplussed and is a cause for concern. How did Viktor Orban's Fidesz party turn into a nationalist party? Is Hungary's predicament a basket case or a symptom of the crisis of democracy in Europe? The full table of contents of Esprit 5/2013