Satire by Jane Ogden and Peter Buckroyd
Satire by Jane Ogden and Peter Buckroyd. Cambridge Contexts in Literature, series editor Adrian Barlow. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 128 pp.
I bought this book mainly because it had been marked down to 50¢ at a used book sale. To my delight, it turned out to be a surprisingly good primer on literary analysis. The opening paragraph says:
The aim of this book is to help students become more aware of how understanding something of the contexts—literary, linguistic, social, historical or cultural—in which any text is produced can enhance their reading and help them to develop their own informed interpretations of what they read. (p. 8)
Right off the bat, then, the stated aim is not confined to satire: the techniques and approaches explained are meant to be applicable to any text. This more general focus makes this an excellent introductory textbook on reading not only satire, but literature in general. The authors have a helpful definition of what it means to read a text:
In the context of studying literature "reading" means more than just being able to decipher the symbols on a printed page. It means more than being able to take in the information on the page. Reading is about making sense of what is read, about seeing how texts have been put together, and why writers have done it in a particular way, and why they have chosen to use certain kinds of language to express their ideas and feelings. Reading literature is an active process for the reader. (p. 98)
This active process involves a close reading of the text within its contexts. The authors are careful to dispel the notion that context is merely "background information," being rather "a series of keys which can unlock the text in different ways" (p. 21). For example, Pope's The Rape of the Lock can be read within its specific literary context as a mock epic, or Twain's Huckleberry Finn within the historical and social context of slavery. Additionally, the reader might take any of various approaches to this contextual reading: Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytic, structuralist, new historicist, etc. By bringing together close reading, contextualization, and critical approach, a reader can arrive at an informed interpretation of the text. The authors point out that such interpretations are not absolute:
Studying a literary text is an interaction between the reader and the text, which is not going to result in final "right" answers. It is the reader's job to respond, to think, to engage with and to interpret what he or she reads—to make meanings from the text, based on evidence from within and around it. Because of differences between people in their experiences, education, gender, ethnicity and class, no-one interprets a text exactly the same way as anyone else. Thus, there can be alternative ways of reading the same texts by different people, or by the same reader revisiting the text at different times. (p. 99)
The writers therefore list "an awareness of alternative ways of interpreting a text" as a necessary skill for the reader.
These guidelines on how to read literary texts are formulated into exercises throughout, the focus naturally being on satiric texts. More than half of this brief textbook comprises extracts, each prefaced with contextual information as well as suggestions for ways to approach the text in question. I am not convinced that this is good strategy: what is the point of having students read three pages of Northanger Abbey, or three paragraphs from Swift's "A Modest Proposal"? Can students arrive at informed readings when the texts are served up as mere fragments? The decision to include a reproduction from Hogarth's Marriage à la Mode is particularly questionable: even granting Hogarth's masterful handling of satire, a student of literature is not well situated to interpret an oil painting. Given the care the authors take to explain the importance of literary and linguistic contexts in reading, the blithe disregard for painterly conventions as a necessary context for Hogarth is baffling.
The problem appears to be that this textbook's dual goal is hard to contain in such a short compass. Short of the excerpts from satiric works, the book has only about sixty page to introduce students to the craft of reading and to provide an overview of satire as genre and method. When the writers scant aspects of the former, an excuse is ready at hand. A textbook on critical approaches to literature could not get away with describing the psychoanalytic perspective in a single clause saying it "might consider aspects of sexuality, and uses of imagery" (p.100)—doesn't any close reading consider imagery? This infelicity could justified on the grounds that this is a textbook on satire, not on theory. It's harder to explain away the disparity between the thoughtful framework the authors provide for reading generally, and the absence of any substantial readings of satiric texts. The book is exemplary at signposting—at suggesting directions that students could follow. But one looks in vain for any example of those signposts being followed to a satisfying destination. Even just one reading that put into practice the prescribed blend of close reading, contextualization, and critical approach would have been helpful.
Some aspects of the work are decidedly old-fashioned. For example, male authors are referred to by their last names: Swift, Pope, etc. Austen, however, is nearly always Jane Austen. Is there some need to disambiguate her from, say, Mount Godwin Austen? And surprisingly for a book published in this century, there is nary a mention of postcolonial approaches to reading, nor of any satirical writers from Africa or Asia. Salman Rushdie would like a word.
These flaws aside, this is a very useful book. Its explanations of how literary analysis works generally are thoughtful and intelligent. Updated and supplemented with full-length literary works and practical examples of the sorts of readings that can result by using the strategies outlined in this book, this would be close to an ideal textbook for an introductory course in literature.
Review submitted by verbose.
