[Insight & Opinion] What Is Satire?

[Asia Economy] Brecht's play "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" is a very entertaining satire. In this work, Socrates is depicted not as the dignified figure who drank poison for his pride, but as a petty philosopher who only schemes to flee the battlefield. When the enemy approaches, Socrates tries to escape using every trick in the book but ends up stepping on a cactus thorn. Startled, he inadvertently shouts loudly at the enemy. The Athenians, having misunderstood this, praise Socrates as a hero who bravely confronted the enemy. Unable to confess the truth, Socrates eventually admits his cowardice in front of Alcibiades and Xanthippe. For Brecht, the important thing was not to portray a heroic philosopher but to depict a human being fleeing to survive without being exploited by the ideology of war. Such satire is realistic and therefore humane.

Lu Xun, in his story "The Tale of the Bracken," turns the figures of integrity and loyalty, Bai Yi and Shu Ji, into ridiculous characters. Although they believed they could not live under the King of Zhou, they never intended to starve to death. They stubbornly searched for places where bracken grew abundantly, such as Mount Suyang. Though they vowed not to eat the Zhou kingdom’s grain and retreated to the mountains, they moved around in search of bracken. The brothers’ attempts to even eat deer are far from the legend of dying of starvation while maintaining their integrity. Lu Xun’s satire brings legendary heroes down to ordinary people in reality. For Lu Xun, satire was a record of facts that stripped away even the legend’s wrapping.

But can this be called satire? This is about an exhibition hosted by the Seoul Federation of National Art Groups and jointly organized by 12 hardline opposition lawmakers including the Democratic Party of Korea. Photos published in articles show President Yoon Seok-yeol depicted wearing royal robes while naked. There is also a painting of a woman, believed to be First Lady Kim Keon-hee, sitting on top of a collapsed President Yoon. Another painting shows President Yoon wielding a sword naked alongside Mrs. Kim. A painting dealing with the so-called "Cheongdam-dong drinking party," which was proven to be fake news, shows President Yoon holding a microphone and a figure resembling Minister Han Dong-hoon holding a tambourine. In a marionette puppet depiction of President Yoon, his abdomen is exposed, and a knot with a Rising Sun flag pattern is tied on his knee. Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is portrayed as a dog wearing glasses.

When controversy arose, the National Assembly Secretariat sent a "correction request" letter to the office of independent lawmaker Min Hyung-bae, who co-organized the exhibition, but it was ignored, and the paintings were forcibly removed. The National Assembly Secretary-General Lee Kwang-jae, who ordered the removal, is, as is well known, a politician from the Democratic Party. Nevertheless, the politicians who tried to hold the exhibition protested, saying, "The National Assembly Secretariat forcibly suppressed the artists’ will to criticize power through satire."

The paintings they tried to exhibit are not satire. They lack the depth and empathy found in the satire of Brecht or Lu Xun. They are filled only with hatred and animosity. Above all, they lack the "facts" that Lu Xun so emphasized in satire. The 19th-century realist painter Gustave Courbet responded to a church’s request to paint an angel by saying, "Show me an angel, and I will paint one." Courbet did not paint according to ideology or ideas but only what he saw and felt firsthand. But what do those who distort facts for political beliefs paint with? This is an era when fake passes itself off as real.

Yoo Chang-sun, Political Commentator