brexit: and what the british think of themselves

Here's a poem:
Jay Doubleyou: the british - a poem

But who are the British?
Jay Doubleyou: identity
Jay Doubleyou: identity in the uk
Jay Doubleyou: english traditions which aren't english...
Jay Doubleyou: eccentric english
Jay Doubleyou: teaching 'british values'
Jay Doubleyou: "drunk stupid brits"

There is the whole Empire thing in India:
Jay Doubleyou: inglorious empire - what the british did to india
Jay Doubleyou: what we think about the british empire - 70 years after the partition of india

And there is the Empire thing of the mind:
Jay Doubleyou: theresa may's empire of the mind
Jay Doubleyou: brexit and history
Jay Doubleyou: in britain we use our history in order to comfort us: this sort of handling of history is dangerous as well as regrettable.

Oops:
Jay Doubleyou: brexit: and punctuation

And there is another bit of history:
Jay Doubleyou: the first world war: triumph and pride ... or ... tragedy and sorrow?

Give us back our Imperial measurements:
Jay Doubleyou: pounds, ounces and yards
BBC Radio 4 - Give 'em an inch... imperial and metric

And give us lots of Olympic medals:
Jay Doubleyou: sport and politics

But perhaps the Brits are not so sporting after all:
Jay Doubleyou: the problem with the english: england doesn’t want to be just another member of a team

We are different:
British ‘exceptionalism’ drove Brexit, but EU media aren’t buying it – POLITICO
LSE BREXIT – Brexit and British exceptionalism: the impossible challenge for Remainers
The British and their exceptionalism | Centre for European Reform

Aren't we:
Brexit News: John Major says British are not exceptional | UK | News | Express.co.uk

There are plenty of Brexit illusions:
Jay Doubleyou: one year to go before brexit
11 Brexit promises the government quietly dropped | Politics | The Guardian

To finish, there are other ways we can think of ourselves - with another poem:
Jay Doubleyou: big british asian summer
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a history of dissent and satire

Ian Hislop is the editor of 'Private Eye':
Private Eye | Official Site - the UK's number one best-selling news and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop

It's not just a 'news' magazine: it's very much about 'dissent':
dissent Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

For example:

China’s chilling harvest 

Organ transplants, Issue 1477

HOW credible is China’s claim to have created a vast voluntary national organ donor system in less than 10 years?

In 2006, allegations emerged that prisoners of conscience were being killed on demand to supply organs for transplant. By 2013, the official line was that 23 percent of organs were donated (the rest came from judicial executions); yet in 2015 China insisted it had now moved to an entirely voluntary donor-based system. It has taken other countries decades to develop such programmes; and based on US figures, China’s 2017 figure of 373,536 registered donors would have yielded only dozens of donations.

While China’s transplant surgeons continue to appear at international conferences claiming to be part of an ethical, donation-based system restricted to Chinese nationals, the truth seems hidden in plain sight.

Private Eye News: China’s chilling harvest

The magazine is also about satire:
satire Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

For example:

Exam Results

Issue 1477

At this time of year, it’s important for everyone to remember that whatever difficult tests you have been set, there is no shame in abject failure or having two years of hard work thrown back in your face with a note saying, “Could do better. M Barnier”.

We must get things in perspective and I offer pupils these words of comfort. One only learns from failure and I have learned an awful lot lately. So if you haven’t got the results you wanted and are faced with few options for the future, you’re not the only one.

If you are in this situation, please call my helpline and offer me any advice you can. It will be most welcome.

TM




Private Eye St Theresa

Ian Hislop has curated an exhibition for the British Museum:
British Museum - I object
Ian Hislop on I Object at the British Museum: 'The Pussyhat is fantastic'
'Joyless in the extreme' – I Object: Ian Hislop's Search for Dissent review | Art and design | The Guardian

For example:

BBC Radio 4 - Peckham Rock. Banksy, 2005. - I, Object!, Why Object? - I object: Ian Hislop's search for dissent
Origin of new British Museum exhibit looks a bit wobbly - Telegraph
Banksy hoax caveman art to go back on display at British Museum - BBC News

Ian Hislop's also had a series on BBC Radio 4:
BBC Radio 4 - I, Object!

Here he looks at why we do this:
BBC Radio 4 - I, Object!, Why Object?

Here are some definitions and examples:

Satire is a diverse genre which is complex to classify and define, with a wide range of satiric "modes".^[27][28]

Horatian or Juvenalian

"Le satire e l'epistole di Q. Orazio Flacco", printed in 1814.

Satirical literature can commonly be categorized as either Horatian or Juvenalian (or Menippean.^[29]

Horatian

Horatian satire, named for the Roman satirist Horace (65–8 BCE), playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humour. Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) wrote Satires to gently ridicule the dominant opinions and "philosophical beliefs of ancient Rome and Greece" (Rankin).^[30] Rather than writing in harsh or accusing tones, he addressed issues with humor and clever mockery. Horatian satire follows this same pattern of "gently [ridiculing] the absurdities and follies of human beings" (Drury).^[31]
It directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humour toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil. Horatian satire's sympathetic tone is common in modern society.^[32]
A Horatian satirist's goal is to heal the situation with smiles, rather than by anger. Horatian satire is a gentle reminder to take life less seriously and evokes a wry smile.^[31] A Horatian satirist makes fun of general human folly rather than engaging in specific or personal attacks. Shamekia Thomas suggests, "In a work using Horatian satire, readers often laugh at the characters in the story who are the subject of mockery as well as themselves and society for behaving in those ways." Alexander Pope has been established as an author whose satire "heals with morals what it hurts with wit" (Green).^[33] Alexander Pope—and Horatian satire—attempt to teach.

Examples:

• The Ig Nobel Prizes.
• Bierce, Ambrose, The Devil's Dictionary.
• Defoe, Daniel, The True-Born Englishman.
• The Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.
• Trollope, Anthony, The Way We Live Now.
• Gogol, Nikolai, Dead Souls.
• Groening, Matthew "Matt", The Simpsons.
• Lewis, Clive Staples, The Screwtape Letters.
• Mercer, Richard ‘Rick’, The Rick Mercer Report.
• Pope, Alexander, The Rape of the Lock.
• Reiner, Rob, This Is Spinal Tap.
• Twain, Mark, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Juvenalian

See also: Satires of Juvenal

Juvenalian satire, named for the writings of the Roman satirist Juvenal (late first century – early second century AD), is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenal disagreed with the opinions of the public figures and institutions of the Republic and actively attacked them through his literature. "He utilized the satirical tools of exaggeration and parody to make his targets appear monstrous and incompetent" (Podzemny).^[34] Juvenal satire follows this same pattern of abrasively ridiculing societal structures. Juvenal also, unlike Horace, attacked public officials and governmental organizations through his satires, regarding their opinions not just as wrong, but as evil.

Following in this tradition, Juvenalian satire addresses perceived social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterized by the use of irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humor. Strongly polarized political satire can often be classified as Juvenalian.
A Juvenal satirist's goal is generally to provoke some sort of political or societal change because he sees his opponent or object as evil or harmful.^[35] A Juvenal satirist mocks "societal structure, power, and civilization" (Thomas)^[36] by exaggerating the words or position of his opponent in order to jeopardize their opponent's reputation and/or power. Jonathan Swift has been established as an author who "borrowed heavily from Juvenal's techniques in [his critique] of contemporary English society" (Podzemny).^[34]

Examples:

• Barnes, Julian, England, England.
• Bradbury, Ray, Fahrenheit 451.
• Brooker, Charlie, Black Mirror.
• Bulgakov, Mikhail, Heart of a Dog.
• Burgess, Anthony, A Clockwork Orange.
• Burroughs, William, Naked Lunch.
• Byron, George Gordon, Lord, Don Juan.
• Cooke, Ebenezer, The Sot-Weed Factor; or, A Voyage to Maryland,—a satire, in which is described the laws, government, courts, and constitutions of the country, and also the buildings, feasts, frolics, entertainments, and drunken humors of the inhabitants in that part of America.
• Ellis, Bret Easton, American Psycho.
• Golding, William, Lord of the Flies.
• Hall, Joseph, Virgidemiarum.
• Heller, Joseph, Catch-22.
• Huxley, Aldous, Brave New World.
• Johnson, Samuel, London, an adaptation of Juvenal, Third Satire.
• Junius, Letters.
• Kubrick, Stanley, Dr. Strangelove.
• Mencken, HL, Libido for the Ugly.
• Morris, Chris, Brass Eye.
• ———, The Day Today.
• Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
• Orwell, George, Animal Farm.
• Palahniuk, Chuck, Fight Club.
• Swift, Jonathan, A Modest Proposal.
• Zamyatin, Yevgeny, We.
• Voltaire, Candide.

Satire - Wikipedia

Here are a couple of bits of Horatian satire:
Homer Simpson & Donald Trump - YouTube
This Is Spinal Tap - Trailer - HQ - YouTube

And from the more biting Juvenalian satire:
Black Mirror | Waldo Trailer - YouTube
Black Mirror: Donald Trump is Waldo - YouTube
Catch-22 - Trailer - YouTube
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb - Trailer - YouTube
Dr. Strangelove - Peter Sellers - "An astonishingly good idea" - YouTube

Here's an example of satire from this blog:
Jay Doubleyou: fight club and anti-consumerism
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