The Nature of Political Satire Under Different Types of Political
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Rollins College Rollins Scholarship Online Honors Program Theses Spring 2017 Laughing in the Face of Oppression: The aN ture of Political Satire Under Different Types of Political Regimes Victoria Villavicencio Pérez Rollins College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.rollins.edu/honors Part of the Communication Commons, International Relations Commons, and the Latin American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Villavicencio Pérez, Victoria, "Laughing in the Face of Oppression: The aN ture of Political Satire Under Different Types of Political Regimes" (2017). Honors Program Theses. 55. http://scholarship.rollins.edu/honors/55 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Rollins Scholarship Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Program Theses by an authorized administrator of Rollins Scholarship Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. POLITICAL SATIRE UNDER DIFFERENT POLITICAL REGIMES 1 Laughing in the Face of Oppression: The Nature of Political Satire Under Different Types of Political Regimes Victoria Villavicencio Honors Degree Program POLITICAL SATIRE UNDER DIFFERENT POLITICAL REGIMES 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................4 SIGNIFICANCE ............................................................................................................................................6 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................................7 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................17 Goals ...................................................................................................................................................17 Case selection ......................................................................................................................................17 Research methodology ........................................................................................................................19 Confounding variables and limitations ...............................................................................................20 CASE STUDY: POLITICAL SATIRE IN THE U.S. .............................................................................22 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................22 SAMPLE ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................23 How openly critical? ...........................................................................................................................23 What type of censorship? ....................................................................................................................41 SUMMARY OF RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................44 CASE STUDY: POLITICAL SATIRE IN CUBA ..................................................................................46 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................46 SAMPLE ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................46 How openly critical? ...........................................................................................................................46 What type of censorship? ....................................................................................................................50 SUMMARY OF RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................53 CASE STUDY: POLITICAL SATIRE IN VENEZUELA ....................................................................54 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................54 SAMPLE ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................54 How openly critical? ...........................................................................................................................54 What type of censorship? ....................................................................................................................69 SUMMARY OF RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................72 CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................................................74 CASE ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................................74 United States: How does political satire operate in democracies? ....................................................74 Cuba: How does political satire operate in autocracies? ..................................................................76 Venezuela: How does political satire operate in semi-authoritarian states? .....................................77 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................79 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................................80 POLITICAL SATIRE UNDER DIFFERENT POLITICAL REGIMES 3 ABSTRACT This research examines how different types of political regimes shape the nature of the political satire produced under them. Unlike traditional journalism, the sly character of political humor may enable it to operate with more freedom than other forms of media while still providing social critique. This research examines three different case studies: the United States (democracy), Venezuela (semi-authoritarian), and Cuba (authoritarian) and evaluates their satire on how openly critical it is and what type of censorship it suffers. Through extensive content analysis of satirical work produced within the country, as well as a historical research into the censorship of its authors, I create a comprehensive account of the nature of political satire in that country within the past five years. This study finds that, while the nature of satire in democratic and authoritarian states is as to be expected, semi-authoritarian states experience an intense degree of political criticism comparable to that of a democracy. Keywords: political satire, political regime, Venezuela, Cuba, United States POLITICAL SATIRE UNDER DIFFERENT POLITICAL REGIMES 4 INTRODUCTION Every Monday at 8pm, Venezuelans would gather around their television sets to tune into Radio Rochela. Airing from 1959 until 2010, Radio Rochela was a staple on Venezuelan late- night television. Featuring sketches that parodied Venezuelan culture and politics, it aired for over four decades on the public broadcast television channel Radio Caracas Televisión, also known as RCTV. 1 In 2007, the Chavez administration announced that it would not renew RCTV’s national broadcasting license2. From then on, RCTV would only air in the homes of those who could afford cable television – away from the middle and lower classes, who constitute the majority of the governments’ voters. For years, RCTV had produced telenovelas, talk shows, newscasts, and comedy sketches that were present in every Venezuelan home. However, the increasingly undemocratic government had taken offense to Radio Rochela’s sense of humor, which spared no one. These sketches ranged from topics like the everyday struggles of Venezuelans to the mannerisms of president Chavez and his public gaffes. In one infamous series of skits, Chavez was rebaptized ‘Mico-mandante’ (Monkey in power), a play on his formal title ‘Mi comandante’ (My commander). Humorista Emilio Lovera interpreted the president and copied many of his mannerisms, particularly his distinctive slow drawl punctuated with vigorous exclamations. The sketch showed the president in his office as Lina Ron, one of his most fervent real-life supporters, attempted to inform the president of an imaginary threat. Instead, Lovera as Chavez settled into one of his long-winded monologues about his hometown in the rural state Barinas 1 Los 50 Años de La Rochela. (2009, December 13) 2 Chávez cancela la licencia a una televisión privada que tacha de ‘golpista’ (2006, December 28). POLITICAL SATIRE UNDER DIFFERENT POLITICAL REGIMES 5 which Venezuelans were often subjected to during his mandatory hours-long televised speeches.3 In another skit, Radio Rochela mercilessly mocked one of Chavez’s more public gaffe – when he erroneously conjugated a misspelled verb during a televised transmission of Mission: Robinson, his adult literacy program.4 5 This barefaced attempt to censor both the media and satirists did not