Laughing in the Face of Climate Change? Satire as a Device for Engaging Audiences in Public Debate

Abstract

Satire has long offered social and political commentary while entertaining audiences. Focusing on a Canadian stage play and its local reception, this article considers some of the key benefits and challenges of using satire to promote public engagement with climate change science. It demonstrates that satire can promote active and positive engagement with climate change debates. However, using satire risks confining representations to the humorous realm and requires communicators to consider the humor preferences of different publics. The article proposes recommendations for using satire in science communications.

Are audiences receptive to humour in popular science articles? An exploratory study using articles on environmental issues

“…The novelty of this study was the consistency of results in different types of analysis, which corroborate the views of other authors that humour used in science communication can have various outcomes and limitations [e.g. Bore and Reid, 2014;Weitkamp and Burnet, 2007;Pinto, Marçal and Vaz, 2015]. Research in science education has previously associated this type of humour with a more interesting and relaxed learning environment, which does not happen with the use of negative and aggressive humour [Banas et al, 2011].…”

“…For example, in the case of a satire theatre play concerning climate change, 63% of audience members liked the humour used [Bore and Reid, 2014], which is a very similar value of about 65% of approval rate to the humour of the popular articles in our research. As another example, in the testing of a comic book about chemistry directed at children, the humour was usually viewed as good [Weitkamp and Burnet, 2007].…”

“…Previous researchers have tried to conceptualise the use of humour [Riesch, 2015] or investigated the views of science communication performers and their audiences [Pinto, Marçal and Vaz, 2015;Bore and Reid, 2014]. For example, recent research focused on a science stand-up comedy project in Portugal, in which both scientists-performers and audience members argued that this medium has the potential to make science more appealing [Pinto, Marçal and Vaz, 2015].…”

“…Nevertheless, issues such as the fact that the audiences were usually highly educated people, the peculiarities of the format implying a simplified view of science and the possibility of misinterpretation of messages due to the humour were also mentioned. Moreover, Bore and Reid [2014] studied the benefits and challenges of a satire stage play about climate change and concluded that it promoted audience engagement, but that the use of humour also encompassed risks such as the difficulty of catering for different humour preferences in the audiences, or "preaching to the choir". Given that the topic was climate change and therefore a pressing social as well as scientific problem, they also warned that the use of humour may discourage the audience from taking action.…”

A modest proposal for restoration ecology

“…Recently, a satirical proposal to reforest all of Spain as a wilderness generated more attention than a contemporary risk analysis on the same topic that contained typical caveats. The provocateurs wrote: "Satire can help reveal the flaws inherent in the way we frame, formulate, and impose our views on different situations" (Meijaard & Sheil , p 525; also see Bore & Reid ). Jonathan Swift wrote A Modest Proposal in 1729, a tongue‐in‐cheek argument for the numerous benefits to broader society of eating babies: "I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection."…”