“Reading Sucks Ass:” The (Re)Shaping of South Park’s Humor Through Literary References
Abstract
The paper examines the complex relationship between a lauded American animated sitcom South Park on one side, and literature, especially satire, on the other. Upon asserting the bond between literature and popular culture, numerous references present it the show are pointed out, namely the stance the authors take on literature and the act of reading, the kind f humor exhibited, and topicality. Finally, using the writing of Mikhail Bakhtin, South Park itself is treated as literature as its brand of laughter is a continuation of an age-old literary tradition of laughter. The conclusion muses on this as it is revealed that South Park owes much of its popularity to the literary aspect of its humor.
References
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