The Satirical Media Discourse between Humorous Presentation and Serious Critique:

Abstract

videos, or in some of the images that are crafted in a satirical caricature style, which are placed on their pages or social media platforms, or broadcast through television channels, or published in daily and weekly newspapers, with the purpose of conveying encrypted messages to different audiences. These messages carry a superficially funny or humorous form with an underlying and serious dimension and multiple objectives, with a political, social, economic, or cultural character, and are related to addressing public issues or criticizing official or political figures, or related to issues of corruption and the deterioration of living standards. This is because the satirical style in recent decades has become a concern for many officials and prominent figures, considering it an effective strategy for arousing public opinion, revealing the sources of corruption, and adjusting opinions, proposals, and trends through activating constructive criticism mechanisms and allowing communal venting. It is an indirect means of expressing positions and orientations without restrictions, despite the variety of forms and methods, they perform their functions according to the desired purpose. Perhaps satirical caricature is one of the most effective methods used in the current time, as it has taken up a large space in the media environment through its publication in newspapers, magazines, and social platforms, and has become a field that requires study and depth to understand it more and to know its impact on societies and the living reality. Therefore, in this article, we will address the definition of the satirical style and demonstrate the seriousness of criticism through the humor of presentation, by analyzing a sample of caricature images in the Algerian newspaper El-Chourouk according to Roland Barthes’ approach.