Satire as Counter-Narrative Criticism of USA in Twenty-first Century Pakistani Televisual Political Satire

Abstract

The study observes that in the early twenty-first century different Pakistani comic televisual political satire shows started discussing current affairs and international relations. The United States of America remains one of the main targets of Pakistani televisual satire in the new century. The research finds that Pakistani televisual satire effectively exposes the flaws of the US foreign policy. Pakistani televisual satirists are very critical of America’s exploitative neocolonial enterprise. The satire among other things condemns America’s anti-Islam narrative and Islamophia; invasion of other nations and violation of their sovereignty; lust for oil and power; utilitarian foreign policy; and false pretexts for the war on terror. The research analyses the relevant satirical content of two of the representative shows. The study argues that the twenty-first century Pakistani televisual satire may be regarded as a counter-narrative. Additionally, the study uses Arthur Asa Berger’s classification of humour (1993) to explain the devices behind the satire making it effective. In this way, the study highlights the literary merit of Pakistani televisual satire. The research proposes that Pakistani televisual satire may be acknowledged as a subgenre of political satire.