satiric literature
perhaps the most striking quality of satiric literature is its freshness, its originality of perspective. satire rarely offers original ideas. instead, it presents the familiar in a new form. satirists do not offer the world new philosophies. what they do is look at familiar condtions from a perspective that makes these contions seem foolish, harmful, or affected. satire jars us out of complacence into a pleasantly shocked realization that many of the values we unquestioningly accept are false. don quixote makes chivalry seem absurd; brave new world ridicules the pretensions of science; a modest proposal dramatizes starvation by advocating canniblism. none of these idea is original.
讽刺文学
或许讽刺文学最突出的特点是它的清新和视角独创。讽刺文学很少给人以原创的思想，但是它却将人们熟悉的事情以全新的形式展现出来。讽刺作家并不给人以新的哲学理念。他们所做的只是从某一视角来看待一些为人熟知的事情，在这一视角下，这些事情显得愚蠢不堪、充满危害而又矫揉造作。讽刺作品将我们从自鸣得意中震醒，让我们既愉快又惊诧的看到，我们从未质疑、全盘接受的价值观中，有很多都是错误的。《唐吉珂德》使得骑士精神显得荒谬可笑；《美丽新世界》嘲笑了科学的自诩；《一个小小的建议》则建议食用人肉，使饥饿问题戏剧化。这些思想中没有一条是原创的。