In his book, David Denby distinguishes between "harshly funny satirical writing" and snark. However, does this dichotomy rely on our perception of whether the satire is justified? For example, a judgement on the snarkiness of Phillips' comments on Harriet Harman, taken from a recent Daily Mail article, might depend on whether we agree with her politics.
"Has there ever been a more preposterous figure than the Equalities Minister Harriet Harman?…
…Not content with setting herself to eradicate discrimination against women, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered, disabled or black people as well as all ethnic minorities, she has now discovered yet another form of prejudice - discrimination against Northerners…
…After 'class war', we now apparently have 'location war'. If this idea is allowed to progress beyond Ms Harperson's terrifyingly one-track mind, hundreds of public organisations will have to have special quotas for Yorkshirepersons or Cornishpersons whenever a vacancy occurs.
Could Ms Harman perhaps enlighten us whether it would be merely those currently living in such areas who would be preferred - or everyone with a regional accent, perhaps, or ancestors from Tyneside or the Wirral?"
Is snark a political issue?
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'Snark is an important, defining work and an extremely satisfying read as well' John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
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'Snark is an important, defining work and an extremely satisfying read as well' John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Snark – noun
Also snarky (adj.) and snarkily (adv.)
But just what is snark?
We all think we recognize snark when we see it – it’s a tone of teasing, snide, undermining abuse, nasty and knowing, that’s spreading through the media. Its practitioners think it’s funny, but it isn’t big and it certainly isn’t clever. So where did it all go wrong? What happened to the black comedy, the clever irony and the pinpoint satire we once admired and how did they turn into a charmless and witless way of speaking?
Inspired by Lewis Carroll, the New Yorker critic and bestselling author David Denby takes on the snarkers. In this sharp and witty polemic, he identifies the nine principles of snark and traces its history from its invention as personal insult in the drinking clubs of ancient Athens, through such diverse proponents as Alexander Pope, Private Eye and Tom Wolfe to its arrival in the age of the Internet, where it has become the sole purpose and style of many media, political and celebrity Web sites.
By highlighting what has gone wrong in America, Denby gives us a manifesto for a snark-free way of communicating in the future.
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