Democratic satire

Democratic satire (Rus: Демократическая сатира, Lat: Demokratischeskaya satira) or folk satire is an element of Russian humor, and mostly attributed to the anonymous works of the 17th century. An essential part of the democratic literature of its time. The satirical literature of the 17th century is diverse in terms of genre and theme. However, the main topics were social relations, social vices and injustice, for which satirical literature used both folk oral art and literary and documentary texts, parodied them. This style was formed under the influence of folk satire and influenced Russian satirical literature of subsequent periods.

Sources and Features of the Genre

Elements of satire were contained within some of the earliest of ancient Russian literature, starting from the early chronicles, most of which are associated with the "satiric element" of folk poetry. In the 17th century, there was a flourishing of folk laughter culture, reflecting a departure from the previous book culture and "spiritual reading" and well-aimed folk speech.

In Russian literature, satire first clearly took shape in a satirical story of the 17th century. In the 17th century, the process of the formation of satire as a special type of fiction went hand in hand with the development of folk satire. Literary satire was created in an environment that was still influenced by the legacy of oral poetry.