Metaphors for comic relief: Satirists’ self-reported contribution to democratic dialogue in difficult times

Abstract

This article aims at enriching the debate on the role of political satire when politics becomes troublesome. It takes an ethnographic approach to the production of the TV programme Polònia, which has been broadcast weekly in Catalonia since 2006 and consists of satirical impersonations of politicians. The first section tries to understand the role programme-makers attribute to Polònia within Catalan politics. Participants regard themselves as a central part of the political institutions in Catalonia and recognize a commitment with democratic values. This contests the normative approach in political communication studies which does not assign a role for entertainment in fostering democratic dialogue. The second section has to do with the main characteristic of Polònia’s language: experiential metaphors. Politics is ‘re-described’ in terms of everyday situations by transposing politicians into situations easily recognisable for the audience. It is concluded that Polònia uses a verisimilitude-oriented language rather than the veracity-oriented language of journalism.