8. Televised Political Satire in Poland: Historical Roots and Social Implications of Stereotypical Representations of Politicians and Politics

Since the fall of communist rule in Poland in 1989, political imagery has diversified due to new media technologies and a variety of content providers abolishing a monopoly over official representations of Polish governance and politics. Parallel to this, traditional cabaret and political satire moved from club stages and festivals to television stations and streaming platforms. In this study, we trace the evolution of televised satire through three case studies of popular televised parody programs. We explore how historical references are recontextualized for comic effect, and how stereotypes are reproduced to satirize ruling elites or expose personal vices and incompetence. However, rather than explaining the instantiations of satire in specific episodes, we focus on the narrative devices and construction of characters to capture the cumulative functions of humor. We show how the analyzed productions draw on cultural schemes and metaphors of governance, power, and partisan politics, especially harshly ridiculing autocracy and corruption. The study exposes the ambivalence of political satire: its role in cultivating citizenship by demystifying the processes behind the exercise of power on the one hand, and in diminishing trust in politicians and depoliticizing the citizens on the other hand.