A pasquinade or pasquil is a form of
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
, usually an anonymous brief
lampoon in verse or prose,
and can also be seen as a form of literary
caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...
.
The genre became popular in
early modern Europe, in the 16th century,
though the term had been used at least as early as the 4th century, as seen in City of God by Augustine of Hippo. Pasquinades can take a number of literary forms, including song,
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mill ...
, and
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
.
Compared with other kinds of satire, the pasquinade tends to be less didactic and more aggressive, and is more often critical of specific persons or groups.
The name "pasquinade" comes from ''
Pasquino'', the nickname of a
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
statue, the remains of a type now known as a ''
Pasquino Group'', found in the
River Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1501 – the first of a number of "
talking statues of Rome"
which have been used since the 16th century by locals to post anonymous political commentary.
The verse pasquinade has a classical source in the satirical
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mill ...
s of ancient Roman and Greek writers such as
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...
,
Callimachus
Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...
,
Lucillius, and
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His ...
.
The Menippean satire has been classed as a type of pasquinade. During the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, statues would be decorated with anonymous brief verses or criticisms.
History
The term became used in late medieval Italian literature, based on a literary character of that name. Most influential was the tome ''Carmina Apposita Pasquino'' (1512) of Giacomo Mazzocchi. As they became more pointed, the place of publication of ''Pasquillorum Tomi Duo'' (1544) was shifted to Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
, less squarely under papal control, disguised on the titlepage as ''Eleutheropolis'', "freedom city".
The term has also been used in various literary satirical lampoons across Europe, and appears in Italian works ( Pietro Aretino, Mazzocchi), French (Clément Marot
Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet.
Biography
Youth
Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496–1497. His father, Jean Marot (c.& ...
, Mellin de Saint-Gelais), German, Dutch, Polish (, Andrzej Krzycki
Andrzej Krzycki of the Kotwicz heraldic clan (also Andreas Cricius) (Krzycko Małe, 7 July 1482 – † Skierniewice, 10 May, 1537) was a Renaissance Polish writer and archbishop. Krzycki wrote in Latin prose, but wrote poetry in Polish. He is oft ...
, Stanisław Orzechowski, ), and others. The genre also existed in English, with Thomas Elyot's ''Pasquill the Playne'' (1532) being referred to as "probably the first English ''pasquinade.''" They have been relatively less common in Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. Most of the known pasquinades are anonymous, distinguishing them from longer and more formal literary satires such as William Langland
William Langland (; la, Willielmus de Langland; 1332 – c. 1386) is the presumed author of a work of Middle English alliterative verse generally known as ''Piers Plowman'', an allegory with a complex variety of religious themes. The poem tr ...
's Piers Plowman
''Piers Plowman'' (written 1370–86; possibly ) or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in un- rhymed, alliterati ...
.
Most pasquinades were created as a form of political satire, reacting to contemporary developments, and are generally more concerned with amusing or shocking the readers, and defaming their targets, than with literary qualities. As such, they are rarely considered to be particularly valuable from a literary standpoint; many have not been reprinted and are therefore considered lost. They have, however, historical value, and were seen by their contemporaries as a source of news and opinions, in lieu of non-existent or rare press and other media. Some have been known to be a series of polemics, with multiple pasquinades written in dialogue with another. Some authorities, including royalty and clergy, unsuccessfully attempted to ban or restrict the writing and spread of pasquinades, in comparison to the tolerated "lighter" and more playful parodic texts and fabliau
A ''fabliau'' (; plural ''fabliaux'') is a comic, often anonymous tale written by jongleurs in northeast France between c. 1150 and 1400. They are generally characterized by sexual and scatological obscenity, and by a set of contrary attitudes ...
performed during festivals.
The name as a pseudonym or title
In 1589 one of the contributors to the Marprelate Controversy
The Marprelate Controversy was a war of pamphlets waged in England and Wales in 1588 and 1589, between a puritan writer who employed the pseudonym Martin Marprelate, and defenders of the Church of England which remained an established church.
C ...
, a pamphlet war between the Established Church
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
of England and its puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
opponents, adopted the pseudonym Pasquill. At the end of his second pamphlet ''The Return of Pasquill'' (published in October 1589), Pasquill invites critics of his opponent Martin Marprelate
Martin Marprelate (sometimes printed as Martin Mar-prelate and Marre–Martin) was the name used by the anonymous author or authors of the seven Marprelate tracts that circulated illegally in England in the years 1588 and 1589. Their principal f ...
to write out their complaints and post them up on London Stone.
''Pasquin'' is the name of a play by Henry Fielding from 1736. It was a ''pasquinade'' in that it was an explicit and personalized attack on the Prime Minister Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lea ...
and his supporters. It is one of the plays that triggered the Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737. ''Anthony Pasquin'' is the pseudonym of John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
(1761–1818) and his satirical writing of royalties, academicians, and actors.
''Pasquino'' was a pen name of J. Fairfax McLaughlin (1939–1903), American lawyer and author. ''Pasquinade'' is the title of a piano solo piece by Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States.
Life and c ...
.
The Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
and Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
term '' Pashkevil'' is the generic name of the posters put up on the walls of Ultra-Orthodox Jew
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
ish enclaves in Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. These posters define legitimate behavior, such as prohibitions on owning smart phones, as well as often being the mouthpiece for radical anti-Zionist groups, such as the '' Neturei Karta''.[Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics, E. Sprinzak, 1999, p. 95] ''Pashkevillim'' take the place of conventional media in communities where such media are shunned.
See also
*Pastiche
A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking i ...
* Philippic
References
External links
thepasquinade.com
online satirical magazine
*
*
{{Authority control
Literary genres
Satire