An Introduction to Juvenalian Satire: "This is a Satire by Kendrick Lamar"

In the song ELEMENT., K. Dot interrupts the regularly scheduled programming to interject,

Niggas thought they wasn't gonna see me, huh?

Niggas thought that K-Dot real life

Was the same life they see on TV, huh?

Niggas wanna flex on me and be in L.A. for free, huh?

Next time they hit the 10 freeway, we need receipt, huh?

where K. Dot is channeling Juvenile, the Blood-associated rapper from the hit song Ha.

However, K. Dot isn't simply channeling Juvenile. He's also channeling Juvenalian satire:

Juvenalian satire, named for the writings of the Roman satirist Juvenal (late first century – early second century AD), is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenal disagreed with the opinions of the public figures and institutions of the Republic and actively attacked them through his literature. "He utilized the satirical tools of exaggeration and parody to make his targets appear monstrous and incompetent" (Podzemny). Juvenal satire follows this same pattern of abrasively ridiculing societal structures. Juvenal also, unlike Horace, attacked public officials and governmental organizations through his satires, regarding their opinions not just as wrong, but as evil.

Following in this tradition, Juvenalian satire addresses perceived social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form is often pessimistic, characterized by the use of irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humor. Strongly polarized political satire can often be classified as Juvenalian.

A Juvenal satirist's goal is generally to provoke some sort of political or societal change because he sees his opponent or object as evil or harmful. A Juvenal satirist mocks "societal structure, power, and civilization" (Thomas) by exaggerating the words or position of his opponent in order to jeopardize their opponent's reputation and/or power. Jonathan Swift has been established as an author who "borrowed heavily from Juvenal's techniques in [his critique] of contemporary English society" (Podzemny).

Examples of Juvenalian satire include:

• Kubrick, Stanley, Dr. Strangelove.
• Voltaire, Candide.
• Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
• Orwell, George, Animal Farm.
• Golding, William, Lord of the Flies.

There are, of course, other forms of satire...