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Abstract: Musical parody was integral to early American political culture. Focusing on political songs designated parodies in early American newspapers, this article demonstrates how parodists representing competing political parties balanced mimesis and critique to mock political adversaries, refute opponents' arguments, and expose political truths. These parodists used mimesis, structural manipulation, reductive dichotomies, exaggerated claims, and extreme levels of intertextuality in groups of related parodies. As erudite satire declined in appeal parodists carried elements of early American humour into more accessible genres. While individual parodies may seem ephemeral a holistic examination demonstrates the genres integrality and adaptation within early American political culture.
Resumé : La parodie musicale faisait partie intégrame de la culture politique américaine des Tori&gcaron;ine. En se penchant sur les chansons politiques qualifiées de « parodies » dans danciens joumaux américains, cet article met en lumiére la façon dont les parodistes, représentants de partis politiques rivaux, parvenaient ä équilibrer mimesis et critique pour toumer en dérision leurs adversaires politiques, réfuter les arguments de leurs opposants et exposer des « vérités » politiques. Ces parodistes employaient la mimesis, la manipulation structurelle, les dichotomies réducmces, les affirmations outranciéres et ď extremes niveaux dintertextualité dans des groupes de parodies de méme nature. A mesure que la satire erudite perdait de son attrait, les parodistes firem passer certains elements de cet humour américain des debuts dans des genres plus accessibles. Et tandis que les parodies individuelles peuvent paraitre éphéméres, un examen densemble demontre que ce genre sest intégralemem adapté des le debut a la culture politique américaine.
On Sunday morning, August 19, 2018, jaws dropped as US President Donald Trumps attorney Rudy Giuliani proclaimed on national television that Truth isnt truth. Meet the Press host Chuck Todd quickly retorted, Truth isnt truth? ... I think this is going to become a bad meme." Giulianis proclamation became the year's "most notable quote" for its reflection of the Zeitgeist and a "dramatic decline in respect for truth in politics." Giuliani stressed that "nowadays," facts are "in the eye of the beholder" (Phillips 2018). But portraying this as a contemporary phenomenon is misleading, for intense, explicit political battles over "truth" date back to the nations first party system, a time when - just as Todd noted of 2018 - parodic...