Geen effectiever vermaak dan leedvermaak. Agressieve humor als politiek wapen in de Lanterne magique of toverlantaern (1782-83).

This article discusses the late eighteenth-century Dutch periodical Lanterne magique of toverlantaern. This political journal is analyzed from the perspective of its sense of humor and its rhetorical strategy. The Lanterne magique turns out to offer an interesting counter example to our regular image of the late eighteenth century as a period of Enlightenment, the time when the ‘modern’ political culture was invented, and when values like rationalism and politeness belonged to the staple of public communication. In the Lanterne magique, it is shown, it is all about humiliating political enemie... Mehr ...