Hate, Shame and Boozy Banter in Eighteenth-Century Satire
Upcoming talk by Dr Adam James Smith (York St John University): 25 September, 4:30pm
Location: Rm C217, John Henry Newman Building, University College Dublin
Abstract: This paper examines representations of the satirist’s “hang-xiety” to explore how discourses of satire illuminate the role of alcohol in eighteenth-century sociability, and how reflections on its risks and rewards shaped broader philosophies of satire. The eighteenth century is often hailed as a golden age of satire, but it was equally an age of debate about satire itself. The period’s print-saturated public sphere fostered extensive reflection on what satire is, what it should do, and how to distinguish good from bad forms. Samuel Johnson engaged deeply with the moral and affective dimensions of satire, seeking to differentiate between productive and destructive expressions of hatred. His distinction between indignation and malignity provides a framework for reassessing early eighteenth-century satiric practice. Johnson’s notion of “good hating” emphasizes intention and audience effect, separating satire that stimulates civic discourse from that which silences it. In this model, effective satire generates justified indignation and sustains lively, ongoing dialogue. Yet these distinctions—between wit and cruelty, banter and aggression—become unstable when alcohol enters the equation, a complication that Johnson himself repeatedly acknowledges in The Adventurer and The Rambler. Jonathan Swift’s Journal to Stella also gestures toward this tension.
Biography: Dr Adam James Smith is Associate Professor of English Literature at York St John University, where he specialises in eighteenth-century satire, propaganda, and print culture. His research explores the relationship between literature, politics, and sociability in the long eighteenth century, with particular attention to how satire shaped and reflected public discourse. He co-edited Print Culture, Agency and Regionality and the Handpress Era (Palgrave, 2022), People of Print: Seventeenth-Century England (Cambridge University Press, 2023), People of Print: Eighteenth-Century England (Cambridge University Press, 2025) and the forthcoming Impolite Periodicals: Reading Rudeness in the Eighteenth-Century (Bucknell University Press, 2026). His work on satire has been published widely, most recently in Animal Satire (Palgrave, 2023), Character and Caricature, 1660-1820 (Palgrave, 2024) and the European Journal for Humour Studies (2025). He is Chief Reviews Editor for the Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, an eighteenth-century editor for the journal Literature Compass and co-host of the ongoing monthly podcast Smith & Waugh Talk About Satire. He is also co-director of the York Research Unit for the Study of Satire.
