Towards an uncertain future: Brexit satirised in Ian McEwan’s The Cockroach

Year 2022, Issue: 31, 1474 - 1483, 21.12.2022

Kuğu Tekin Zeynep Rana Turgut

https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.1222309

Abstract

Ian McEwan’s 2019 novella, The Cockroach, which is considered a product of “brexlit,” is a bitter satire of British politicians’ Brexit project. According to the author, the rising waves of ultranationalism, seasoned with British politicians’ unreasonable populist discourse, drifted Britain out of the European Union. In the novella, McEwan’s chosen medium in criticising Britain’s status quo ante Brexit is satire. Due to its corrective nature, satire tends to repair and/or reform prevailing ills. However, in The Cockroach, McEwan does not intent to correct the troubles brought to Britain by Brexit, which he sees as the manifestation of stark irrationality. Indeed, political humour accompanies McEwan’s exclusive satirical style, for the author was aware of the fact that the British Conservative Party’s political slogan – “Get Brexit done” – had already fulfilled its mission by the time he was writing The Cockroach. Thus, this article follows the fictional route drawn by McEwan in The Cockroach in presenting how the bilateral association of populism and jingoism can darken the future vision of a country whose parliamentary democracy has a history of almost two centuries.

Keywords

Ian McEwan, The Cockroach, Brexit, Brexlit, satire, political humour

Belirsiz bir geleceğe doğru: Ian McEwan’ın Hamamböceği adlı kitabında Brexit’in hicvi

Abstract

Ian McEwan'ın “brexlit”in bir ürünü olarak kabul edilen 2019 romanı Hamamböceği, İngiliz politikacıların Brexit projesinin acı bir hicvidir. Yazara göre, İngiliz politikacıların mantıksız popülist söylemiyle yükselen aşırı milliyetçilik dalgaları, İngiltere’yi Avrupa Birliği'nden uzaklaştırdı. Romanda, McEwan'ın İngiltere’nin Brexit öncesi statükosunu eleştirmek için seçtiği araç hicivdir. Düzeltici doğası nedeniyle, hiciv var olan sorunları düzeltmeye meyillidir. Ancak Hamamböceği'nde McEwan, Brexit'in İngiltere'ye getirdiği ve katı bir mantıksızlığın tezahürü olarak gördüğü sorunları düzeltme niyetinde değildir. Gerçekten de, siyasi mizah McEwan'ın özel hiciv tarzına eşlik eder, çünkü yazar, İngiliz Muhafazakâr Partisi'nin siyasi sloganının - "Brexit'i bitirin" - Hamamböceği'ni yazdığı sırada misyonunu zaten yerine getirdiğinin farkındadır. Dolayısıyla bu makale, McEwan'ın Hamamböceği'nde popülizm ve şovenizm arasındaki birlikteliğin, parlamenter demokrasisi neredeyse iki yüzyıllık bir geçmişe sahip bir ülkenin geleceğini nasıl karartabileceğini sunarken çizdiği kurgusal rotayı takip etmektedir.

Keywords

Ian McEwan, The Cockroach, Brexit, Brexlit, satire, political humour

References

• Bell, J. W., L. M. Roth, & C. A. Nalepa (2007). Cockroaches: Ecology, behavior, and natural history. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Brock, M. (2018). Political satire and its disruptive potential: Irony and cynicism in Russia and the US. culture. Theory and Critique, 59/3, 281-298. DOI:10.1080/14735784.2018.1496843.
• Eaglestone, R. (2018). Brexit and the literature: Critical and cultural responses. N.Y.: Routledge.
• Evaristo, B. (2020). Girl, woman, other. UK: Penguin Random House.
• Freedman, L. (2012). Wit as a political weapon: Satirists and censors. Social Research, 79/1, 87-112. www.jstor.org/stable/23350299
• Frye, N. (2000). Anatomy of criticism: Four essays. Oxfordshire: Princeton University Press.
• Hamid, M. (2017). Exit west. London: Penguin Books.
• McEwan, I. (2019). The cockroach. London: Penguin Random House.
• McEwan, I. (2020). Brexit, the most pointless, masochistic ambition in our country’s history, is done. The Guardian, 1 February, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/01/brexit-pointless- masochistic- ambition-history-done
• Navarro, J. (2021). A disruptive moment? Parliaments, brexit, and the future of European integration.” Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 29/4, 43-451. DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2021.1949580.
• Park-Ozee, D. (2019). Satire: An explication. Humor, (32) 585-604. DOI: 10.1515/humor-2018-0009.
• Pettifor, A. (2016). Brexit and its consequences. Globalizations, 14/1, 127-132. DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2016.1229943
• Shaw, K. (2021). Brexlit: British literature and the European project. GB: Bloomsbury.
• Smith, A. (2016). Autumn. London: Penguin.
• Tesnohlidkova, O. (2021). Humor and satire in politic: Introducing cultural sociology and the Field.” Sociology Compass, (15, e12842), John Wiley and Sons Ltd. DOI: 10.1111/soc4.12842.
• Tombs, R. (2018). Who are the Remainers? Briefings For Britain, 16 June, 2018. https://www.briefingsforbritain.co.uk/brexit-who-are-the-remainers