Geen effectiever vermaak dan leedvermaak. Humor als retorisch wapen in de Lanterne magique of toverlantaern (1782-83).

Abstract

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 a striking example of so-called defamatory rhetoric. In this periodical it is all about humiliating and scapegoating political enemies, and Schadenfreude is the main means through which this is done. The enemies are jocularly depicted as drunkards, cowards and perverts. Thus Schadenfreude, as part of the broader culture of slanderous attack, turns out to be an effective tool within late eighteenth-century public debate. Besides that, the fact that the Lanterne magique was so successful at the time, tells us that both this debate and the sense of humor of eighteenth-century Dutch society differ from that of our own time. Realizing this, we can start to understand early-modern political rhetoric and laughter better.