Rope-Dancing Appointments and Laputan Projects: Satire, Corruption, and Development

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Language and Literature Studies Vol. 5; no. 5; p. 30
• Main Author: Md. Absar Uddin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Waterloo MATIS Translation Services 2025
• Subjects: Allegory; Corruption; Illustrations; Irony; Literary devices; Novels; Social criticism & satire; Sociopolitical factors; Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745); Bangladesh
• ISSN: 2564-2979; 2564-2979
• DOI: 10.53103/cjlls.v5i5.229

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) uses sharp satire. It questions social and political excess. It targets wasteful royal display. Swift builds imaginary nations to make his point. This article studies royal excess in Lilliput and Laputa. It links those scenes to the governance Bangladesh of today. It explains Swift’s use of irony, allegory, and caricature. It shows how these devices mirror public spectacles, misuse of funds, and entrenched corruption. The method is qualitative. The study combines a close reading of Gulliver’s Travels with a focused review of Bangladeshi sources from 2010 to 2025. It pays special attention to mega-projects and elite patronage networks. The evidence is consistent. It indicates continuing extravagance, corruption, and abuse of power. Swift’s critique remains timely for current governance.The article concludes that satire can act as a civic safeguard. It exposes waste. It sharpens public awareness. It helps citizens demand accountability in Bangladesh. It also points to key arenas where satire circulates today: the news media, public debate, and the classroom.