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| Hara-Kiri (magazine) | |
|---|---|
| Title | Hara-Kiri |
| Editor | Georges Bernier |
| Editor title | Editor |
| Frequency | weekly |
| Category | Satire |
| Firstdate | 1960 |
| Finaldate | 1986 |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Hara-Kiri (magazine) was a French satirical weekly founded in 1960 that became notable for provocative cartoons, polemical essays and confrontational mockery of public figures. It engaged with personalities and institutions across the French cultural and political scenes, provoking debates in forums linked to Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, André Malraux, Pierre Mendès France, Édouard Balladur, Michel Debré, Georges Marchais, Lionel Jospin, Jacques Chirac, François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy, Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Alain Juppé, Dominique de Villepin, Robert Badinter, Simone Weil, Louis Aragon, Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Brassens, Serge Gainsbourg, Édith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Johnny Hallyday, Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Adjani, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Agnès Varda, Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Andy Warhol, Jean-Luc Nancy, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Pierre Bourdieu, Raymond Aron, André Glucksmann, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Yves Saint Laurent, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Karl Lagerfeld, Lucien Bodard, Françoise Sagan, Marguerite Duras, Annie Ernaux.
Hara-Kiri sprang from the milieu around Rouen and Paris in the late 1950s and early 1960s, emerging amid debates shaped by Algerian War fallout, the collapse of the Fourth Republic, and the rise of the Fifth Republic under Charles de Gaulle. Founders affiliated with Georges Bernier and François Cavanna combined influences from L'Express, Combat, Paris Match, Le Canard enchaîné and underground publications like Lettres nouvelles and Minute, positioning the title as a rogue voice against figures such as Pierre Poujade and movements represented by Poujadism and currents around Jean-Marie Le Pen. Early distribution intersected with networks in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and alternative bookstores linked to Éditions du Seuil and Gallimard.
The magazine's editorial line blended grotesque humor, black comedy and surreal pastiche, addressing personalities from François Mitterrand to Pope Paul VI and events including the May 1968 protests, the Vietnam War, the Six-Day War, and the Suez Crisis. Satirical targets ranged across political actors like Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Fillon, and cultural figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, alongside chronicling scandals involving Giscard affair-era controversies and judicial episodes tied to ministers and judges like Jacques Chirac-era magistrates. The magazine used formats familiar from Playboy and MAD Magazine—strip cartoons, mock obituaries, parody manifestos and illustrated feuilletons—while courting provocateurs from the Situationist International orbit and critics engaged with Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault.
Hara-Kiri showcased a constellation of writers, satirists and illustrators including François Cavanna, Georges Bernier (alias "Professeur Choron"), Willem, Cabu, Reiser, Chaval, Keiserman, Roland Topor, Siné, Claude Seignolle, Claire Brétecher, Gotlib, Jean-Marc Reiser, Philippe Val, Patrick Font, Franck Margerin, Riad Sattouf, Jean Solé, Sempé, Jacques Tardi, Moebius, Hergé, André Franquin, Paulette Poujol, Philippe Druillet, Marcel Gotlib, Christophe Honoré, Jean Yanne, Alain Serres, Gérard Lauzier, Serge July, Jean-Edern Hallier, Alain de Benoist, Bernard Pivot, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Pascal Sevran, Pierre Desproges, Philippe Sollers, Maurois, Julien Gracq, Philippe Sollers once again in essays.
The title became infamous for recurrent run-ins with censors, prosecutors and administrative bans after provoking officials such as Charles de Gaulle and leaders during the 1968 unrest. Legal actions invoked statutes tied to press law administered by courts in Paris and were argued before figures like Robert Badinter in later reform debates. Notorious episodes include government bans that echoed earlier prosecutions of Voltaire-era satire and later interventions similar to cases involving Charlie Hebdo and Le Monde; disputes reached parliamentarian scrutiny involving deputies from UMP and PS circles. Several contributors faced libel suits and temporary closures; clashes with police and municipal authorities paralleled actions against publications such as Closer and Paris Match.
Hara-Kiri spawned spin-offs and inspired editions including the weekly offshoot that evolved into Charlie Hebdo, periodic compilations published by houses like Éditions du Square and cultural anthologies distributed by Flammarion and Éditions Denoël. Its aesthetic and editorial strategies influenced satirical cultures in Belgium, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Japan, South Korea, and Germany, resonating with publications such as Punch, Private Eye, Spy, The Onion, Der Spiegel's satirical pages and various underground comix linked to Robert Crumb. Hara-Kiri's format and circulation techniques informed designers and editors at The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Time, Newsweek, Le Figaro, Libération, L'Humanité, and regional weeklies across Île-de-France.
The magazine's legacy appears in debates about press freedom, satire and secular critique within institutions such as the Constitutional Council and in curricula at Sorbonne, EHESS and art schools that study links to Surrealism, Dada, and Situationist International. Exhibitions at institutions like the Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay, Fondation Cartier, Bibliothèque nationale de France and retrospectives in Festival d'Avignon and Cannes Film Festival contexts have revisited its covers and cartoons. Its influence endures in contemporary debates involving freedom of expression cases, cultural policy discussions around Ministry of Culture, and the continuing careers of former contributors active in journals, television and film across France and internationally.
Category:Satirical magazines published in France Category:Defunct magazines of France