Abstract
Catch-22, often considered as one of the literary masterpieces of the twentieth century, is also often analyzed as being either satirical, or characteristic of the theater of the absurd, or even both. At first sight, this appears to be totally irrelevant, given the subtle but still significant differences between satire and black humor. Indeed, even though both are aimed at criticizing the absurdity of life and at drawing an acerb portrait of society and mankind, satire differs from black humor in that it does so with the intention of triggering a fundamental change. Hence, whilst the theater of the absurd develops a hopeless, disillusioned vision of the world, satire is full of hope, and is aimed at moving from this regrettable society to an idealized world, relieved of its imperfections. However, a deep study of the novel inexorably raises important questions. It seems true that Catch-22 contains elements of both the theater of the absurd and that of traditional satire.
