Russia’s rationale for military action against Ukraine is a travesty. Putin claims the invasion was done for the sake of the Ukrainian population, to demilitarize and denazify the government which was persecuting the Russian minority. In The Interpreter, published by the Lowy Institute, Ian Hill writes, “Putin doesn’t accept Ukraine is a real state, instead seeing it as an integral part of the Russian national patrimony. His irredentist yearning to bring Ukraine back into the Russian fold is laced with imperial nostalgia and bitter resentment at the loss of Ukraine after the Soviet Union’s break-up in 1991. He wants to resist the further eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.”
A travesty is a debased, distorted, or grossly inferior imitation or likeness of the truth. The invasion of Ukraine is a tragedy, a disastrous event for the Ukrainian people. But it is also a travesty when considering Russian justification for the attack. Disastrous events are tragedies, not travesties, unless it refers to something that is done in a way that makes a mockery of what it’s supposed to be. A contest won by the judge’s spouse would be considered a travesty. A trial in which the defendant wasn’t allowed to present evidence could be described as a travesty of justice.
Travesty has its roots in the French verb travestir, meaning to disguise. Travestir evolved from the Latin verb vestire, meaning to clothe or to dress. A travesty clothes the truth with a disguise to present an imitation that makes a charade of the real thing.
Travesty can also function as a verb. The comedy sketch mindlessly travestied the hard work of relief workers around the world.
Caricature, burlesque, parody, and travesty all imply a comic or grotesque imitation.
A ludicrous exaggeration of the characteristic features of a person is a caricature. Images of well-known politicians are often drawn in cartoons as a caricature. You can stroll the waterfront in many cities and purchase an on-the-spot caricature of yourself.
Burlesque suggests ridicule of a serious or lofty subject by frivolous treatment. Saturday Night Live is a burlesque of current news. Burlesque is also theatrical entertainment of a broadly humorous, often earthy character consisting of comic skits, and sometimes striptease acts.
Parody applies to the treatment of a trivial subject in the exact style of a serious author or presenter. Mad Magazine (first published in 1952) and The Babylon Bee (website launched 2016) are a parody of political, religious, and current event issues.
Travesty implies that the subject remains unchanged, but the style is extravagant or absurd. The production was a travesty of the renowned opera.
Sometimes travesty is used in a tongue-in-cheek way. Kayla Stewart in Bon Appetit (February 2024) penned, “Smoked turkey, so often done wrong, can be a travesty at even the finest barbecue spots.” In our house there is a running controversy concerning the cooking of a beef roast. Patti likes the meat well done and would say that a beef roast on the rare side is a travesty. I, on the other hand, enjoy a beef roast cooked in the medium rare spectrum, and consider a well done roast a travesty. Or is it a tragedy? You decide.
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
