This Is Supposed To Be Satire

I'm well aware that RK and I may be the only ones who read this blog who will fully appreciate this beautiful bit from The Onion, but, oh, dear Lord, it's only a very, very short leap-- a half-step, really-- from the current 'real world' of literary academia. Terrifyingly short, in fact. It is only discretion that keeps me from naming colleagues who would likely see very little irony in any of this, and who regularly perform such acts of 'analysis.' If any lay people out there doubt me on this, just take a look at any of the graduate course calendars offered by just about any university in North America.

For those with an iota of common sense, however, this is absolutely hilarious. Since when are satire and realism this closely entwined?