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ABSTRACT. The paper examines the complex relationship between a lauded American animated sitcom South Park on the one side, and literature, especially satire, on the other side. Upon asserting the bond between literature and popular culture, numerous references presented in the show are pointed out, namely the stance the authors take on literature and the act of reading, the types and subtypes of humor exhibited, and topicality. Finally, using the writing of Mikhail Bakhtin, South Park itself is treated as literature as its type of humor is a continuation of an age-old literary tradition of laughter. The conclusion asserts this as it is revealed that South Park owes much of its popularity to the literary aspect of the humor exhibited in the show.