“Silence is the best answer for a bully”:an exploration of humour techniques in selected Nigerian newspaper political cartoons

Newspaper political cartoons,known for their satirical nature,employ semiotic and linguistic techniques to comment on or criticise political leaders and events humorously.While previous studies on Nigerian newspaper political cartoons have focused on ideological issues and discourse frames,little attention has been given to the linguistic investigation of semiotic humour techniques in these cartoons.This study,therefore,investigates these humour techniques,utilising Salvatore Attardo and Victor Raskin’s General Theory of Verbal Humour(GTVH)as the framework within a descriptive design.Three newspapers-Punch,The Guardian,and Daily Trust-were purposively selected for their regular publication of cartoons,criticising Nigeria’s politics.Eleven political cartoons were purposively selected for their semiotic and humorous depictions of Nigeria’s politics,and subjected to linguistic analysis.Six semiotic humour techniques were identified in the cartoons:exaggeration,humorous metaphor,distortion of formulaic expressions,neologism,innovative collocation,and sarcasm.These techniques were employed to satirise three governance issues in Nigeria-misgovernance,corruption and insecurity.

Oil as narcotic or as medicine:the DISEASE metaphor in political cartoons on energy crisis

The present paper explores how the issue of the current energy crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 and Ukraine war was constructed by political cartoons.Adopting Critical Multimodal Metaphor Scenario Analysis,this paper focuses on the DISEASE metaphor scenario,one of the most recurring scenarios in political cartoons on this topic,and specifically emphasizes how the METHOD OF TREATMENT,one of the structural elements in the scenario,is represented.The analysis reveals that two predominant scenarios cOnstitute the representations of the METHOD OF TREATMENT:NARCOTIC Scenario and MEDICINE scenario.They differ in entailments:one frames fossil energy as detrimental narcotic while the other frames it as therapeutic medicine.By means of the two scenarios,these cartoons convey strong criticism of the major involvers in the energy crisis,namely,the E.U.,Russia,and the U.S.The cartoons make full use of the dynamic interplay of visual and/or verbal metonymy,metaphor,and narrative to elicit associations,assumptions and evaluations in the viewers,helping facilitate understanding and constructing a view of the crisis reality.The present analysis sheds light on the way cartoonists reshape the public point of view in the framing of specific event(s).

A Socialist Satire： Manhua Magazine and Political Cartoon Production in the PRC, 1950-1960

In June 1950, Manhua magazine published its first issue in Shanghai. Until its closure in 1960, it remained the only national publication dedicated solely to the popularization and discussion of political cartoons. Terse cartoons were needed to promote the numerous mass campaigns initiated by the new government, remind readers of the continuing battle against enemies of the new Communist state, and rally the people in support of a new military conflict developing on the Korean peninsula. This article discusses key moments in the institutional history of Manhua and its artists. The magazine, I argue, played a crucial but often overlooked role in the contest over the form and content of popular cartooning in the first decade of CCP rule. In such, it was the satirical counterpart to the ever more popular lianhuanhua （serial comics）. Cartoonists believed their art might contribute to establishing socialism through well-intentioned and constructive criticism. This, however, did not harmonize with the increasingly fervent control mechanisms of the party-state＇s cultural bureaucracy. The history of Manhua magazine is therefore an example of the expanding political supervision of the popular arts throughout the 1950s. At the same time it is a study of an art that, though popular and political, never won the same political acclaim as its counterpart, lianhuanhua.