THE%20SKILL%20OF%20POLITICAL%20CARTOONISTS%20IN%20RECYCLING%20VERBAL%20AND%20VISUAL%20SYMBOLS%20See%20also%20

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THE SKILL OF POLITICAL CARTOONISTS IN RECYCLING
VERBAL AND VISUAL SYMBOLSSee also Comics,
Humor in Art,and Optical Illusions

• by Alleen Pace Nilsen
• and Don L. F. Nilsen

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• Are cartoonists copy cats?
• Or does the nature of their craft force them to
  limit their originality.
• Perhaps they have to make a conscious effort to
  limit their originality because they have fewer
  than 10 seconds to grab the attention of viewers,
  and, in fact, to tell whole stories.
• We will start with two classic cartoons by David
  Levine for the New York Review of Books. No
  words are needed, but look what viewers had to
  know to Catch on.

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• Cultural Icons can be either
• recognized visual symbols
• or familiar words that can be parodied.
• Cartoonists first have to help the viewers into
  the mindset of the original,
• Then take them in a new direction.

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• As with Mike Peterss 1984 criticism of President
  Reagans military support of El Salvador
• I pledge a billion to the flag
• of the right wing government of El Salvador
• And to the death squads for which it stands
• One nation, underfed
• Indefensible
• With M-16s and Howitzers for all.

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POW! ZAP! WHAM! ZIP! ZOWIE! Teddy
Bear Gerrymander Yellow Journalism McCarthyism
Senator Simple J. Malarkey
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ARACHNOPHOBIA ? IRAQNAPHOBIA

• The term Iraqnaphobia was first used in the
  caption of an editorial cartoon by Clay Bennett
  that appeared in the August 3, 1990 edition of
  the St. Petersburg Times. The cartoon shows a
  spider labeled Iraq menacing Kuwait, and the
  caption reads Saddam Hussein Presents
  Iraqnophobia.
• (Dahdal 11)

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• Under the heading Famous Quotes Throughout
  History
• Just a cold snap (a couple of dinosaurs)
• Another of your stupid inventions (a cavewoman
  looking at her husbands newly carved wheel)
• What an Idiot (Italians waving goodbye to
  Christopher Columbus)

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• Youll be sorry when you fall off the edge of
  the world.
• No problem, white man say just passing through!
  (Indians pointing to a ship in the bay)
• Maybe if you get a haircut people will take you
  seriously (Einsteins wife)
• We will succeed in Iraq (President Bush holding
  his arms in a victory salute!)
• 2004 Rodewalt
• (CWS Cartoon Arts International )

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• Common Visual Symbols
• Pointing fingers or arrows
• The Trojan Horse
• Tombstones and the initials R.I.P.
• Skulls/The Grim Reaper

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• The three monkeys
• The Ghost of Christmas Past
• Superman
• Railroad tracks not matching up
• A 1973 Boston Globe Cartoon by Paul Szep showed
  Vietnam as a maze.
• Reprinted in 1975 with added symbolism.

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• Variations on the Statue of Liberty show how
  symbols can change over time while still
  retaining some of the original meaning.

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• Statue of Liberty cartoons while making many
  different political points still rely on images
  that in most peoples minds are feminine.

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• 1960 Doug MacPherson drew Fidel Castro and
  Nikita Krushev having a picnic on her head.
• 1971 Daniel Aguila drew her with shortened
  robes under the cutline Lib and let lib!
• 1980 Doug Marlett showed her sweeping dirt under
  a rug designed as a flag.

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• 1984 Signe Wilkinson showed her going through a
  sewing factory shouting OK, you huddled masses,
  I know youre in here!
• 2001 After 9/11, a tear falling from one eye
• And two sad eyes reflecting the burning Twin
  Towers

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• 2003 Expressing womanly impatience as she says
  Geez, two years and still no capture of Osameor
  Saddamor Al Qaidaor WMDor the Taliban, or
  Justice or A side note read In a city
  accustomed to the New York Minute.
• 2005 Nick Adams won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for
  showing President Bush sitting on top of her
  crown wearing earphones hooked to a satellite
  dish, which had replaced the flame in her
  extended arm.

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• The simplified shape of a fish is even more a
  part of what Carl Jung refers to as the
  Collective Unconscious.
• In the early days of Christianity it was marked
  in the sand.
• Today we see it on churches, cars, and religious
  messages, sometimes with a stylized cross serving
  as an eye
• Or with the Greek initials inside that stand for
  Jesus Christ King of the Jews.

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• Weve also seen DARWIN placed inside the fish
• And a bigger Christian fish eating a smaller
  Darwin fish with legs
• Once the surprise was gone, the humor
  disappeared, but the symbol is still there.
• One of our students observed that the O and X at
  the end of the Jack in the Box signs make
  basically the same design.

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• Also, note the shape of the popular metallic
  ribbons that are twisted to form a rounded top
  like a head with crossed pieces to look like the
  split tail of a fish.
• These first became popular in the 1970s, when
  they were sold as lapel pins to be worn in memory
  of someone who died from AIDS or in support of
  AIDS research. Following 9-11, the design was
  co-opted to show patriotism and support for the
  war on terrorism.

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• They are made from magnetized metal and are about
  the size of a paperback book.
• They come in all colors and mostly express some
  kind of support for the war on terrorism.
• But we recently saw one proclaiming Pets are
  good for people. Separate pieces of metal in
  the shape of paw prints were placed around it.

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• More and more people put them sideways on their
  cars
• They resemble the old fish pattern except with a
  rounded head.
• Some drivers sport two, three, or more, so their
  vehicles resemble traveling aquariums.

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• People respond to particular shapes without
  necessarily thinking of how or why.
• They feel the fish shape is appropriate to a
  controversial issue that touches all of us deeply
  whether it is viewing the end of life as
  associated with terrorism or the beginning of
  life as associated with creation and evolution.

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Iraq and the American Flag
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• Coffins have a similar impact. At first the Bush
  administration forbade photographs, but the
  drawings were even more heart-rending because
  cartoonists added their own touches.
• Walt Handelsman drew coffins each covered with a
  funeral bouquet His cutline Theyll be Greeted
  with Flowers.
• Another cartoonist stood coffins on end as an
  eerie reminder of the domino theory that guided
  American policies in Vietnam.

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• The Abu Ghraib prison scandal again shows shape
  as a hidden persuader.
• The most heart-wrenching photos were of Private
  Lynddie England holding a naked man on a dog
  leash, a pyramid of naked Iraquis, and a hooded
  prisoner silhouetted in a ragged, black blanket.
• Out of 40 Abu Ghraib cartoons reprinted in Best
  of the Year collections, more than half featured
  this man on the box.

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• !It was the most dramatic of the images.
• The simplicity of design made it easy to
  highlight.
• It inspired viewers to pull related images from
  their own minds as in comparing it to the Ku Klux
  Klan.

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!!
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!!!
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PULITZER PRIZES 1974-1978

• 1974 PULITZER PRIZE PAUL SZEP
• http//www.szep.com/szep_thisweek.htm
• 1975 PULITZER PRIZE GARRY TRUDEAU
• http//www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/bio.phtml
• 1976 PULITZER PRIZE TONY AUTH
• http//www.gocomics.com/tonyauth/
• 1977 PULITZER PRIZE PAUL SZEP
• http//www.szep.com/szep_thisweek.htm
• 1978 PULITZER PRIZE JEFF MACNELLY
• http//www.macnelly.com/

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PULITZER PRIZES 1979-1983

• 1979 PULITZER PRIZE HERBERB BLOCK
• http//www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/
• 1980 PULITZER PRIZE DON WRIGHT
• http//www.comicspage.com/donwright/donwright.html
  
• 1981 PULITZER PRIZE MIKE PETERS
• http//www.grimmy.com/editorials.php
• 1982 PULITZER PRIZE BEN SARGENT
• http//www.ucomics.com/bensargent/
• 1983 PULITZER PRIZE DICK LOCHER
• http//www.comicspage.com/locher/dicklocher.html

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PULITZER PRIZES 1984-1988

• 1984 PULITZER PRIZE PAUL CONRAD
• http//www.ucomics.com/paulconrad/
• 1985 PULITZER PRIZE JEFF MACNELLY
• http//www.macnelly.com/
• 1986 PULITZER PRIZE JULES FEIFFER
• www.julesfeiffer.com
• 1987 PULITZER PRIZE BERKELEY BREATHED
• http//www.berkeleybreathed.com/pages/index.asp
• 1988 PULITZER PRIZE DOUG MARLETTE
• http//dougmarlette.com

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PULITZER PRIZES 1989-1993

• 1989 PULITZER PRIZE JACK HIGGINS
• http//www.suntimes.com/higgins/higgins350.html
• 1990 PULITZER PRIZE TOM TOLES
• http//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinion/toles
  .html
• 1991 PULITZER PRIZE JIM BORGMAN
• http//borgman.enquirer.com
• 1992 PULITZER PRIZE SIGNE WILKINSON
• http//www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/special_p
  ackags/signe/
• 1993 PULITZER PRIZE STEVE BENSON
• http//www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/
  benson/

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!PULITZER PRIZES 1994-1997

• 1994 PULITZER PRIZE MICHAEL RAMIREZ
• http//cagle.slate.msn.com/politicalcartoons/PCcar
  toons/ramirez.asp
• 1995 PULITZER PRIZE MIKE LUCKOVICH
• http//www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/luckovi
  ch/index.html
• 1996 PULITZER PRIZE JIM MORIN
• http//www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editoria
  l/cartoons/
• 1997 PULITZER PRIZE WALT HANDELSMAN
• http//www.newsday.com/ny-walt-july2005,0,77592.ph
  otogallery

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!!PULITZER PRIZES 1998-2001

• 1998 PULITZER PRIZE STEVE BREEN
• http//www.injersey.com/breen/portfolio/1,1959,0,0
  0.html
• 1999 PULITZER PRIZE DAVID HORSEY
• http//seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/
• 2000 PULITZER PRIZE JOEL PETT
• http//www.newseum.org/pett/about.htm
• 2001 PULITZER PRIZE ANN TELNAES
• www.anntelnaes.com

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!!!PULITZER PRIZES 2002-2006

• 2002 PULITZER PRIZE CLAY BENNETT
• www.claybennett.com
• 2003 PULITZER PRIZE DAVID HORSEY
• http//seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/
• 2004 PULITZER PRIZE MATT DAVIES
• http//www.comicspage.com/mattdavies/matt_about.ht
  ml
• 2005 PULITZER PRIZE NICK ANDERSON
• http//www.cartoonistgroup.com/properties/anderson
  /home.php
• 2006 PULITZER PRIZE MIKE LUCKOVICH
• http//www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/luckovi
  ch/index.html

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• References 1
• Baumgartner, Jody C, and Jonathan S. Morris, Eds.
  Laughing Matters Humor and American Politics in
  the Media Age. New York, NY Routledge, 2008.
• Boskin, Joseph. The Humor Prism in 20th Century
  America. Detroit, MI Wayne State University
  Press, 1997.
• Brooks, Charles, Ed. Best Editorial Cartoons of
  the Year. Gretna, LA Pelican, 1979-2007.
• Cagle, Daryl, and Brian Fairrington, Eds. The
  Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2005
  Edition. New York, NY Que Publishing. 2005.
• Cagle, Daryl, and Brian Fairrington, Eds. The
  Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2006
  Edition. New York, NY Que Publishing. 2006.

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• References 2
• Dahdal, Sylvia H. Defending the Indefensible
  Words of War or War of Words? Tempe, AZ ASU LIN
  515 Paper, April 18, 2006.
• Egan, Timothy. "Defiantly Incorrect The Humor of
  John Callahan." Living Language. Ed. Alleen Pace
  Nilsen. Needham Heights, MA Allyn and Bacon,
  1999.
• Hess, Stephen, and Sandy Northrop. Drawn and
  Quartered The History of American Political
  Cartoons. Montgomery, AL Elliott and Clark
  Publishing, 1996.
• Lamb, Chris. Drawn to Extremes The Use and Abuse
  of Editorial Cartoons. New York, NY Columbia
  University Press, 2004.

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• References 3
• Mankoff, Robert. The New Yorker Book of Political
  Cartoons. Princeton, NJ Bloomberg Press, 2000.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace. Living Language. Boston, MA
  Allyn and Bacon, 1999.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor.
  Westport, CT Greenwood Press, 2000.
• Trostle, J. P. Ed. Attack of the Political
  Cartoonists Insights and Assaults from Today's
  Editorial Pages. Madison, WI Dork Storm Press,
  2004.