Social Factors in Cartoon Analysis through French Specialists

Since their appearance, cartoons and their creators took interest in social and political facts and figures. Often a more direct witness than a text, cartoons were quickly transformed from their initial entertaining role, to a tool to attack oppressors and reveal social injustices. To easily communicate with their public, they had to share the same codes and experiences that lived their audience in the society. Various social factors were sometimes unconsciously transmitted in the drawing through the psyche of the cartoon’s creator, which was formed during his life, and sometimes consciously applied in the cartoon’s decoration, appearance or the movement of the characters in order to further elucidate the message. Therefore, cartoon analysis must take account of all social elements at the time of cartoons’ production and reception. In this area, French specialists, especially Roland Barthes are among the leading figures who have worked on the role of socials factors in image analysis. In this article, their opinions are applied to cartoon analysis in order to better understand the way a cartoon is intended to send a message to its public.

Keywords:

caricature , drawing , morphology , newspaper cartoon , physiognomy , society , socio-cultural codes