Images of a nation in crisis

Political cartoonists have, in recent years, faced victimisation for daring to speak truth to power. In December 2010, South African cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro) was sued for portraying former President Zuma as a rapist. In February 2018, his contract of over ten years with The Sunday Time...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rodwell Makombe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2022-10-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1582
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832593780780302336
author Rodwell Makombe
author_facet Rodwell Makombe
author_sort Rodwell Makombe
collection DOAJ
description Political cartoonists have, in recent years, faced victimisation for daring to speak truth to power. In December 2010, South African cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro) was sued for portraying former President Zuma as a rapist. In February 2018, his contract of over ten years with The Sunday Times was abruptly terminated. These developments show that cartoons can be effective tools of undermining and resisting power. This article critically analyses Zapiro’s Rape of Lady Justice cartoons in the context of South African politics under Zuma’s presidency. The ANC-led government under Jacob Zuma was perceived as corrupt and gravitating away from the ideals of a democratic state. Underpinned by Bal et al.’s (2009) model of caricature, this article seeks to examine, firstly, how the cartoon, as a medium of expression, pokes fun at its object of caricature, and secondly, how the broader socio-political context of Zuma’s presidency inspired Zapiro’s Lady Justice cartoons.
format Article
id doaj-art-7df0c2a906fe4351bb9193bc12c94eb8
institution Kabale University
issn 0259-0069
2957-7950
language English
publishDate 2022-10-01
publisher University of Johannesburg
record_format Article
series Communicare
spelling doaj-art-7df0c2a906fe4351bb9193bc12c94eb82025-01-20T08:55:48ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0137110.36615/jcsa.v37i1.1582Images of a nation in crisisRodwell Makombe0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3442-611XUniversity of the Free State Political cartoonists have, in recent years, faced victimisation for daring to speak truth to power. In December 2010, South African cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro) was sued for portraying former President Zuma as a rapist. In February 2018, his contract of over ten years with The Sunday Times was abruptly terminated. These developments show that cartoons can be effective tools of undermining and resisting power. This article critically analyses Zapiro’s Rape of Lady Justice cartoons in the context of South African politics under Zuma’s presidency. The ANC-led government under Jacob Zuma was perceived as corrupt and gravitating away from the ideals of a democratic state. Underpinned by Bal et al.’s (2009) model of caricature, this article seeks to examine, firstly, how the cartoon, as a medium of expression, pokes fun at its object of caricature, and secondly, how the broader socio-political context of Zuma’s presidency inspired Zapiro’s Lady Justice cartoons. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1582Rape of Lady JusticeJonathan Shapiro (Zapiro)South African cartoonistPresident ZumaThe Sunday Timesrapist
spellingShingle Rodwell Makombe
Images of a nation in crisis
Communicare
Rape of Lady Justice
Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro)
South African cartoonist
President Zuma
The Sunday Times
rapist
title Images of a nation in crisis
title_full Images of a nation in crisis
title_fullStr Images of a nation in crisis
title_full_unstemmed Images of a nation in crisis
title_short Images of a nation in crisis
title_sort images of a nation in crisis
topic Rape of Lady Justice
Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro)
South African cartoonist
President Zuma
The Sunday Times
rapist
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1582
work_keys_str_mv AT rodwellmakombe imagesofanationincrisis