The Art of Criticism: How African Cartoons Discursively Constructed African Media Realities in the Post-Cold War Era

Abstract

African newspaper cartoons are critical journalistic texts that are among the most visible manifestations of post-Cold War African political liberalisation. Since the early 1990s, cartoons have spearheaded the struggle for freedom of expression on the continent. One technique African cartoons have used to excoriate authoritarianism is to focus on political persecution of the media. This article is concerned with African cartoon narratives of the realities of the African media in the post-Cold War era. An analysis of a purposive sample of cartoons from countries where there have been major confrontations between governments and the media revealed that African political cartoons are irreverent counter-discourses that use African mythic idioms to portray a sombre picture of media realities on the African continent. The study also demonstrates that African political cartoonists resist abuses of power through deterritorialization and animalisation of authoritarian leaders who suppress freedom of expression. Finally, the article will analyse the impact of the Mohammad cartoons ‘affair’, which ignited a global controversy that impacted the African media and also reminded African cartoonists that cartooning is a craft fraught with danger.

Keywords: African editorial cartoons, freedom of expression in Africa, Mohammed cartoons, Africa

JEL Classification: N47