Hijab Row Karnataka, India 2022: A Multimodal Analysis of Political Cartoons Related to Hijab Controversy with a Social Semiotic Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21015/vtess.v11i2.1567Abstract
Political cartoons have been widely analyzed in social and media studies to explore socio-political ideologies and agendas implicit in them. This paper attempts to focus on the Hijab row which took place in Karnataka, India in February 2022 and analyses it through the cartoons published on this issue. The paper adopts multimodal approach for analysis as presented by kress and van Leeuwen (1996) and later explained by David Machin (2006). Qualitative method based on semiotic approach with focus on the specific type of composition, was adopted to study each cartoon. The results showed that placement of different elements within a composition is a smart tool in the hands to cartoonists to express their opinion on the issue and shape the opinion of audience. The study proves cartoons are a clever way to address sensitive social and religious issues which may not be indulged in easily otherwise. This study enhances the understanding of Hijab issue from different perspectives and analyzes specifically how cartoons are used to present the case strongly in favor of one opinion or the other. The paper makes significant contribution of analyzing cartoons through Composition Analysis Model which was used earlier, mostly for advertisements and photos analysis and never for political cartoons.
References
Aftab, S., Iqbal, M. K., & Rashid, A. (2021). A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Linguistic Features of Billboards. Global Social Sciences Review, V(I), 356-362. https://doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-I).36
Benoit, W. L., Klyukovski, A., McHale, J., &Airne, D. (2001). A fantasy theme analysis of political cartoons on the Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr affair. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 18(4), 377-394. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07393180128097 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07393180128097
Conners, J. L. (2007). Popular culture in political cartoons: Analyzing cartoonist approaches. PS: Political Science and Politics, 40(02), 261-265. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049096507070400 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096507070400
El Refaie, E., &Horschelmann, K. (2010). Young people's readings of a political cartoon and the concept of multimodal literacy. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 31(2), 195-207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596301003679719 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01596301003679719
Ghilzai, S. A., & Zubair, A. Bajwa (2020 b). Seeing Pakistan through the Gaze of Cartoonists- Editorial Cartoons Epitome of National Interest. European Academic Research, 8(2), 885-904.
Ghilzai, S. A. (2020 a). History of Pakistanis‟ Power Politics-from 1947 to 2020- through the Critical Lenses of Cartoonists-Analysis of Political Cartoons. European Academic Research.
Gilmartin, P., & Brunn, S. (1998, October). The representation of women in political cartoons of the 1995 World Conference on Women. Women's Studies International Forum, 21(5), 535-549. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(98)00063-6
Greenberg, J. (2002). Framing and Temporality in Political Cartoons: A Critical Analysis of Visual News Discourse*. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 39(2), 181-198. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-618X.2002.tb00616.x
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. London: Edward Arnold.
Han, J. S. (2006). Empire of comic visions: Japanese cartoon journalism and its pictorial statements on Korea, 1876-1910. Japanese Studies, 26(3), 283-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10371390600986637 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10371390600986637
Hertz, R. (1960). Death and the Right Hand. Aberdeen: Cohen and West.
Jabeen, S., & Ahmad, N. (2018). The Ideological Representations of Pak-US Relations in Political Cartoons: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS), 38(1).
Jones, R. H. (2021). Multimodal discourse analysis. In C. Chapelle (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Hoboken: Wiley. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0813.pub2
Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd Edition). London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203619728
Lent, J. (2000). Cartooning and democratization world-wide. Keynote address presented at the International Workshop on Cartoon Journalism and Democratization in Southern Africa, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
Mascha, E. (2010). Contradiction and the role of 'floating signifier': Identity and the 'new woman' in Italian cartoons during fascism. Journal of International Women Studies, 11(4), 128-142.
Mazid, B. E. (2008). Cowboy and misanthrope: A critical (discourse) analysis of Bush and Bin Laden cartoons. Discourse & Communication, 2(4), 433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481308095939
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extension of Man. New York: McGraw Hill.
Najjar, O. A. (2007). Cartoons as a site for the construction of Palestinian Refugee identity. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 31(3), 255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0196859907302455 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859907302455
Nelson, R. (1975). Cartooning. Chicago: Henry Regenery Company.
Needham, R. (1973). Right and Left: Essays on dual symbolic classification. Chicago: University.
Parikh, S. (2019). No Country Needs a Burqa Ban. The Wire of Chicago Press.
Rosa, G. M. P. C. (2012). The Swine Flu Pandemics in Portugal through Newspaper Humour. Journalism and Mass Communication, 2(7), 735-747.
Rumaney, H., Sriram, S. (2021). Not Without My Hijab: Experiences of Veiled Muslim Women in India. Hu Arenas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-021-00193-3
Sani, I., Abdullah, M. H., Abdullah, F. S., & Ali, A. M. (2012). Political cartoons as a vehicle of setting social agenda: The newspaper example. Asian Social Science, 8(6), 156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v8n6p156
Kishwar, S. (2022). Does secularism mandate neutrality? Retrieved from http://dspace.jgu.edu.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10739/5496/1/Sanya%20Kishwar_Blog%20Submission.pdf
Streicher, E., Wills, D., Marlette, D. (2008). Infestation and eradication: Political cartoons and extermination's rhetoric in the war on terror. Global Media Journal: Mediterranean Edition, 3(1), 11-23.
Tehseem, T., & Bokhari, Z. (2015). Spoiling or the saving faces in Pakistani newspapers: A multimodal discourse perspective on analyzing political cartoons. Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 4(2), 1-14.
Walker, R. (2003). Political Cartoons: Now You See Them! Canadian Parliamentary Review, Spring 2003, 16-21.
Wigston, D. (2002). Aids and Political Cartoons: A Case Study. South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research, 28(2), 74-94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02500160208537944
Willems, W. (2011). Comic strips and "the crisis": Postcolonial laughter and coping with everyday life in Zimbabwe. Popular Communication, 9(2), 126-145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2011.562099 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2011.562099
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-By) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY
