The Political Cartoon: History and Historiography

This chapter presents an extended overview of the history of the political cartoon and the historiography and scholarly work associated with its interpretation. Taken together, the chapter presents a foundational framework for interpreting cartoons drawn from their historical and historiographical/theoretical contexts, from the earliest print manifestations of graphic satire in the sixteenth century through different stages of its development down to the digital forms prevalent in the twenty-first century. Landmarks of cartoon art are noted along the way—including the work of Reformation-era printmakers, Georgian caricaturists, Victorian cartoonists, anti-colonial artists, World- and Cold-warriors, and irreverent web-based commentators. National, imperial, religious, and other traditions are acknowledged in the broader context of a global series of developments; crucial works of analysis and interpretation are acknowledged as essential lenses through which cartoons and caricatures must be understood to divine their true value as historical sources and shapers of contemporary opinion. This is the first such analysis undertaken in such breadth and depth and provides the framework for the content of Cartoon Conflicts: Contemporary Controversies and Historical Precedents.