Picturing atrocity: visual representations of ISIS in Arabic political cartoons

Abstract

This study analyzes how political cartoons in the Arab world portray the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In particular, the study examines how the metaphoric messages in a selection of political cartoons portray and situate ISIS terrorism within the Islamic world and seek to distinguish ISIS victims from ISIS perpetrators of terror. I argue that these cartoons function as an ideological weapon to combat the domestic extremism and brutality of ISIS. Findings indicate that the visual representations in Arabic political cartoons that ridicule and dehumanise ISIS deliberately reveal important realities about the terrorist organisation and its ruthless practices. Furthermore, they increase public awareness of ISIS as an ‘enemy within’ the Islamic world that, more than anything else, has victimised the religion, people, and youth of Islam since its inception.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

[1] Ahmed Ali Rahma published in Al Jazeera.net; Alaa Lagta, in Qatar newspaper; Jehad Awrtani, in Jordan newspaper’s Al-Dustur and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Watan; and Emad Hajjaj, accessed at www.hajjajcartoons.com.

[2] ‘The conceptual domain from which we draw metaphorical expressions to understand another conceptual domain is called source domain, while the conceptual domain that is understood this way is the target domain. Thus, life, arguments, love. theory, ideas, social organisations, and others are target domains, while journeys, war, buildings, food, plants, and others are source domains. The target domain is the domain that we try to understand through the use of the source domain’(Zoltán Kövecses, Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2002).

[3] According to Bengio and Litvak (2011), ‘the Sunni-Shi’I divide revolved mainly around political issues, which, however, also involve doctrinal elements regarding the authority of rulers. The Shi’i is contending that ‘Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, and his male descendants, the Twelve Imams, had inherited Muhammad’s charisma, and were hence entitled not only to be his successors but also to wield a religious authority. But the majority, which later amalgamated into a Sunni community, believe that the Prophet’s successors (caliphs) did not inherit Muhammad’s charisma, and therefore only held his political power and authority’ (p. 2).

[4] The Opposition Front was created by Syria and Iran to confront Israel. Since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution in 2012, Iran has been the largest supporter of the Syrian regime. They provide military support, money, and more recently have sent many Iranian soldiers to support the Assad regime.

[5] The TV show is a singing competition among young participants. The goal of the show is to find new solo recording artists, with the winner being determined by the viewers. Participants sing in front of a jury, who are famous professional Arab singers, who give comments on the singing performance of the participants.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sadam Issa

Sadam Issa is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. He earned his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests range from discourse analysis, socio-pragmatics, and second language acquisition to cultural studies, and political cartoons. He has also published articles in a number of journals including: Al-'Arabiyya, Pragmatics and Society, Arabic Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Politeness Research, Popular Music and Society, and the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. He is currently writing a book on Arabic political cartoons.