‘Let them entertain themselves’: the fall of the Mubarak regime seen through Egyptian political cartoons

ABSTRACT

This article examines the issues underlying the downfall of the Mubarak regime from the perspective of Egyptian cartoonists. A total of 2734 political cartoons published in five leading newspapers between January 2010 and February 2011 are analyzed. Because they form a significant part of the cultural context within which these cartoons are created, popular political jokes are also referenced. The study identifies political stagnation, domestic issues and corruption as the three most significant issues that paved the road to the fall of Mubarak.

KEYWORDS:

• Mubarak
• 25 January revolution
• cartoons
• humour
• Egypt

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the China Scholarship Council, whose financial support made this study possible. I would like also to thank the referee(s) for their valuable suggestions and comments on the content of the manuscript. As this paper is a part of an ongoing PhD dissertation, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my PhD supervisors, Zhao Wenliang and Chen Haihong, for their continuous encouragement and support. I am also grateful to Gordon Ramsey, professor of anthropology, for his constant support, and for his language editing of this manuscript. My sincere gratitude goes to all the cartoonists for permitting me to reprint their cartoons.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council [grant number Full Chinese Government Scholarship (2013-2018)].