Paper short abstract:

Political satire is a powerful component of the public sphere, often credited as a barometer of democracy and a window on a nation’s zeitgeist. This paper addresses how responses to the work of South African cartoonist Zapiro provide insights into the shifting political landscape in South Africa.

Paper long abstract:

Political satire is a powerful component of the public sphere, often credited as a barometer of democracy and a window on a nation's zeitgeist. Analysis of the narrative formed by political cartoons over a longer period provides for a diachronical account through which to explore the contested process of democracy. However, such approaches remain fixated on the cartoon and cartoonist, privileging their intent as the only focus of analysis: the power of political cartoons lies not only in the cartoonist's intent, but in the audience reactions - be these through first hand observation or framed by intermediaries interpretations, translations and relaying of the cartoon.

Framed by these concerns, this paper seeks to explore the diachronical account formed public reactions to South African cartoonist Zapiro's depictions of President Jacob Zuma. Analysis of the images is layered on to consideration of popular responses to these images as expressed in letters and responses posted to social networking sites and South African newspapers. Divergences in intent and reception and the multiplicity of readings of the images are identified as key factors in continual negotiations of questions of race(ism), gender violence, understandings of democratic freedoms and institutions. Concerns with how these discussions are policed and framed are linked to growing disquiet with attempts to introduce further legislative curbs on journalistic freedom and increased censorship of the press. Narrative analysis identifies how the South African public sphere continues to be marked as a contested and increasingly politicised space wherein political satire and humour hold an important position.