Political Caricature

The same problems influence the analysis of the use of a political caricature, thus the methodology required to analyze a caricature's use and it's position in tradition must factor in these problems.

The following chapter will attempt to work around these problems, and find an analytical approach which will deliver data about tradition and the use of political caricatures. It will begin by discussing the issue of tradition and use respectively, and then continue by locating where in an caricature's structure evidence of analysis for either can be found. The next segment will deal with the development of a methodological approach to analysis of use and its relation to tradition, and lastly, the theory will be applied to a historical example

Thus, the majority of approaches to examination of art depend on contextual sources and previously gathered information in order to determine which element originates from where, and what these elements may mean (Braun 2013: 76f.). The examination of the use of an object is determined by similar characteristics, and is bound to the same research limitations. For instance, if a plastic is analyzed for its position in tradition or its use, such factors as its year of creation, its material composition, and its shape must be examined to figure out what artistic period, it may belong to, however, the process is heavily dependent on primary and secondary sources to make sense of the resulting data (Braun 2013: 76f.). Is no such data is present, or is the source lacking objectivity, interpretation becomes a very complicated procedure. And caricatures, as mentioned before, are highly individual forms of art that exist in an oftentimes contradictory relationship with the cultural and socio-historical environment they are created in, consequently reliable contextual information can be problematic. Their position in the framework of tradition is further complicated by the fact that unlike most highly valued past masterpieces they do perform an active social function, and do not possess a high valued original;

W. A. Coupe argues in his Theories that in the European tradition, especially in the case of England and Germany, the development of political caricatures entirely depended on the traditions of social satire commonly used before the appearance of widespread newspaper cartoons (Cope 2009: 80). Reasons for this difference are difficult to examine, mostly because the tradition in caricature, particularly in the case of England and Germany, seems to build on a complicated, often contradictory, interaction between triggers such as national and international conflicts, while also building on individual publicists and artists (Cope 2009: 80). Additionally, changes in public taste, as for example during the Victorian and Wilhelmine periods, and later socio-political developments in Europe and America, made sure that no matter if there was an actual conflict to print about, there would be a certain amount of caricatures published regardless (Cope 2009: 80). Thus, opposite to what can be expected, in many cases it is of no importance if a historical period is especially full of conflict for a rich tradition in caricature, as visible in the case of the Thirty Year War, a period well documented in caricature, and the Reign of Frederick the Great, a epoch lacking caricature almost altogether (Coupe 2009: 80). The contradictory pattern is also visible, so Coupe, in the fact that especially