The Tradition And Use Of Contemporary American Political Caricatures

Function and Structure of Caricatures

This thesis focuses on the tradition and use of contemporary American political caricatures in current media formats, and the question how the progress in mass communication media may have influenced their use. However, before such complicated issues as the contemporary state of an artistic tradition, or the use of an image can be discussed, it is necessary to assert the basic structure and functionality of this image, and locate where in this image model methodology can be applied in order to gain useful data for later analysis.

Caricatures are constantly evolving forms of art with a rich and complicated history, and their basic structure is highly complicated. Thus, this chapter will give an overview over basic terminology, origin, and function of caricatures, as well as a brief examination of different types of caricatures and their basic fields of use. Furthermore, it will briefly

Lawrence H. Streicher describes the fundamental principle of this function in simple words stating that "what in literature is satire, in pictorial arts is caricature" (Streicher 1967: 431). This is a basic summary of what caricatures are at the core: images that serve the function of visual satirical critique on events, institutions, and individuals, but also on society at large (Streicher 1967: 431, "caricature"). They belong to a category of artistic creations, including cartoons, comic strips, and animated film cartoons, however, caricatures and their satirical function are commonly present in all of these forms (Streicher 1967: 431). Thus, the terms cartoon and caricature are often used together in scholarly discourse, and their definitions often overlap or become used synonymously (Streicher 1967: 431). The term's fluid nature makes it necessary to begin with a clear cut definition for the term caricature, and a brief summary of their basic functionality (Streicher 1967: