Full Description
Political Illustration introduces students of illustration, visual communication, art, and political science to how political illustration works, when it's used and why.
Through a variety of examples - from the coins of Julius Caesar to contemporary art challenging Indigenous American stereotypes - the book covers propaganda, the impact of media, censorship, and taboo, and the role of contentious politics and dissent art. A wide range of contemporary illustration mediums are included, including street art, the graphic novel, and mixed assemblage illustration, in order to examine the role of media and technique in political messaging. The book features breakout interviews and case studies on prominent global political illustrators (like Edel Rodriguez, Anita Kunz and Fabian Williams) and full color examples. The authors include an introduction to semiotics, visual grammar, and visual communication theory, and how these approaches contribute to the decoding of political messages - and how these tactics are used by those ruling, and those being ruled.
In particular, the authors look at political illustration, protest art and propaganda related to:
- American and European Imperialism
- Japanese internment
- The World Wars
- The Soviet Union and China
- Dictatorships in Africa and South America
- Civil Rights movements
- Contemporary protests and marches, including the Women's March (2017) and the Egyptian Revolution (2011)
- ...and many more periods, events and movements
Contents
Introduction
1 An Introduction to Visual Language
Symbols and Global Ballots
Reception Theory: An Introduction to Visual Signs
Visual Grammar & Technique
Semiotics: Connotation and Denotation
Metaphor & Metonym
2 Propaganda: The Art of the State
Introduction
Global Politics Perspective: Types of Political Systems
Everyday Propaganda: Currency, Stamps, and Flags
Global Politics Perspective: The History of Apartheid South Africa
The Mythos of Political Portraits and the Visual Language of Propaganda
Napoleon: The Forefather of Propaganda
Global Politics Perspective: So, what actually was the French Revolution?
Global Imperialist Propaganda
Global Politics Perspective: Imperial Enlistments and the Soldiers of World Wars I and II
Propaganda of the World Wars
Global Politics Perspective: How did the world's first communist country come about?
Socialist Realism in the Soviet Union and China
A Cult of Personality: Colonialism and Dictatorships in Africa and South America
Post War American Propaganda
Group Activities/Discussion Questions
3 Media, Censorship, & Taboo
Introduction
Reportage Illustration
Non-Commercial Reportage: The Art of Japanese Internment and of the Hibakusha
The History of Political Satire
Censorship in Democracies vs. Authoritarian Governments: Violent Censorship, Self-Censorship, and Market Censorship
Perspective on Global Politics: Media Censorship and Political Systems
Contemporary Editorial Illustration
Interview: Doug Chayka
Interview: Miriam Martincic
Interview: Armando Veve
Interview: Edel Rodriguez
Interview: Steve Brodner
Group Activities/Discussion Questions
4 Contentious Politics and the Art of Dissent
Latin American Protest Art
Global Politics Perspective: What caused the Cuban Revolution?
The Vietnam War
Global Politics Perspective: What led to the Vietnam War?
Interview: Seymour Chwast
Black Civil Rights
Global Politics Perspective: The Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States
Interview: Fabian Williams
LGBTQ+
Indigenous Americans
Global Politics Perspectives: The History and Culture of American Indians in the United States
Interview: Hoka Skenandore
The Arab Spring and the Middle East
Global Politics Perspectives: The Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa
Interview: Andeel
Women's Rights
Global Politics Perspectives: The Push for Women's Rights in the United States
Conclusion
Group Activities/Discussion Questions
Conclusion
Glossary
Selected bibliography
