Yousaf 1

Muhammad Usman Yousaf

Dr. DiSarro
English 101
20 February 2015
Political Cartoons: People Are Dying, Not Laughing
Introduction
Political cartoons are often used to create a lighthearted mood in the midst
of moments of disagreement, whether that is within the political realm or
among religious groups. However, many are cause of more harm than good.
One recent example of this is the Charlie Hebdo satire. The group of satirists
has been known to publish cartoons over a lengthy span of time, all of which
confront various groups of people and religions. After publishing numerous
cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, their building was bombed and a dozen
were killed. These were two separate incidents. Consequently, people have
begun discussing freedom of speech and/or expression. While many in the
West believe that the attacks on Charlie Hebdo were an attack on their
freedom of speech, many in the East believe that they were a response to
blasphemous images of the prophet.
Communicator
Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, was originally founded in 1970
and later, in 1992, after being out of print for ten years. It is known to be
vocally left, anti-authoritarian, anti-religious, and anti-institutional, but it
tends to get the most attention when it undertakes one of its yearly-or-so
projects illustrating Muhammad cartoons (Read, Internet). According to
Franoise Mouly, the art editor of The New Yorker, the newspaper regularly
singles out politicians, the police, bankers, religion and religious figures
from popes to prophets (Somaiya, Internet). Stphane Charbonnier, known
Charb, began working for the newspaper in 1992 and the most recent
editorial director. He was among 12 killed in an attack on the newspapers
offices in January of 2015. According to The New York Times, he had been
instrumental in a series of defiant campaigns that divided public opinion:
Some saw them as powerful stands for free speech, and others as needless
provocations. He oversaw the publication of many issues including one
advertised as being guest-edited by the Prophet Muhammad and one that
contained crude caricatures of Muhammad shown naked and in sexual
poses, the former resulting in the bombing of the papers offices and the
latter defying the French governments advice. A documentary was even
made about the conflict between Charlie Hebdo and its cartoons of Prophet
Muhammad. The director of this documentary, Daniel Leconte, said that the

Yousaf 2

artists who worked under the leadership of Charb were so friendly, so funny
liked liberty, [and] liked freedom. Charb was listed as one of Al Qaedas
targets and was under police protection but said he would rather die
standing than live on [his] knees. Perhaps most striking about Charb was
that he actually defended the right of everyone to express themselves, even
Muslims. In 2012, the French Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, claimed that
the government would block a series of protests planned by Muslims. In
response, Charb asked, Why should they prohibit these people from
expressing themselves? and said we have the right to express ourselves;
they have the right to express themselves, too (Somaiya, Internet).
Audience
Although the circulation of Charlie Hebdo is approximately 30,000, the
cartoons depicted in the newspaper attract the attention of people around
the world. As the subject content includes a variety of people, such as public
figures and religious figures, so is the audience. After creating a number of
covers depicting the Prophet Muhammad, many Muslims have become
interested in the French newspaper. Some Muslims believe
Who is the audience of the Charlie Hebdo magazine? What is their
background? How did they react to the various cartoons? How did they react
to the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad?
Message
In October of 2011, the magazine published a cover that included an
illustration of the prophet saying 100 lashes if you dont die laughing.
Shortly thereafter, the magazines offices were bombed and the website was
hacked.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Charb was asked, Were you trying to get any
kind of reaction? He responded by saying that not any more than usual,
that the newspaper had been provocative on many subjects, and that it
just so happens that every time we deal with radical Islam we have a
problem, and we get indignant or violent reactions. Charlie Hebdo operates
lawfully and Charb points out in the same interview with Al Jazeera that we
respect French law, and that we have the right to use our freedom as we
understand it (Charlie, Internet). According to The New York Times article,
Charlie Hebdo Editor Made Provocation His Mission, Douly says that the
cartoons may prompt more anger than words because theyre meant to
function in an iconic way that can be read across languages. Theyre meant
to poke at the establishment. You dont do a cartoon to reinforce ideas so
much as to challenge them (Charlie, Internet).

Yousaf 3

What messages could Charlie Hebdo be trying to communicate with their

satirical cartoon pieces? How were these messages interpreted?
Conclusion

Works Cited

"Charlie Hebdo Editor Tells Al Jazeera Cartoons Are Free Speech." YouTube. Al Jazeera, 19 Sept.
2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjM36w_X-N4>.

"Freedom of Speech." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia

Britannica, 8 Oct. 2013. Web.

19 Feb. 2015.

<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/218543/freedom-ofspeech>.
"Inside Story - Are Muslims Being Provoked?" YouTube. Al Jazeera, 20 Sept.
2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wzzUjm8apzA>.
Read, Max. "What Is Charlie Hebdo? The Cartoons That Made the French
Paper Infamous."Gawker. 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
<http://gawker.com/what-is-charlie-hebdo-and-why-a-mostly-completehisto-1677959168>.
Shubert, Atika. "Why Are Images of the Prophet Mohammed so Offensive? CNN Video." CNN. Cable News Network, 16 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Feb.
2015. <http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/02/16/orig-shubert-

Yousaf 4

prophet-mohammed-images.cnn?
sr=fb021715prophetmohammedexplainer11pVODVideo>.
Somaiya, Ravi. "Charlie Hebdo Editor Made Provocation His Mission." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/europe/charlie-hebdoeditor-made-provocation-his-mission.html?_r=0>.