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II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Cartoons are not just for kids anymore.
More and more members of the academia have said that cartoons have great
potential as a unique form of media. Cartoons, especially those which deal with domestic
politics and other pertinent issues, has been the subject of the recent upsurge of recent
academic interest.
Political cartoons are now being considered a distinct and established genre
(that) provides political commentary aimed at reorienting the public. (Kondowe, W.,
Ngwira, F. F. and Madula, P., 2014).
A. Editorial Cartoons Defined
Before the modern definition of cartoon, it was used to refer to a form of
fifteenth-century Italian wall painting (Jegede, 1990). Later on, all satirical and humorous
drawings were included under the term (Nyoni et al., 2012).
Editorial cartoons (also known as political cartoons) are a particular type of one-
panel cartoon that uses satire and humour to draw attention to important social-political
issue of the day (Jimoh, 2010).
Moreover, cartoons are used for the expression of opinions, the construction of
relevant points of view in social discourse, and the dissemination of pertinent information
about current social issues (Olowolayemo, 2012).
Jimoh (2010) elaborates on this one-panel ability. According to him, the three
major elements of cartoons are images (the symbols), captions (the written words) and
the social commentary (the spoken and unspoken words).
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Cartoons condense these information into one panel, unlike comic strips or comic
books (media with multiple panels). This is why cartoons may be complicated and
difficult to decipher at first glance.
As a tool for social commentary and discourse, the effectiveness of cartoons can
be studied, considering its strengths and weaknesses.
B. How Editorial Cartoons Work
Why are editorial cartoons effective?
According to Sterling (2009), editorial cartoons challenge the status quo and
emphasize social issues through hyperbole and satire.
However, the meaning in cartoons go beyond humour. The true meanings of
cartoons are buried in humour, and the true intended meanings and the reasoning
behind them is hidden through abstraction (Kondowe, Ngwira and Madula, 2014).
Humour in cartoons is a complex process (Tsakona, 2009). It involves different
mechanisms of language interplay between verbal and nonverbal devices such as
exaggeration, contradiction and metaphor.
Olowolayemo (2012) elaborated on the way cartoons combine verbal and visual
elements, in order to evoke a particular response from the audience. This response
depends on the intentions of the cartoonist and the cartoons interpretation by the reader.
C. Editorial Cartoons In Action
Previous studies on political cartoons have focused on this interplay. Many
academics have studied how different political cartoons work as tools of social
commentary in different contexts.
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Ekos (2007) investigation of how African newspapers dehumanised four African
political leaders discovered that not only do graphic illustrations of political cartoons
function as political satire, they are also used to promote candidates reputation.
Edwards and Ware (2005) focused on how political cartoons represent public
opinions in campaign media. Han (2006) focused on political satire, where he examined
the Japanese Cartoon Journalism and its pictorial statements on Korea. Conners (2005)
explored political cartoons and the popular culture in the 2004 American presidential
campaigns. He claims that political cartoons are used as tools for manipulating voters
opinion on the candidates captured in a single cartoon message during the campaign
period. Thus, cartoons are used as elaborate campaign machinery in a period of elections.
Sani et al. (2012a) investigated how Nigerian cartoonists construct satire by investigating
the linguistic elements using Hallidays modality model. They discovered that
interrogative clauses are frequently used, and simple sentences were mostly preferred by
Nigerian cartoons.
Streicher (1967) conducted a research to investigate the role of political cartoons
in formation of public opinions during impeachment trail proceedings of American
President Clinton regarding Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr affair. Similarly, Baldry and
Thibault (2006) studied political cartoons as a platform for representation of the public
voices. Morris (1992) also investigated political cartoons as a tool of visual rhetoric in the
democratic process using structuralist approach. In addition to this, Delporte (1995)
investigated cartoons ridiculing the Dreyfus affair of French President during the period
1894-1906. Likewise, Feldman (1995) analysed the content of political cartoons on the
basis of symbolic themes regarding portrayal of six Japanese prime ministers. In addition
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to this, most of the researchers also focused upon the political cartoon coverage of
presidential election campaigns as Edwards (1997) analysed the images, narratives and
metaphors in the political cartoons regarding 1988 presidential campaigns. Conners
(2007) also examined political cartoons of US 2004 presidential campaign on the basis of
popular culture. Moreover, Seymour-Ure (2001) predicted that cartoons will be always
influential medium in British society. On the use of visual rhetoric and metaphors in
political cartoons, Refaie (2003) examined Australian political cartoons to study visual
rhetoric and metaphors. Similarly, Medhurst and DeSousa(1981) also investigated the
usage of rhetorical devices in political cartoons.
There are different ways cartoonists employ in crafting cartoon discourses.
Political cartoonists deliberately distort and exaggerate features of public figures in order
to make fun of them (Olowolayemo, 2013; Wahyuningsiha, 2008; Abiola, 2011). They
artistically combine verbal and non-verbal resources to question authority and draw
attention to social ills. In order to achieve this, studies have shown that cartoons blatantly
fail to observe the cooperative principle with an intention to generate implicature
(Olowolayemo, 2013; Khir, 2012). In his analysis of Piled, Higher and Deeper comic
strips, Kirama (2002), discovered that maxim of manner is the most flouted one.
Olowolayemos (2013) study, however, reveals that political cartoonists do not always
fail to observe the CP, to a certain extent; some cartoonists adhere to the maxims. The
literature, therefore, has revealed that political cartoonists use satire, humour, contrast
and surprise, usually in order to attack political figures.
D. Editorial Cartoons in the Philippines
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Lent (2009) has written extensively about his belief that the Philippines has a
rich tradition in cartoons and comics.
In fact, Cruz (2009) argued that cartoonists and comics creators must be
considered for the National Artist Awards.
E. Visual Permanence
In the educational sector, Cleaver (2008) said that even up to the recent past,
cartoons and comics were considered enemies of the schools.
Studies about effectiveness of editorial cartoons
However, the visual and permanent aspects of comics are the most studied
characteristics of the medium, especially in its use in education.
Comics is composed of pictorial and other images (McCloud, 1993), making it
a fundamentally visual medium (Yang, 2003). With its visual nature, this already
makes it a more advantageous communication and educational tool, especially when
compared to the traditional textbook and not to mention, more popular.
An interplay of the written and visual (Versaci, 2001) exists in comics.
According to Brock (1979), this is what makes comics a potent literary form, even more
effective than others.
Indeed, Urbani (1978) said students who read comics develop their verbal and
visual skills. Reading comics generally make them comfortable with visual and textual
data, along with the simultaneous interpretation of the two, the interanimation of
meaning between the words and the pictures (Duncan and Smith, 2009).
This power of narratives is supported by Randels (1998) who said narratives
have been espoused as a useful communication tool due to their ability to evoke rich
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ethical and moral concerns in ways that incorporate both descriptive and prescriptive
elements. This was supported later on by Dennings (2006), who said that storytelling
using narratives is effective in communicating strategic issues.