Description
Book SynopsisIn a world increasingly dominated by visual sensation, our understanding of the role and influence of comics and cartoon humour in popular culture has become essential. This book offers a critical and cognitive focus that captures the changing fortunes of Catalan humour production against the shifting political landscape in the period 1898–1982. It considers how Catalan satire has been influenced by periods of relative calm as well as censorship, violence, war and dictatorship, and among its key features is its presentation of a continued cartooning tradition that was not ended by the installation of the Franco dictatorship, but which rather continued in a number of adapted forms, playing its own role in the evolution of the period. Thus, as well as introducing the most representative cartoonists and publications, the Catalan example is used to explore broader aspects of this complex communication form, opening new avenues for cultural, historical and socio-political research.
Table of ContentsIntroduction The Nature of Humour: Some Theoretical and Definitional Guidance The Catalan Context Directions Notes Chapter One: The Golden Age of Catalan Political Cartoons (1898-1931) The Pre-Twentieth-Century Catalan Satirical Tradition The Legacy of 1898 and the fets de Cu-Cut! The fets de Cu-Cut! The Vilification of Alejandro Lerroux In Search of the Funny-side of the Setmana Tràgica Papitu Satire and Censorship The Rise of Syndicalism and the Primo de Rivera Dictatorship Chapter One Images: Figures 2.1 to 2.9 Notes Chapter Two: Catalan Cartoon Humour and ‘Otherness’ in the Second Republic and Civil War (1931–1939) The Second Republic and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy The Second Republic and the Satirical Press El Be Negre Gutiérrez and the 1932 Statute of Autonomy The fets d’octubre and the bienni negre The Fall of Lerroux The Spanish Civil War and the Framing of ‘Otherness’ The Sindicat de Dibuixants Professionals Chapter Two Images: Figures 2.1 to 2.12 Notes Chapter Three: Humour Under Franco Part I: Continuing a tradition (1939–1962) The Post-war Period at Home The 1938 Press Law The Church and the Humour Press Humour in the Clandestine Press La Bruguera and TBO Children’s Comics The Challenge Facing Cultural Production in Exile Tísner in Exile Chapter Four Images: Figures 3.1 to 3.9 Notes Chapter Four: Humour Under Franco Part II: From Fraga to freedom (?) (1962–1975) Comics and the Revival of the Catalan-Language Press Bruguera and the DER The Ley Fraga The Application of Censorship Humour in the Press Censorship: A case study Chapter Four Images: Figures 4.1 to 4.6 Notes Chapter Five: Humour and the Transition to Democracy (1975–1982) Humour Publications of the Transition The El Papus Bombings Solidaridad con El Papus The 1978 Constitution The Catalan Statute of Autonomy Reception of the Statute in the Press The ‘Tejerazo’ of 1981 Reactions to the Tejerazo in the Satirical Press The ‘End’ of the Transition: PSOE electoral victory 1982 Chapter Five Images: Figures 5.1 to 5.8 Notes Conclusion
