Oldal 120 [120]
118
Ágnes "Tamás
rality) or in torn and patched clothes (suggesting that they are short of financial
resources), and often old and fat (while the Germans are shown as young and
handsome). Their nudity and depiction as lovers (for example, Roosevelt and Sta¬
lin, or Churchill and Stalin, etc.) or even as prostitutes (primarily Marianne during
WWI, and American women during WWII) were intended to mock the enemy
strongly and to make it repulsive (K, November 11, 1917; K, October 19, 1941).
In caricatures from WWII, enemy nations were shown not only as prostitutes but,
more often, as rapists (K, November 12, 1939).
Conclusion
In this chapter I have provided only a brief overview of the various faces of the
enemy, pointing out old motifs used to mock the enemy (using oppositions such
as beautiful vs. ugly, young vs. old) and describing the modified focus of caricatures
in the analysed period (for example, fewer depictions referring to mythology, and
more deformed figures, either human or animal, during WWII). The cruelty of
wars was depicted only with allegorical scenes, although war propaganda pervaded
every depiction. Before WWI no one had experienced a total war, therefore, the
caricatures from both wars were different: the comic papers could publish pictures
about topics other than the war (for instance, internal political conflicts), the enemy
was not demonised, maps symbolising newly occupied territories appeared often,
and, before the age of war photography, amputation as relating to a representative
of the enemy was popular, which represented the loss of territories (Tamas 2013).
During both world wars the caricaturists avoided drawing maps and depicting the
process of amputation by doctors (symbolising powerful countries) in the analysed
comic papers. Only the results of amputation were depicted on the body of the
animalised or demonised enemy. The belittlement of the enemy depicted in human
form was also a new element of caricature during WWI.
The depictions in Borsszem Janké were more subdued in comparison with the
German comic magazine; however, the caricatures of Magyarsdg spoon-fed fascist
propaganda openly and strongly, with very simple symbolism. Despite the strict
censorship, Borsszem Janké was able to publish caricatures criticising the govern¬
ment or referring to the problems of the civilian population: unfaithfulness, life
without men, shortages, and starvation. At the same time, pacifist ideas were com¬
pletely banned from all of the papers. During WWII censorship became stricter,
and, therefore these problems could no longer be depicted in caricature. However,
neither were Germany nor its allies were able to win WWII with this much more
controlled propaganda and press.
The readers—soldiers as well as people in the hinterlands—could observe the
enemy in the comic papers, and in addition, other types of graphical image (for ex¬
ample postcards, leaflets etc.) conveyed the same message with similar visual com¬
munication strategies. The depiction of the enemy is stereotypical, schematised,
and generalised, the same message recurs again and again: the—sometimes very