Oldal 120 [120]
OCR
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 Stalin, 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 government or referring to the problems of the civilian population: unfaithfulness, life without men, shortages, and starvation. At the same time, pacifist ideas were completely 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 example postcards, leaflets etc.) conveyed the same message with similar visual communication strategies. The depiction of the enemy is stereotypical, schematised, and generalised, the same message recurs again and again: the—sometimes very
