Criticism and censorship in the South African "alternative" Press with particular reference to the cartoons of Bauer and Zapiro (1985-1990)
Cartooning is an extremely heterogeneous practice whose genealogy can be traced back to caricature. This paper does not concern itself with the diversity that can be found in the cartoons of Derek Bauer and Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro), but rather chooses to focus on the potential of cartooning as a critical art practice. Given that the "flipside" of criticism is censorship, the effects of censorship on cartooning together with cartooning's response to censorship will also be examined. Cartoons published in the alternative press after the 1985 declaration of a State of Emergency, but preceding the unbanning of political organisations in February 1990, which comment directly on press or political censorship, as well as those which raise issues pertinent to censorship, provide the basis for examining the converse notions of criticism and censorship. Having said this it should also be stated at the outset that whilst this paper focuses on particular cartoons produced in specific historical circumstances, it is also intended that this paper will have broader implications for the development of a contemporary critical art practice. This paper proceeds from the premise that criticism and censorship are oppositional and antagonistic concepts which seldom appear alone. Criticism, particularly when expressed publicly and directed at specific interest groups (eg. a ruling elite) frequently evokes censorship, whilst censorship and repression in turn breed criticism and resistance.
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