Abstract

It has been assumed that metaphorical and symbolic contests are waged with metaphors, captions and signs in political cartoons that play a significant role in image construction of political actors, situations or events in political arena. This paper is an effort to explore the metaphorical devices in political cartoons related to the political confrontation in Pakistan between the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and opposition parties especially after Panama leaks. For this purpose, political cartoons sketched by three renowned political cartoonists on the basis of their belongings to the highest circulated mainstream English newspapers of Pakistan and their extensive professional experiences in their genre, were selected from April 2016 to July 29, 2017 (Period of Panama trail). The cartoons were analyzed through the Barthes’s model of Semiotics. It was observed that metaphorical devices in political cartoons are one of the key weapons of cartoonists’ armory. These devices are used to attack on the candidates and contribute to the image and character building. It was found that all the selected political cartoonists used different forms of metaphors including situational metaphors and embodying metaphors. Not only the physical stature but also the debates and their activities were depicted metaphorically in the cartoons that create the scenario of comparison between the cartoons and their real political confrontation. It was examined that both forms of metaphors shed light on cartoonist’s perception and newspaper’s policy about political candidates, political parties and particular events.