Kubuś Puchatek czy dzika bestia — oblicza „rosyjskiego niedźwiedzia” we współczesnej karykaturze politycznej

Abstrakt

Political caricature is an important segment of the satirical communication space. It takes on special importance in the era of pictorial return, the dominance of visual culture. The image becomes an important carrier of meaning, a way of expression. Different forms of visual intertextuality play an important role in the shaping of contemporary caricatures.

The main communicative intention of cartoonists is ridiculing of developments in the policy and sharp criticism of the destructive actions of the political elite. Using stereotypical images in this order opens up new opportunities of presentation and interpretation of political activities. One of these images, deeply embedded in the culture and consistently correlated with Russia, is the image of a RUSSIAN BEAR. The caricature of it can be presented as a good-natured fairy-tale and Olympic Misha or, more often, as an aggressive, bloodthirsty, angry beast that acts cruelly and ruthlessly. In this article the author makes a typology and analysis of characters, showing a stereotypical „Russian bear” in Russian and Western political caricature.