Analyzing Rhetoric and Culture using Political Cartoons - Essay Example

?Analyzing Rhetoric and Culture using Political Cartoons Rhetoric can be said to be the use of language to achieve a persuasive effect on specific audience and can be traced back to Aristotle’s era. Culture can be defined as an interconnection of human knowledge, behavior and belief based on the concept of thought and learning. Rhetoric and culture are two very different disciplines with different origins that however address specific and similar issues on culture, cultural practices and interpretation (ed. Rosteck 1999, p.1). The main argument of this essay is that the closed nature and in authenticity of society has led to the loss of human rights; the closed nature of course being influenced majorly by culture and traditional practices that should be shunned. The main aim of the essay is to establish the relationship between culture and rhetoric and use this connection to rhetorically analyze specific political cartoons, also known as editorial cartons. This analysis will be based on clarity/ explicitness of the characters and on the negative nature of a closed and inauthentic society. Analyzing Rhetoric and Culture using Political Cartoons Introduction Rhetoric and culture are related in the sense that both are used to address specific and similar issues on culture, cultural practices and interpretation. A closed society is one in which the basic foundation is laid on class discrimination; the society is not open to freedom of thought. It is essentially not a free society as public affairs are not confined to the affairs of the government (Hayek vol.2 1976, p.151). A closed society usually leads to a violation of several human rights and can therefore not be termed democratic. Democracy is a key tool in the mental development of a people. A political cartoon or an editorial cartoon is basically a form of rhetorical criticism found on the editorial pages of magazines or newspapers and is usually a biased way of portraying individuals, events and a society at large. They are usually comical expressions of events at a particular point in time and convey contemporary issues in a particular society in a subtle manner but are meant to express the ideas of the cartoonist which usually represents that of the whole society. Rhetorical criticism basically uses symbolism but can also use words, phrases and gestures. The main aim of rhetorical criticism is to establish and understand how specific symbols affect people. The first political cartoon I will look is an Arabian one. In the picture is a woman her spouse and a goat. The man is kneeling down on the ground and a caption indicates that he is saying, “I hope you know you’re special to me and I’ll always care for you”. In response to the comment the woman is saying, “Thank you dear”. The man was however addressing the goat and blurts out, “I wasn’t talking to you”. We can’t see the expression on the woman’s face because it is covered in abayas, the traditional Black Muslim dress. The cartoon is in black and white and the ordeal takes place on a rocky area depictive of the dry and rough terrain of the Middle Eastern countries. The message is very basic and straight forward; a woman is just about as worthless as a goat, except a goat has more value to a man than a woman. The man is only and can only bow down to a man and not a woman. This is very ironical in that whereas the woman is statuesque and a much greater force than the goat, the goat is being treated with much more dignity, respect and care than the woman who is being shunned. This is how the cartoonist is challenging this discrimination. The worst part is that woman is helpless and there is nothing she can do about the situation in which she has been placed. The Middle East is home to Muslim Culture and with Muslim culture comes certain restrictions and reservations that are not common to Christians and other religious groups. This reservation of theirs leads to its society being considered a closed one where freedoms are not freely expressed and failure to which leads to inhuman consequences such as being beaten for wearing trousers as Israeli women need to cover themselves from their hair to their body and trousers are considered to be wrong and Western. It is a garment that should only be worn by men. Therefore, they are destroying a central and important ingredient to the establishment of a peaceful environment in the Middle East. There can be peace if their efforts are redirected to a more worthy cause and if the place of women in society can be raised to a level almost the same as men if not equally the same. Due to the influence of their culture, women are considered to be inferior beings and are looked down on and thus the beatings. The cultural nature of the flogging comes across through the inhuman way the women are treated. Islam, unlike Christianity and other religious groups is very strict and the stringent rules apply mostly to women. Human rights especially women’s and children’s rights in the Middle East has been the subject of many a debate throughout the world and such brutal practices such as execution because of being suspected of adultery whereas there are no trials. It is also fair to note that child mutilation is also not an unfamiliar occurrence in the Middle East. Indeed, someone can be quoted as saying, “Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us” (Carlson 2003, p.10). General ly, the cartoon defines fairness as a value or lack there of in this particular society. The depiction is a subtle one, in reality there are far much worse things that women and children alike are going through and it is not a good portrayal of the Islam Culture. Children are mutilated and women are treated as if they were children and in order to travel, work or get an education they require a written consent from their male guardians. Some of the consequences of committing any crime range from flagellation to execution by stoning or hanging and in public too. The Chinese political cartoon shows a group of men in the centre who are apparently the honest, accountable and transparent members of parliament. However behind them is the Chinese symbol for corruption. This is inquisitive of the ministers’ apparent accountability. Is there really accountability or are they hiding something behind all the speeches and all the good things they do for their country. Maybe in the bigger picture there is something to be said of their true nature and it is not a righteous one. China is one of the world’s fastest rising economies and nothing seems to deter the country from economic finesse. In terms of manufacturing it constitutes a major part of the world economy exporting its manufactures products to most countries all over the world providing competition to local products due to the cheap nature of their goods. The have managed to stay on top technologically as well. However corruption threatens to overcome their economic initiatives. There have been many cases of bribery and other forms of corruption and the Chinese government is at the forefront in the crack-down of the culprits who are seemingly put under trial to face their charges, whatever they may be. Thus from afar the government and political parties seem to be determined to look out for the interests of its citizens. Major arrests have been made on important employees of some of the largest corporations on suspicion of bribery. According to the New York Times China does not have an independent police or judicial system; it is the party leaders who decide when to carry out an investigation and issue warrants of arrest (Barboza 2009). The article on Politics and anti-corruption in china also goes on to say that the processes are very politicized and even though the government publicizes such cases of corruption, there is very little progress that has been made in that area and this has raised several eyebrows concerning the government’s involvement in corruption issues. Possibly the government is taking advantage of china’s political structure and also their own political influence to hide their own questionable acts. This is shown by the word corruption being behind the ministers. There is no clarity in Chinese politics; this is why the question of corruption remains a mystery to the common eye and the topic of corruption is not clearly understood by the common man. There is a lack of explicitness in government activities and transparency is undermined by these leaders who are essentially above the law and can toy with it to their own advantage and thus the overall perception of politics as a mind game, moving back and forth form one notion to another. This is a violation of the basic human rights of the Chinese people who have entrusted their leadership into the hands of deception itself thereby creating a situation where they can never be sure of the truth; a cloud of doubt always rests upon the head of the ministers. Many Chinese citizens suffer due to a lack of political and economic freedom and power. China employs a socialist system and this has been found out to be one of the causes of corruption. It has encouraged officials to deal in certain corrupt actions that are not found inn the communist structures. This does not essentially mean that socialist communities are prone to corruption more than their communist counterparts (Kwong 1997, p.109).Socialism employs a more public ownership of resources and advocates for satisfaction of human needs and yet the Chinese system is totally out of place with socialist guidelines. This creates a certain kind of irony because the decentralization of power and a more broad distribution of privileges should actually direct an economy, country or state away from corruption. Conclusion In conclusion, culture has had a very intense and diverse effect on the way people lead their lives and has therefore leaked into leadership and affected it both positively and negatively. Political cartoons are necessary inn any country to keep things in check and bring out the negative parts of culture into light to better the lives of the people and to ensure all their right are being realized in order to fully maximize the potential of people and their country. This overall brings out the best from a nation and unifies people to bring out the best outcome that can possibly incur. References List Barboza, D. 2009. Politics Permeates Anti-corruption Drive in China. New York Times. Retrieved on June 2nd 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/business/global/04corrupt.html#secondParagraph Carlson, P. 2003.Media Bias and the Middle East. New York, NY: Xlibris Corporation Hayek, F.A. 1976. The Mirage of Social Justice. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Kwong, J. 1999. The Political economy of Corruption in China. New York: East Gate Rosteck, T (ed.) 1999. An Intersection: Cultural Studies and Rhetorical Studies. New York: Guilford Press. Read More