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The Press Cartoon As a Graphic-Visual Resource for Migratory Issues: a Perspective from Weber’S Ethnicity Concept Camila Escudero*

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The Press Cartoon As a Graphic-Visual Resource for Migratory Issues: a Perspective from Weber’S Ethnicity Concept Camila Escudero* Studies in Visual Arts and Communication: an international journal Vol 5, No 2 (2018) on-line ISSN 2393 - 1221 The press cartoon as a graphic-visual resource for migratory issues: a perspective from Weber’s ethnicity concept Camila Escudero* Abstract Considered the graphic reproduction of news, the cartoon has long been incorporated as an opinion journalistic genre within the broad theoretical framework of Social Communication. Mainly based on an artistic drawn image and complemented or not with other resources (textual in the specific case of print media; movement and sound, in the case of virtual media), it leads the author’s critical eye to a specific fact or happening, using in most cases elements such as humor, satire and denunciation. Hence, this article proposes an exploratory analysis of the cartoons of Brazilian cartoonist and activist Carlos Latuff about the subject of immigration, published in recent years, at the Opera Mundi, specialized in international politics. As the theoretical-methodological strategy, we consider the concept of ethnicity of Weber (1978). He defines the term in close connection with the subjective belief in the common origin (and not a common objective ancestry), responsible for constructing an identity from the difference. Thus, cultural and physical differences are the points of reference around which the identity of the group is formed. Our goal is to verify how the cartoon shows itself as a visual information resource to deal with cultural and genetic aspects inherent in undesirable population minorities, from the hegemonic perspective of the concept of nation-state. Keywords: cartoon, graphic-visual resource, international immigration, ethnicity, Social Communication, journalistic genres. Introduction after, started to publish cartoons at syndical press. Politically engaged with leftist ideology, This article proposes an exploratory he made a trip to West Bank1, in 1999, when he analysis of the cartoons of Brazilian cartoonist became a supporter of the Palestinian cause, and activist Carlos Latuff about the subject of which he defends until nowadays. In 2006, he immigration, published in recent years, at the won second place in the Holocaust International Opera Mundi – a news website of Brazil created Cartoons Contest, organized by the Iranian in 1928 which adopts a progressive editorial line newspaper Hamshahri, which helped his work to to produce journalistic material about be known to the general and international international politics topics with focus in Latin public. Currently, his works are known worldwide America. and his drawings about the Arab Spring, Our study is developed within the broad attacking the local dictatorships, are recognized theoretical framework of Social Communication, (Ruivo, 2014; Nogueira, 2012). that has long been incorporated press cartoons As the theoretical-methodological strategy, as an opinion journalistic genre based on we consider the concept of ethnicity of Weber elements such as humor, satire and (1978). According to this author, the term is denunciation composed mainly on an artistic defined from the subjective belief in the drawn image and complemented or not with common origin (and not a common objective other resources (textual in the specific case of ancestry), responsible for constructing an print media; movement and sound, in the case of virtual media) by a person who usually to have 1 West Bank is a territorial area with approximately 2,180-square-mile critical eye about a specific local or worldwide (5,650-square-km) former British-mandated (1920 – 1947) territory of fact or happening. Palestine west of the Jordan River, claimed from 1949 to 1988 as part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan but occupied from 1967 by Israel. It Latuff was born in Rio de Janeiro, in 1968, has a population of 3,336,000, includes 305,000 Israeli Jews. Source: and started his professional career as an https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Bank. Retrieved October 20, 2018. illustrator in 1989, in a marketing agency, and * Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, Brazil 1 Camila Escudero identity from the difference. Thus, cultural and main social context in studying all the physical differences are the points of reference issues at stake; around which the identity of the group is 3. The imposition of territorial boundaries, formed. linking empirical research strategies to Our goal is to verify how the cartoon shows the territory of any selected nation- itself as a visual information resource to deal state. with cultural and genetic aspects inherent in Consequence of Modernity, the view of undesirable population minorities, from the nation-state, as a “natural” and necessary form hegemonic perspective of the concept of nation- of political and social organization, tends to state, also involving criticism to the so-called reduce migratory studies to national and/or methodological nationalism. ethnic origin and collaborates to reinforce the myth of homogeneity, created over the last two Nation-state and ethnicity: proposals for a centuries, and the view of immigration as dialogue from migratory studies something external to society and a problem to Coined for the first time by Herminio be solved. In addition, it reinforces the Martins (1974)2, the concept of “methodological development of an awareness of belonging to nationalism” was used as a critique of the author the national-state framework (a national about the directions of social research by many identity) – often from a system of mass scholars of the time, who used notions derived education, an emphasis on a single language from the idea of nation-state to define society. and a public culture of shared rights and duties However, especially in the migratory field, it was – imposed by the ruling classes to legitimize the with the studies of Nina Glick Schiller that the increase of state power. term became popular. This is what Anderson (1993: 23, our translation) defines as an “imagined community” I use the term methodological nationalism because “even the members of the tiniest to critique the tendency of migration nations will never know, find or hear the most of scholars to conflate a nation state with a their fellows, although all them have in their concept of society. I mean by mind the living image of communion among methodological nationalism an ideological them”. orientation that approaches the study of Or, still what Appadurai (2009) defends by social and historical processes as if they relating the visibility of displacements to the were contained within the borders of invention of national borders and statistics. individual nation-states. Members of those According to the author, minorities are products states are assumed to share a common of statistics, census and population maps, history and set of values, norms, social created by modern nation-states, in the customs, and institutions (Schiller, 2010: beginning of the XVII century. They compose a 110-111). recent social and demographic category and Wimmer and Schiller (2003: 581) introduced were produced by the elites of state or political the term “methodological nationalism” in the leaders, historically in the specific circumstances debate on migratory studies by identifying three of each nation and/or each nationalism. gaps in research in the field of Social Science in Generally, they are numerical, cultural, political, general, and in migratory studies, in particular. economic, ethnic and of gender. They are: No modern nation, no matter how 1. The omission of nationalism, an benevolent its political system may be, and exaggerated contiguous look at the however eloquent its public voices on the relevance of nationalism in virtues of tolerance, multiculturalism and contemporary social life; inclusion, is free from the idea that their 2. The naturalization of the nation-state, an national sovereignty is based (...) in a single implicit strategy of seeing the national ethnos, produced and neutralized institutions of the nation-state as the at great cost through the rhetoric of war and sacrifice, exhaustive rules of educational and linguistic uniformity, and 2 Schiller (2010) apud Martins, H. Time and Theory in Sociology. In: Rex, J. (Ed.). (1974). Approaches to Sociology. London: Routledge & Kegan the subordination of thousands of local and Paul, 246-278. 2 Studies in Visual Arts and Communication: an international journal The press cartoon as a graphic-visual resource for migratory issues: a perspective from Weber’s ethnicity concept regional traditions (Appadurai, 2009: 14-15, French Association of Anthropologists, it our translation). has remained practically unused until this day in the sociological or ethnological In this sense, it is illustrative the argument vocabulary, and only very recently [at the of Pries and Seeliger (2012): if we look at the line end of the 20th century] begins to be used in of human development recorded by the course studies on immigration, racism, nationalism of history, the authors recall, the earliest roots of or urban violence (Poutignat & Streiff- homo sapiens can be verified from a nomadic Fenart, 1998: 21, our translation). existence beginning 400,000 years ago – period that makes up most of human history; on the In the United States, the adjective ethnic other hand, the earliest states of sedentary life began to be used during the Second World War, appear as the longest period of the second as a “politically correct” way of classifying Jews, spatial organization of human society, and Italians, Irish and
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