A Semiotic Analysis of Political Cartoons in Malayalam Newspapers During the 2016 Assembly Election

A Semiotic Analysis of Political Cartoons in Malayalam Newspapers during the 2016 Assembly Election

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of

Master of Philosophy In Media studies

by Carmel Maria Jose (Reg.1730011)

Under the Supervision of Pradeep Thomas J.A Assistant professor

Department of Media studies

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) BENGALURU, INDIA June 2019

Approval of Dissertation

Dissertation entitled “A semiotic analysis of Political cartoons in Malayalam newspapers during the 2016 Assembly Election” by Carmel Maria Jose, Register Number 1730011 is approved for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in Media studies.

Supervisor: ______

Chairman: ______

General Research Coordinator: ______

Date: ……………………..

Place: Bengaluru

DECLARATION

I, Carmel Maria Jose, hereby declare that the dissertation, titled “A semiotic analysis of political cartoons in Malayalam newspapers during the 2016 Assembly Election” is a record of original research work undertaken by me for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in Media

Studies. I have completed this study under the supervision of Dr. Pradeep Thomas J.A, Assistant

Professor, Department of Media Studies.

I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation.

Place: Bengaluru Date: …………………

Carmel Maria Jose Reg. No.1730011 Department of Media Studies CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Bengaluru

iii

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation submitted by Carmel Maria Jose (Reg. No1730011) titled “A semiotic analysis of political cartoons in Malayalam newspapers during the 2016 assembly election” is a record of research work done by her during the academic year 2017-2018 under my supervision in partial fulfillment for the award of Master of Philosophy in Media Studies.

This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or any other title. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation.

Place: Bengaluru Date: …………………

Dr. Pradeep Thomas J.A Assistant Professor Department of Media Studies CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru

Signature of the Head of the Department Department of Media Studies CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am immensely grateful for the everlasting love and grace of the Almighty God for granting me wisdom and guiding me to complete this study successfully.

I would like to thank Dr (Fr) Abraham V M, Vice- Chancellor, Christ University, Bengaluru for giving me the opportunity to pursue research and facilitating me to complete my study.

I thank Mr. Padmakumar, Head of the Department of Media Studies for being always approachable, understanding and infusing positivity that motivated me to persist in my endeavours with conviction that has enabled me to complete my thesis.

I express my sincere thanks to my guide and supervisor Dr. Pradeep Thomas J.A Department of Media studies, Christ University, Bengaluru for his constant supervision, mentoring and valuable inputs throughout the course of my study.

I thank the department of Media Studies for taking time out and guiding my thesis at every stage. I have been able to build my thesis with all your valuable insights.

I sincerely thank all my M.Phil. professors for their constant help and guidance.

I express my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Sukumaran Potti (Chairman, Kerala Cartoon Academy), Mr. Baiju Paulose (Staff Cartoonist, Malayala Manorama), Unnikrishnan K (Chief Sub Editor, Mathrubhumi), V R Rajesh (cartoonist, Madhyamam), T.K Sujith (staff cartoonist, Keralakaumudi) and Satish Acharya, renowned Indian cartoonist for taking part in the study and giving valuable contribution for the study.

Finally, I am thankful to my parents, brother and my friends for their constant encouragement, moral support, continuous inspiration and prayers to carry out this dissertation successfully.

Carmel Maria Jose

(investigator)

ABSTRACT

Political cartoons act as a powerful communication tool that combines artistic skills like sarcasm, irony, humour, and wit to raise questions against authority and draw public attention towards political happenings and social ills. Political cartoons exist within a dichotomy between fact and fiction. This is the power of the political cartoons and brings together fantasy and reality. They use fictions to present truth and this truth is created through allusions, metaphors, and associations inspired by true events, combined with the invention of an artist's imagination. The potentiality of the Political Cartoon genre increases the scope of research in this field as it expresses opinions that thousand words cannot explain. Using the theories of semiotics proposed by Roland Barthes and Charles Sanders Peirce, this study analyses the meaning generation process of Political cartoons in Malayalam newspapers of Kerala published during the campaign period of 2016 assembly elections. Semiotic analysis of two prominent newspapers in Kerala and interviews with the cartoonists of mainstream newspapers gives more insight into this study. The study contributes to the general understanding of political cartoons and how they make political statement during campaigning period in Kerala. The study also try to specify the various political themes developed during the time frame of election campaigning and its portrayal by the cartoonist. Thus, this study within the political context of Kerala increases our understanding on this political communication tool.

Keywords: political communication, political cartoons, semiotic analysis, Assembly election 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page No.

Approval of Dissertation ii

Declaration iii

Certificate iv

Acknowledgement v

Abstract vi

Table of Contents vii

List of Tables x

List of Figures I xiv

List of Figure II xv

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

1.1 Humour and Wit

1.2 Political Cartoons

1.3 Political Cartoon in India

1.4 Political Cartoon in Kerala

1.5 Election in Kerala

1.6 Scope of the Present Study

1.7 Research Objectives

1.8 Significance of the Research

1.9 Chapter Organization

vii

Chapter 2: Review of Literature 7

2.1 Global Scenario

2.2 Political Cartooning in the Indian Context

2.3 Political Cartooning in Kerala

2.4 Studies on Semiotic Analysis

2.5 Political Cartooning and Election Campaign

2.6 Research done on Political Cartoons

2.7 Research Gap

Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework 21

3.1 Charles Sandra Pierce theory on semiotics

3.2 Roland Barthes Theory of Semiotics

3.3 Intertextuality

3.4 Enthymeme

3.5 Incongruity Theory

Chapter 4: Methodology 25

4.1 Introduction

4.1.1 Kerala

4.1.2 Time Frame

4.1.3 Newspaper Selection

4.1.4 Unit of Analysis

4.2 Methods of Study

4.2.1 Semiotics

viii

4.2.2 Interviews

4.3 Research Design

4.3.1 Semiotics

4.3.2 Interview

4.3.3 Data Collection

4.4 Conclusion

Chapter 5: Data Analysis and Discussion 32

5.1 Introduction

5.2 General Analysis

5.3 Findings and Discussions

5.3.1 Pattern Analysis

5.3.2 Comparative Analysis

5.4 Expert Interviews

5.5 Findings

Chapter 6: Conclusion 234

References 239

Appendix I

Appendix II

Table No. List of Tables Page No.

5.2.1 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 33

16th April ,2016 5.2.2 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 36

17th April ,2016 5.2.3 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 40

18th April ,2016 5.2.4 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 45

19th April ,2016 5.2.5 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 48

20th April ,2016 5.2.6 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 51

21st April ,2016 5.2.7 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 55

22nd April ,2016 5.2.8 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 57

23rd April ,2016 5.2.9 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 61

24th April ,2016 5.2.10 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 66

25th April ,2016 5.2.11 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 70

26th April ,2016 5.2.12 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 73

27th April ,2016 5.2.13 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 76

28th April ,2016

5.2.14 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 80

29th April ,2016 5.2.15 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 85

30th April ,2016 5.2.16 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 90

1st May ,2016 5.2.17 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 94

3rd May ,2016 5.2.18 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 99

4th May ,2016 5.2.19 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 102

5th May ,2016 5.2.20 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 106

6th May ,2016 5.2.21 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 110

7th May ,2016 5.2.22 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 113

8th May ,2016 5.2.23 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 116

9th May ,2016 5.2.24 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 118

10th May ,2016 5.2.25 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 122

11th May ,2016 5.2.26 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 125

12th May ,2016 5.2.27 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 128

13th May ,2016 5.2.28 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 131

14th May ,2016

5.2.29 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 134

15th May ,2016 5.2.30 Visual Analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 137

16th May ,2016 5.2.31 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 140 Cartoon: 16th April ,2016 5.2.32 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 143 Cartoon: 17th April ,2016 5.2.33 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 148 Cartoon: 18th April ,2016 5.2.34 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 150 Cartoon: 19th April ,2016 5.2.35 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 152 Cartoon: 20th April ,2016 5.2.36 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 154 Cartoon: 21st April ,2016 5.2.37 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 157 Cartoon: 22nd April ,2016 5.2.38 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 159 Cartoon: 23rd April ,2016 5.2.39 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 163 Cartoon: 24th April ,2016 5.2.40 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 165 Cartoon: 25th April ,2016 5.2.41 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 167 Cartoon: 26th April ,2016 5.2.42 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 169 Cartoon: 27th April ,2016 5.2.43 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 171 Cartoon: 28th April ,2016 5.2.44 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 173 Cartoon: 29th April ,2016 5.2.45 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 175 Cartoon: 30th April ,2016 5.2.46 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 178 Cartoon: 1st May ,2016

xii

5.2.47 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 179 Cartoon: 3rd May ,2016 5.2.48 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 181 Cartoon: 4th May ,2016 5.2.49 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 183 Cartoon: 5th May ,2016 5.2.50 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 185 Cartoon: 6th May ,2016 5.2.51 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 187 Cartoon: 7th May ,2016 5.2.52 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 188 Cartoon: 8th May ,2016 5.2.53 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 190 Cartoon: 9th May ,2016 5.2.54 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 192 Cartoon: 10th May ,2016 5.2.55 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 194 Cartoon: 11th May ,2016 5.2.56 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 195 Cartoon: 12th May ,2016 5.2.57 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 197 Cartoon: 13th May ,2016 5.2.58 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 200 Cartoon: 14th May ,2016 5.2.59 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 202 Cartoon: 15th May ,2016 5.2.60 Visual Analysis of Malayala Manorama 204 Cartoon: 16th May ,2016

xiii

Figure No. List of Figures I Page No.

Figure 3.1 Saussure’s Dyadic Sign Model 22

Figure 4.1 Peirce’s triad of semiotics 23

Figure 4.2 The Barthes’s Map of Sign Function 28

xiv

Figure No. List of Figures II Page No.

5.2.1 Mathrubhumi, 16th April, 2016. 32 E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.2 Mathrubhumi, 17th April, 2016. 35

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.3 Mathrubhumi, 18th April, 2016. 39

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.4 Mathrubhumi, 19th April, 2016. 45

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.5 Mathrubhumi, 20th April, 2016. 48

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.6 Mathrubhumi, 21st April, 2016. 51

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.7 Mathrubhumi, 22nd April, 2016. 54

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.8 Mathrubhumi, 23rd April, 2016. 57

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.9 Mathrubhumi, 24th April, 2016. 60

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.10 Mathrubhumi, 25th April, 2016. 66

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.11 Mathrubhumi, 26th April, 2016. 69

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.12 Mathrubhumi, 27th April, 2016. 73

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.13 Mathrubhumi, 28th April, 2016. 76

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.14 Mathrubhumi, 29th April, 2016. 80

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.15 Mathrubhumi, 30th April, 2016. 84

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.16 Mathrubhumi, 1st May, 2016. 90

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.17 Mathrubhumi, 3rd May, 2016. 94

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.18 Mathrubhumi, 4th May, 2016. 98

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.19 Mathrubhumi, 5th May, 2016. 102

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.20 Mathrubhumi, 6th May, 2016. 106

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.21 Mathrubhumi, 7th May, 2016. 110

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.22 Mathrubhumi, 8th May, 2016. 113

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.23 Mathrubhumi, 9th May, 2016. 115

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.24 Mathrubhumi, 10th May, 2016. 118

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.25 Mathrubhumi, 11th May, 2016. 122

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.26 Mathrubhumi, 12th May, 2016. 125

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.27 Mathrubhumi, 13th May, 2016. 127

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.28 Mathrubhumi, 14th May, 2016. 131

E-paper Archives, Kerala

xvi

5.2.29 Mathrubhumi, 15th May, 2016. 134

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.30 Mathrubhumi, 16th May, 2016. 136

E-paper Archives, Kerala

5.2.31 Malayala Manorama, 16th April, 139 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.32 Malayala Manorama, 17th April, 142 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.33 Malayala Manorama, 18th April, 148 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.34 Malayala Manorama, 19th April, 150 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.35 Malayala Manorama, 20th April, 152 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.36 Malayala Manorama, 21st April, 154 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.37 Malayala Manorama, 22nd April, 156 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.38 Malayala Manorama, 23rd April, 159 2016

5.2.39 Malayala Manorama, 24th April, 162 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.40 Malayala Manorama, 25th April, 164 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.41 Malayala Manorama, 26th April, 167 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.42 Malayala Manorama, 27th April, 169 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.43 Malayala Manorama, 28th April, 171 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.44 Malayala Manorama, 29th April, 173 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.45 Malayala Manorama, 30th April, 175 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.46 Malayala Manorama, 1st May, 177 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

xvii

5.2.47 Malayala Manorama, 3rd May, 179 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.48 Malayala Manorama, 4th May, 181 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.49 Malayala Manorama, 5th May, 183 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.50 Malayala Manorama, 6th May, 185 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.51 Malayala Manorama, 7th May, 187 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.52 Malayala Manorama, 8th May, 188 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.53 Malayala Manorama, 9th May, 189 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.54 Malayala Manorama, 10th May, 191 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.55 Malayala Manorama, 11th May, 193 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.56 Malayala Manorama, 12th May, 195 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.57 Malayala Manorama, 13th May, 197 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.58 Malayala Manorama, 14th May, 200 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.59 Malayala Manorama, 15th May, 202 2016.State Archives, Kerala.

5.2.60 Malayala Manorama, 16th May,2016. 204

State Archives, Kerala.

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction

“A true cartoonist is not just a maker of fun but one who sees the inner significance of an event and by a few master strokes impresses it on others.” -Jawaharlal Nehru

1.1 Humour and Satire

Lee Siegel, a professor of religion examined the unexplored realm of Indian comedy and defined two types of laughter, one which arises from the perceptions of ludicrous incongruities and improprieties, laughter at oneself (atmastha), and the other laughter which has its only determinant the laughter at others (parastha). These two types are comparable to the categories of humour and satire. Humour sees from a distance while satire is vigilant (Siegel, 1987). India has a long tradition of humour. In the historical times folk songs and folktales made subtle comments on errant human nature, social evils, and dim-witted rulers. On the ancient Sanskrit stage, the character Vidushaka, a kind of court jester, would indulge in irreverent asides at deadly serious moments in a play and send the audience into convulsions of laughter. Vidushaka's remarks always had something to do with current goings-on in the kingdom.

William Shakespeare in his drama “King Lear” explains the importance of a court jester. King Lear asked his people “Who is it that can tell me who I am..?”. The court jester answered “Lear’s Shadow”. The answer consists of all satire and irony in it. The dual meaning in the answer explains that the King has lost his personality and is just a shadow of who he was. In another sense, he says that the court jester is the shadow of the King and it is he who can explain about the King. The role that a court jester holds earlier in a Kingdom is exactly what a cartoonist does in a country. They point out the flaws and wrongdoings of their leaders and in a way, they try to correct them.

1.2 Political Cartoons

Political cartoons exist within a dichotomy between fact and fiction. This is the power of the political cartoon— to bring together fantasy and reality, to use factual events as the basis for fictions, and to use fictions to present "truth." This truth is created through allusions, metaphors, and associations inspired by true events, combined with the invention of an artist's imagination. Political cartoons are considered to be a sensitive reflection of society’s most discussed political events (Desousa, 1981). They bring forth certain issues into the public

1 platform and serve as a powerful tool of mass media in shaping perceptions of public opinion. The potentiality of the Political Cartoon genre increases the scope of research in this field as it expresses opinions that thousand words cannot explain.

1.3 Political Cartoons in India

The newspaper, and the trenchant visual and verbal critique embodied in the cartoon, were paradoxically, the gifts of the Empire. The acquisition of colonies was condoned by the last century’s legal sensibility, but having annexed India more through sleight than through bloodshed, the British set about transplanting some of their more charismatic institutions in India. The cartoon was one of them. Madhur Upadhyay, who edited a book of cartoons against communalism, traced Indian cartoons to mythology and not history. He explains the character in Sanskrit, called Ashtavakra that deformed from eight sides, that never talks anything right and does everything wrong, it is a comic character. He also mentions about gods and goddesses as just manifestation. Thus, cartooning as an art form in India may be new, but in tradition it is very old (Upadhyay,1994).

1.4 Political Cartoons in Kerala

“Great Famine Goddess” a political cartoon published in 1919 in a humorous magazine ‘Vidushkan’, marked the beginning of the cartoon history in the state of Kerala. The first cartoon itself was a perfect blend of ideas and drawing in it, with few strokes the cartoon explained the impact of the World war first on the public. The work was a powerful statement against war and colonialism. The importance of political cartoons is increasing and the large space allotted for the cartoons in the mainstream newspapers of Kerala emphasize its popularity among the general public. Recently a book published on the political murder of Kerala, the much-discussed T.P Chandrasekharan murder case, had around fifty political cartoons of mainstream newspapers of Kerala in it. Thus, it proves that as Kerala is completing its hundredth year of cartooning, political cartoons take the position of a serious medium that reflects the political and social responses of the people in Kerala. The cartoons which was once used as a medium to communicate with the illiterates is now reflecting the literacy of the people in Kerala. Therefore, cartoons become the creation of people for the public who thinks intellectually and has profound knowledge on politics.

The prominent cartoonist of India Abu Abraham has once mentioned that a curious feature of cartooning in India is the disproportionately large number of its leading practitioners coming from the small southern state of Kerala (Abraham,1995).Another renowned cartoonist

2 of Kerala Sukumar in his work supports the statement made by Abu Abraham and explains that the Kerala has a rich cartooning legacy of its own (Sukumar ,2016).This study was an effort to examine political cartoons of Kerala from the vantage point of 2016 Assembly elections highlighting topics and themes to identify and explain the meaning and importance of political cartoons that visualize socio-political issues and events. Along with that the representation of political figures and other popular personalities are also considered for the study. The cartoon text was excerpted from two major regional newspapers of Kerala (Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi). The reason for choosing newspapers from Kerala was due to its unique position in India as one of the most politicized states. It has the nation’s largest politically aware population, which actively participate in state politics. Based on the election commission release Kerala has recorded highest voter-turnout ever for an assembly election with 77.35%in general election. The literacy level in Kerala is very high which has been literally synonymous to the access to the newspapers, television, internet etc.to get to know about the politics and politicians (Centre for comparative studies,2016).

The study does not focus on the impact of Political cartoons on the populace instead, it proposes to extend previous body of research in this area by applying semiotics in assessing political cartoons. The research provides an original contribution to the understanding of Kerala political cartoons using semiotic analysis of Charles Sanders Pierce and Roland Barthes.Semiotic analysis tends to give a proper methodological tool for assessing the meaning produced in the political cartoons of Kerala. The semiotic methods of Roland Barthes and Charles Sanders Pierce gives a description of the underlying structures of Political cartoons,and the theories proposed by them gives a clear understanding on aspects of constructing meaning.The studies on signs and symbols helps in deconstructing images and developing useful interpretations out of it.Political cartoons is a form of communication method that convey its message through those signs and symbols.Thus semiotic method used in political cartoons clarifies and decodes the meaning in a proper way. 1.5 Election in Kerala Kerala was one of the earliest elected Communist governments in the world. Since then, the state has been a ‘political laboratory’ and largely an exception to the national political processes (Gopakumar, 2014). Left Democratic Front (LDF – alliance led by the CPI (M)) and United Democratic Front (UDF – alliance led by the Congress) governments have been alternatively in power in Kerala since 1982.

Exit Poll predictions for the Kerala Assembly elections were in largely in line with the history of voting out the incumbent party for four decades. One of the critical components contributing to the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling UDF was that of the UDF faced many corruption cases, ranging from controversial land deals to ministers quitting over allegations of bribery. The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy was accused of having connections with a fake solar energy company; the opposition had urged him many times to resign from CM post taking the moral responsibility of the charges levelled against him and his ministerial colleagues (Centre for Comparative Studies,2016). Political cartoons contribute to candidate image development by offering condensed and simplified metaphoric portrayals.

1.6 Scope of the present study In India discussions and debates on politics are not just limited to the political analyst. Politics is a favourite subject for every individual as they find it very interesting to discuss it with others. Everyone talks, criticizes, and point out the flaws on the behaviour of the politician, notices their dressing style, the way they talk and their involvement in political activities along with their policies. but very few researchers actually attempt to formulate their research on Political cartoons that portrays those political leaders and the political changes that happens in the society. With this background in mind the researcher has undertaken this topic to study about political cartoons in Kerala. A semiotic analysis is used to deconstruct the image. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to find out the signs and symbols used in political cartoons and how they are connected with the political context and meaning is generated out of it. The study also will shed light on making political statements using political cartoons as a tool. This study also intends to analyse the themes and other issues depicted in the cartoons.

1.7 Research Objectives

The intent of this dissertation is to contribute to ongoing discourse on the features of political cartoons as a form of political communication. Through this research the researcher tries to achieve certain objectives such as:

1. To analyse the meaning generation process in the political cartoons of Kerala. 2. To study how political cartoons are used as political statements in assessing and commenting on political activities in Kerala. 3. To study the predominant themes of editorial cartoons during the given time period.

1.8 Significance of the Research

The study will contribute to the literature and the field of political communication. The research shall ascertain how political cartoons use the signs and symbols and other techniques such as exaggeration, irony, symbolism and analogy to fulfil their motives and other functions of communication. The research shed some light on understanding Kerala’s political scenario. This research also offers an insight in further research areas dealing with the political cartoons and its impact on the readers and their voting behaviour.

1.9 Chapter Organization

This dissertation is divided into six chapters. The first chapter is an introduction and presentation of the dissertation objectives. It discusses about the importance of political cartoons within a society. It also examines the potentiality of political cartoons as a means of social commentary.

The second chapter deals with the previous researches done on political cartoons and the relevance of political cartoons in the Indian context. Along with that the historical background on political cartoons globally and that of India and specially Kerala is discussed. The researches that uses semiotics is also mentioned and other studies that deals with political campaigning, offensive cartooning and the new media is also reviewed in this chapter.

Chapter three includes informations regarding data collections and methodology. The chapter establishes the major principles of semiotic investigation, along with a discussion of the defining characteristics of semiotics. Along with that the need of expert interview is also explained.

The fourth chapter provides a theoretical framework for the study. The semiotic theories of Barthes and Pierce along with the theories of humour and the need of intertextuality and enthymeme is explained in this chapter.

The main aim of the fifth chapter is to analyse the political cartoon based on the theoretical framework. A general analysis of each cartoons along with pattern analysis of two newspaper cartoons and a comparative analysis of the both the newspapers are done in this chapter. In order to validate the interpreted data an expert interview with the cartoonists of mainstream newspapers is done, and the data is interpreted thematically.

The final chapter of this thesis is the conclusion. This chapter is divided into three sections. The first section summarizes the major findings of the study and tries to answer the research questions based on the semiotic analysis and the expert interview being done.The second section briefly discuss on the contribution of this work to the existing literature and the limitations. The third section deals with the aspects of this work that deserve further research in the field of political cartoons.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This study on the political cartoon is primarily concerned with the semiotic analysis; therefore, it is important to examine historical data, for it will help the readers to understand the role political cartoons have played throughout history.The researcher divides the historical context into three categories that covers the history of Political Cartoons globally and the Indian scenario.Along with that it specifically focus on the Kerala context.

Review of Literature helps to understand what is already done in the field and how the present study could contribute to the existing literature.Thus this section also deals with the studies done on semiotic analysis and election campaigning in various countries.General researches done on the field of Political Cartooning is also mentioned in this chapter.

2.1 Global Scenario

Wright (1875) in his study examines that people before cultivating literature and art, caricatured other people in words by mocking at their weakness and defects. Later a permanent form was given to this ridicule which they endeavoured to do by rude delineation on the bare rock or any other convenient surfaces, thus originated caricature as an art form. The caricature was first used in Renaissance Italy. The word caricature was derived from the Italian term ‘caricatura’ and French verb ‘caricare’ which means to exaggerate. This form which was always been used for exaggerating certain physical features to comment on the subject were practiced by renowned artist Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Durer. Scholars refers Leonardo’s art of caricaturing as proto-caricatures, as it lack explicit satirical content in it but still his caricature was considered to be the representation of humanness.Thus it forms criticism against the canonization of the Renaissance portrait, that focused on idealized models screening off the observation of reality (Gervasi,2017). Although we might find the development of caricatures in different countries, we cannot trace the entire course of development in any particular country. The earliest examples of caricature are found in Egyptian monuments portraying man as animals, that shows how man is treated by their human tyrant (Wright, 1875).

Most of the historians agree that the oldest political caricature dates back to about 1360 B.C. and depicts Ikhnaton, father-in-law of King Tutankhamen of Egypt (Hess & Kaplan, 1968). Lutfi&Marsot (1971) was of the opinion that for centuries Egypt has been oppressed

7 by its authority and censorship was imposed by the government. The verbal lampoon through Goha stories was the social and political commentarty that tried to criticize the authority. This shows the major difference between Egyptian satire and European cartoons. In Europe, cartoons in general openly criticized government and ruler, whereas in Egypt criticism had to be more circumspect and usually was disguised.

In early days caricature was considered as an instrument of propaganda than of satire. Upton (2014) explains that in England during 16th century, when the Protestant reformers began to ridicule their Catholic counterparts it was in the form of a woodcut, and that had a limited print run and by the 18th century, when the copper plate had generally replaced wood, a print runs of more than 1,500 copies was unusual. William Hogarth was the first cartoonist in England, who deployed detailed and venomous engravings to satirize the society he lived in. Alcohol, marriage, and elections were among his targets, but Hogarth's work was social commentary only in a general sense, and it was mildly political. Low (1942) contends that England was once called the 'Home of Caricature' because of the great works which were produced during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The drawings of William Hogarth mark the beginning of the era. According to Low (1942), Hogarth specialized in depicting the frailty of humankind; his images were so effective that he can be rightly viewed as the "grandfather" of modern cartooning. If one accepts Hogarth's title, then James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson must be considered the "fathers" of modern cartooning.While the social impact of Hogarth's prints is indisputable, political themes did not become evident in English caricature until the 1770's when Gillray and Rowlandson began producing works (Press,1981).

Streicher (1965) in his study examines David Low as another important person in the history of caricature in England. Colonel Blimp was the personal cartoon symbol created by Low. The character was important in Low's work because he represents an explicit and clear example of a cartoon character possessing a definable role and a special status and function in cartoon imagery and political group life (Streicher,1965).Ridicule has always been an important political weapon but it became all the more powerful in the "age of mechanical reproduction." The printing press facilitated the dissemination of visual ridicule, allowing the political cartoon to be produced more rapidly and for a wider audience than ever before and was embedded in the everyday political culture of the ordinary citizen.

While the events and artists in other nations have played an important role in the development of this medium his, recent American influences have significantly refined the political cartoon as it is known today.Thus, while the Europeans developed early political cartooning, American cartoonists have refined it over the past century. Cartoons with an editorial nature emerged as part of the protestant reformation under Martin Luther 1483- 1546.Luther’s cartoons were aimed at an illiterate population, but one that was willing to counter authority. His cartoon deflated complicated political debates and portrayed them through the media of printed and disseminated pictures in order to mobilize the support of both the working class and the peasentry to ensure his reforms success (Walker, 2003). America's first political cartoon, "Non-Votis" or "The Wagoner and Hercules," was published in 1747 and is attributed to Benjamin Franklin. William Charles, however, is considered America's first widely acclaimed political cartoonist. Due to the high cost of newsprint and the time involved in producing copper engravings and woodcuts, only seventy-eight political cartoons were produced prior to 1828 (Hess &Kaplan, 1968).

The current state of American political cartooning and its outlook has become a widely debated issue. Dennis (1974) argues that political cartooning in the United States has not emerged from the uniform national style which developed in the 1930's. Contemporary cartoons are too simply drawn, have lost their sting as they focus on general national issues, and are too dependent on standardized symbols. These authors are optimistic that this condition will change and feel that current political cartoons should be judged against those drawn by Thomas Nast and his direct followers, not their fewer effective contemporaries. Henry (1981), for example, condemns current political cartoonists for placing too much emphasis on humor while ignoring the importance of the issue. This unfortunate situation is due to three factors. The first concerns editors who lack the courage to print cartoons which take a strong ideological stance, preferring to give the reader "a break from the gloomy news." This is good for suburbia but depreciates the role of the cartoonist. The second primary factor is the result of the un adventuresome niceness of the Reagan years and Reagan's ability to deflect criticism. Finally, the young cartoonists themselves have tended to clone the artistic style of Jeff Mac Nelly and stress the humor of situations rather than emphasizing the message. Henry argues that while the cartoonist has the potential to anesthetize the social conscience, for the moment, this does not appear to be a likely development.

As argued by Bender (1963), it is likely that the political cartoon, in some form, will continue to exist as long as there are injustices in the world.

2.2 Political cartooning in the Indian context

India had a rich history rooted in satire and other art forms. Satire had great impact on people but the art of cartooning was unknown to them. In the early days folk songs and folktales made subtle comments on errant human nature, social evils, and dim-witted rulers.

From the eighteenth and nineteenth century imperial Britain and its colonies considered cartoons as a persuasive representation that competed with photographs and films. They quickly yield a rich archive on representations of India.Britain established its power in India as a trading company that later took over the power of the whole country.These political transitions from trade to politics, resulting in India’s growing prominence in imperial matters, were transmitted to the British public through a variety of images shaped by emerging visual technologies (Khanduri, 2014).

Laxman (1989) in his study examined that the art of sculpture always depicted devotional themes. It is very likely that the cartoons of John Bull and Bharat Mata appeared to the viewer as extensions of those mythical concepts, showing in new versions the eternal conflict between evil and good. In fact, in later years, when the cartoonist gained a little more independence, their task of looking for ideas was considerably eased because they borrowed heavily from the numerous ready-made incidents and anecdotes in our mythology and dressed them up to fit the irony in current political events. Thus, the ten-headed demon king Ravana came in very handy to represent the number of evil aspects of the alien administration. Similarly, the British rulers' show of liberalism through reforms which were of doubtful benefit to the people, shot down by the nationalist party, was shown in the role of Rama, with his mythological bow and arrow representing in a complicated way that combined forces of patriotism and determination. Such cartoons made a great impression on the people who were illiterate or semiliterate. They were able to comprehend the political content in a cartoon because it was presented to them in a manner familiar to them and they were able to relate it to the prevailing situation.

‘Punch’, ‘Fun’ and ‘Pall Mall Gazette’ were the Ilustrated comical and satirical periodicals of Britain that led to birth of cartooning as a genre in India (Goswami, 2016). Political cartoons has become an integral part of India’s newspaper culture with the publication of vernacular comic newspapers like Hindi Punch, Oudh Punch and Hindu Punch. Thousands of newspaper cartoons circulate every day in India, and many more have left their imprint since colonial times. Khanduri (2014) in her study explains that newspaper cartoons became critical

10 modes of public communication in India after Independence from British rule in 1947.Later political cartoons started questioning India’s developmental agenda, democratic governance, and secular credentials with the essence of humor in it.

Evnthough the political cartoons in India were mainly influeneced by the western style, over the years, they start developing its own independent style and became hugely popular among the readers of newspapers and magazines.The political cartoons got published for the first time in English owned periodicals such as Bengal Hurkaru and the Indian Gazette in the 1850s (Lhost, 2011) and the first vernacular-language periodical which published cartoon was the Amrit Bazar Patrika from Bengal in 1872 (Mitter,1994). Lhost (2011) examine that the first cartoon to make a political impact was published in Sulav Samachar in 1870s, those cartoons tried to expose and attack the corrupt and racially abusive judiciary system which allows Europeans to do crimes against Indians (Mitter,1997). Most of the political cartoons published in vernacular papers started using strong and sharp criticism against many injustices prevailing in the colonial rule.Numerous laws were imposed on press but still they continued to be a part of print media and set a new trend in illustrated journalism.

Cartoons published in journals was based on certain theme such as social justice ,caste- system and Indian National Movement.The cartoonists tried to portray on social injustice and inequality prevailing in the country .Secondly , Hindu society’s caste-system was a popular theme of lampoon among the cartoonists of the early 20th century (Lent, 2009).

The Indian national movement was another major theme of the 20th century cartoon and pictorial journalism.The symbols used in political cartoons mostly glorified the congress party and the colonial administration was demonized.A renowned cartoonist Gaganendranath Tagore, raised the art of cartooning to the next level during that period with his sharp social and political satires (Lent, 2009).

Khanduri (2014) studied that political cartoons was used as a tool by Mahathma Gandhi inorder to generate a newspaper-literate readership. Gandhi frequently reproduced and translated political cartoons in his newspaper including ‘Indian Opinion’ ,from among several South African newspapers More precisely, Gandhi saw cartoons as a form of journalism that

11 was not only humorous take on daily news, but transcripts that could be closely studied to reveal the political mind (Khanduri,2014).

The 20th century witnessed the emergence of prominent political cartoonists who developed there own individual style and established their names, thus Political cartoons developed into a well known profession in India. The cartoonist K.Shankara Pillay, better known as Shankar who started cartooning in 1939,was considered as the father of political cartooning in India (Khanduri,20017).Shankar’s cartoons were initially published in The Free Press Journal and the Bombay Chronicle. Later in 1932, he joined as a staff cartoonist in Hindustan times and continued till 1946.In 1948, he founded Shankar’s weekly which was considered equivalent to the famous punch magazine of Britain. Shankar’s weekly was a proper platform for cartoonists like Abu Abraham, Ranga, Kutty, Lachke and Vijayan to develop their potential. He influenced and inspired the next generation cartoonists. Cartoonists like Shankar and Laxman had taken editorial cartoons in newspapers into the status of editorial commentator and political analyst India.

Goswami (2016) in his study examined that in post-independence India cartoons and caricature continued to be as powerful as they were during the colonial period. The theme of the cartoons remained the same; but the characters in the cartoon got changed and they started to portray Indian politicians, film stars and other celebrities. Most of the cartoonists of post- independence drew their cartoons mostly to uphold democratic values, to raise development issues pertaining to the common people of the society.

Even though the political cartooning in India was adopted from Britain, later they developed their own style and more people started taking cartooning as a profession knowing the impact it had on people, but a very few studies have been done till date on political cartoons and the process of political communication that happens through this medium.

Khanduri (2007) using the political framework of colonial, nationalist, and postcolonial studied political cartooning in India by focusing on representational politics and biography of cartoonists. She connected history and practice of cartooning in India to unfold the link between politics, the making of a moral aesthetic and modernity. Husain (2014) has done a study on political cartoons and it throws light on other aspects of cartoon its origin, history and the lives and works of eminent and contemporary cartoonists in India. Sharma (2016) in her study compared the cartoons of two countries, India and the U.S.A. Semiotics is used as a method to study the difference in the style of cartooning. The study makes an effort to examine the

12 importance of newspaper cartoons, the influence of cartoons on readers and viewers, and the ways in which they convey messages. Semiotic theories are used to identify the styles of cartooning both in USA and that of India, but a detail analysis of cartoons is not done by deconstructing the signs and symbols used in it.

India has a growing newspaper readership, and newspapers in India are among the “most important mechanism in public culture for the circulation of discourses on corruption. “This observation is perhaps especially true for newspaper cartoons in India, which are positioned as a perspective of the common man or woman on political happenings. This approach acknowledges the intellectual role of cartoonists, makes the cartoonists collaborators rather than “informants”.

2.3Political Cartooning in Kerala

Kerala is known for its satirical tradition. Indeed, it begins with the primary school reader in which the stories are humorously sardonic. Kunchan Nambiar who lived in the eighteenth century (1705-1770) is Kerala's most noted satirical writer. His entire work, in satirical verse, has been recited over the years in various dance forms called thullal and he was a true secularist as he ridiculed all communities and all classes, from kings and high priests, to the common citizen (Abraham, 1995).

Khanduri (2014) in her study discuss about the first cartoon ‘cat sanyasi’ which is around 3000 years old. Cat sanyasi is a famous panchatantra story in which the cat’s face resembled the Maharaja, who ordered the temple to be constructed. The sculptor wanted to make the point that, in his old age, the cruel Maharaja was absolving himself of his sins by building a temple. This oldest cartoon was found in a temple in south India.

The art of cartooning was brought to a global scenario by the prominent cartoonist Shankar from southern India. Shankar’s cartoons became desirable and collectible for British officials, unprecedented for an Indian cartoonist. They also ushered in the idea of the original to the Indian cartooning scene. This dual quality-collectability and the original-signaled an emerging value system that brought cartoons a step closer to being considered a transcript of history and a work of art (Khanduri, 2014).After resigning from Hindustan Times Shankar developed an idea of running a cartoonist weekly like the ‘Punch’ and thus started Shankar’s Weekly (Iyengar, 2001).Shankar’s weekly was an national platform for aspiring cartoonist in various part of India until the magazine folded in 1975.

Abraham (1995) in his journal mentions that Kerala is known for cartoonists and this is because of the unique satirical culture it had inherited. Technological developments in the printing and communication technology can be attributed to the growth of newspapers in Kerala. This phenomenon helped the growth and development of political cartooning in Kerala. Many magazines are being published fully devoted to political cartoons which include political and other non-serious joke-based cartoons. The cartoonist of Kerala successfully stood against the injustice and discrimination prevailing in the Kerala society.

In a book titled “keralathinte cartoon charithram” (History of Kerala Cartoons), Sugumar (2016), explains the historical development in the field of cartooning and talks about the prominent cartoonists who contributed and becomes part of the Indian journalism through their unique style of cartooning. Sudheernath (2017) in his book titled “Varayum Kuriyum”, deals with all forms of the cartooning and the styles adopted by different cartoonists. This study gives us a clear picture of the creative process and proper execution of political cartoons. Both the books emphasize the role played by the Kerala cartoonists in the history of Indian cartooning. The reason for it is explained as the literacy rate of Kerala and the satirical tradition that the state holds with a politically conscious general public.

Political cartoon holds a specific space in most of the newspapers available in the newsstands of Kerala in present times. These newspapers usually carry the political cartoons in the bottom portion of the front page, almost in its every issue. Most of the newspapers carry special cartoons in its inner pages which are larger in size compared to that front-page cartoons. Cartoons in each newspaper have humorous name such as Kakadrishti,Shanirega and Sunday strokes of Mathrubhumi,Kunjukurup of Malayala Manorama,Thalavara of Kerala Kaumudi,Headmash of Deshabhimani, Maavelinadu of Deepika, Kittumavan of Janayugam, Drigsakshi of Janmabhumi,Agamporul of Suprabhathm.Newspapers depending upon the importance of issues may have more than one cartoon in the front page.

Though the Polittical cartooning developed as a art form of criticism in India after being a colony of Britain and the cartoonists were influenced by the British cartoonists, over the years cartooning in India developed its own unique style and became a popular part of print journalism. In this present era, every region in India has its own cartoonists who have become cult figures among their readers. Political cartooning got a late start in Kerala but at present a good number of Kerala local newspapers publish political cartoons regularly. The newspapers in Kerala allows more spacing for cartoons as the readers are interested in it and they deals

14 mainly with serious issues such as corruption, faulty governance and policy implementation, politics, social injustice, under development, unemployment, poverty, price rise including all issues associated with day-to-day life which might not be possible to communicate through other forms of print media.

Thus, by looking into the historical background of political cartoons all over the world and that of Indian context, it justifies the need for a research in the field of political cartooning. Most of the studies done on Indian context focus more on the historical background of political cartoons and its style .Thus not much effort is taken to study political cartoon as a text.

2.4 Studies on Semiotic Analysis

The study of visual communication gives much insight into this study.It is said that visual images, illustrations , paintings,cartoons and caricatures can be precise, definite or emotional and can convey messages. This explains the need for studying images even if they are not directly related to language. Visual meanings can be clarified by defining visual vocabulary and by discussing the context of statements (Groarke,1996). Semiotics explains much of this vocabulary or terminology and it will be examined in the following section of the literature review.

Art,culture and images are intimately intertwined. Murray Edelman in his book ‘From Art to Politics’ explains that “a piece of art or a news report is likely to contain a small string of images that are influential with large numbers of people, both spectators of the political scene and policymakers themselves” (Edelman, 1995). Because of this, art is considered to be the fountainhead from which political discourse, beliefs about politics, and consequent actions ultimately develops. “Art can drive political action with the images of the potentialities and problems of human nature and of the worlds that humans inhabit and create can shape perception of achievements, challenges, and failures and transform the underlying political beliefs…policies, and the choices of leaders” (Edelman,1995, p. 55).

According to Barthes (1977) visuals cannot, but rather, it is the denotation and a series of connotations that is relative to society, culture, and history. According to him, imitative arts like drawings and paintings are comprised of two messages, “a denoted message, which is the analogon itself, and a connoted message, which is the manner in which the society to a certain extent communicates what it thinks of it” (Barthes,1977 p. 17).He explains that “Because of the denotations and connotations of an image, there has been an important historical reversal where the image no longer illustrates the words; it is now the words which, structurally, are

15 parasitic on the image” (Barthes, 1977,p. 25). Because of this change in visual communication it is necessary to examine one of the leading approaches to studying visuals, semiotics.

Semiotics studies all types of the signs: verbal, non-verbal signs and their organizations in a text. The relationship of the signifiers and the signified are studied from communicative point of view. Semiotic theory is useful in visual communication because it cannot only better explain “visual interpretation, but also communication in general” (Moriarty, 1996,p. 167). Thus, visual communication is “grounded in perception” and can be “extended internally through cognition and language” and “modified externally through social and cultural frames” (Moriarty, 1996,p. 168). By looking at semiotics, visuals are better understood in perception and by society.

Akande (2002),in his study on analysing the meaning generation process in Nigerian political cartoons uses semiotics and hermeneutics to get a clear picture on Nigerian politics.This study contributed to the understanding of political cartoons as a political communicative tool. The study explains about the four main structural elements of political cartoons that includes :sign (denotative and connotative), binary opposition, intertextuality, and hermeneutics which foster in understanding political cartoons as a text.The structural element exept hermeneutics used in this study is adopted by the researcher to study Political Cartoons from the Kerala context.

Fernando (2016), in his study on elections in Srilanka concentrated more on semiotic analysis of signs and symbols used in the editorial cartoons.The study analysed the political cartoons and divided it based on those themes proposed by Medhurst and DeZousa (1981) in their study of Taxonomy. A total of 168 editorial cartoons were used for the study .The cartoons were taken from widely read dailies in Sinhalese, Tamil and English before the Sri Lankan presidential elections held on 2010. One key point among the findings is that the editorial cartoons in election times can provide a cathartic outlet for all voters. 2.5 Political cartooning and election campaigns “ Political cartoonists acts as switchblades that are simple to the point but cuts deeply and leaves an impression.Election period is considered to be the most appropriate time for the cartoonists as the candidates plays with words and all sort of issues and problems of a place is discussed during that time.Nothing suits a satirist like the follies and foibles of a campaign trail” (Lamb ,1996).

Robertson (1963) in her study adopted content analysis as a method to analyse the artistic trends of twentieth century American editorial cartoons on presidential campaign. Cartoon of two months prior to the election was selected and this study analyzed that no cartoon expressed an opinion in opposition to the editorial policies of their papers. Medhurst and DeSousa’s (1981) studied political cartoons during election campaigning and themes were operationalized in this study. The study identified that although cartoons make unique connections between news events and the socio-political context, readers may not realize the link implied by the cartoonist as it requires knowledge on current events.Thus the socio -political and cultural knowledge of the readers is equally important to that of the cartoonists. The study done by Edwards (1993) closely examines the features of political cartoons, testing whether cartoons exhibit the form and function of narratives.The study mainly focused on the 1988 Presidential campaign in Unites states of America. Drawing upon a collection of 2752 cartoons, this study examines them for displays of the basic elements of narrative: character, setting, narrator, and plot. The study shows that p olitical cartoons are found to exhibit these elements collectively, in various configurations. Edwards (2000) , in her study on editorial cartoons gives much importance to the presidential candidates.The study identifies five themes such as character, competence, viability, independence and charisma found in the leadership of Al Gore and George Bush during the early months of campaign 2000. The study analyzed that cartoons reflected overall campaign strategies by attaching character issues to Gore and competence issues to Bush.The character frame of the study is adopted by the researcher in this present study and is used to analyse how Political leaders of Kerala Oommen Chandy and V.S Achuthanandan is portrayed in the politicala cartoons of the given period. Makemson, (2002) used the prism of scandal in an attempt to explicate the resonance and meaning of political cartoons in the 1884 presidential campaign. In using such an approach, the study also sheds light on how late-nineteenth-century American culture defined scandalous behavior and studied a previously ignored facet of 1884 political cartooning. Most of the election related research address campaign communication mainly political advertising, news coverage, public opinion, and presidential debates, whereas Conners (2005) examines the representations of presidential candidates in political cartoons to identify how often references to non-election themes are made, with particular attention to allusions made to factors from popular culture. While most of the researches focuses on political candidates Edwarrds&Ware(2005) in their article argues for more nuanced interpretations of voter representations in media .Citing key studies of news media representation, the authors explore

17 representations of voters in political cartoon commentary and argue that cartoons in a way influence their persprctives. Johnson (2009) in her study argues for the validity and heuristic value of a typology for visual argument in representations of female political power. The sexual contract theory by Carole Pateman along with the application of semiotics by Erving Goffman was used in crafting a basic typology to locate signs and signifiers in the caricatures of Clinton and Palin that specifically pertain to sex and gender.The study concludes by noting possible transformations in the anxiety provoked by the increasing presence and relevance of women in the public political arena. Political cartoon research on the 2008 campaign is limited to two studies (Conners, 2010; Edwards & McDonald, 2010), with only one of these focusing on Barack Obama. Conners (2010) examined portrayals of Barack Obama during the presidential primary season when he was campaigning against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party’s nomination. The focus of her research was more on imagery and themes related to race. This study contained no discussion of framing and little discussion of themes related to Obama’s political positions or personal attributes not related to race. While Palmer (2011) analyzed political cartoons in which he studied how Obama is portrayed by the cartoonists. This model will explain how frames in political cartoons are created, leading to a greater understanding of political cartoons as an effective means of visual communication about politics. Murkowski (2013) studied the way the press visually framed Republican nominee Mitt Romney in political cartoons as well as in written text, paying attention to whether the frames used change during the different phases of the campaign in 2002 presidential election. This study demonstrated how frames were created and applied to a candidate in order to visually frame that candidate in a specific way to an audience, sometimes after he or she was tarred by the frame in the print press. Mohammed (2016) analyses symbolism used in political cartoons in Israel and Palestine during the period of the Six Day War using comparative content analysis and semiology. The political cartoons offer a chance for an investigation as to how the cartoons mediated public and government opinion of the opposing nations before, during, and after the war. This study has shown how political cartoons symbolize and mediate dominant ideologies between the Israel, Palestine, and fellow Arab nations during the conflict. 2.6 Research done on Political cartooning As other researchers have noted, for historians to accurately extract the meaning from a cartoon, they must have a thorough grounding in the graphic conventions and symbolic

18 meanings of the individual parts. A review of the scholarly communication literature concerning political cartooning is an essential step in that process of understanding. Previous studies on political cartoons mainly focused on various aspects such as its communication function and influence on public opinion, case studies are also made such as; (Bormann, Koester, & Bennett, 1978) did a content analysis of political cartoons and Cahn (1984) studied how it acts as a communication tool. Handl (1990) in his study on Political Cartoons examined the cartoons in Australian newspapers and identified the central themes which represented the typical Australian citizens and the political parties. Marley (1994) did an exploratory research examining editorial cartoons portraying decisions of the 1991-92 Supreme Court term. This assesses the universe of cartoons from the Gallery of Cartoons over eight months addressing the Court and abortion, death penalty, hate speech, or prayer at graduation. The analysis explores themes, imagery, enthymemes, and signs.The study explains that Meaning of the political cartoons are gained through the interaction of the reader with the text.Thus both the cartoonist and the readers active participation leads to a proper communication. A case study on Aids and Political cartoons was done by Wigston (2002) , he examined the role of political cartoons and how this medium portray Aids struggle in South Africa.While most of the studies focus on studying political cartoons Udoaka (2003) investigated on the perceptions of audiences on Nigeria political cartoons. This study focused more on the impact of this communication medium on the general publiuc and its influence on them.In another studies done by Edwards and Ware (2005) and Baldry and Thibault (2006) the focus is on how political cartoons represent public opinions in campaign media. . In one of the studies, El Refaie &Horschelmann, (2010) analysed the responses of youth towards political cartoons. Willems (2011) in his study focused on the portrayal of Zimbabwean president and the political climate of the country. Studies are also conducted in terms of political cartoons as a vehicle of setting social agenda (sani I etal 2012). The study of Ashfaq (2013) is an effort to explore the role of political cartoons in opinion building and the expectations of the readers towards the political print media cartoons in Pakistan. It also aims to know the perception of the cartoonist while portraying the issues and events. Alousque’s (2013) study provides a corpus-based analysis of visual metaphors and metonymies in French political cartoons. It is argued that metaphor and metonymy play a central role in the interpretation of political cartoons. Shaikh,Tariq& Saqlain (2016) attempts to evaluate Pakistani political cartoons as a case study in order to increase general understanding of the structures and important features of

19 political cartoons. The study explored the political cartoon’s impact on common people in the backdrop of social, political, ethical and religious milieu. 2.7 Research Gap The Review of literature explains that many studies are done all over the world analysing the political cartoons and the effectiveness of this form as a political communication tool. But not much studies are done in India focusing on the political cartoon as a text. Even though the history of political cartooning in India explains its prominence, very few researches are done on understanding political cartoons. The major studies that is done in India are mainly on the history of cartooning and talks about the prominent cartoonists of India. Studies are also done comparing the cartoon styles of India and that of U. S. Thus, this study specifically contributes to the understanding of political cartoons as a text and the meaning generation process in it.

Even though India is considered to be a politicized country, till now not much researches are done on political cartoons focusing on the election period. Thus, this study focuses on the election campaigning period and explains how the political cartoons portrays the candidates and helps in image building process. It also studies how the campaigning period is depicted using the signs and symbols.

Studies on Political cartoons have used semiotics as a methodology for identifying the signs and symbols in the cartoons. But in this study the researcher develops a theoretical framework of semiotics using the theory of Roland Barthes and Charles Sanders Pierce along with that the theories of humor are included to get a clear picture on the signs and symbols in political cartoons and the humor and satire used in it for political communication.

CHAPTER 3 Theoretical Framework This chapter deals with the formulation of a theoretical framework with reference to the theories to be employed for analysing the political cartoons. The study is discussed in the light of various theoretical frameworks such as semiotics, intertextuality, enthymeme and the theory of incongruity. For this purpose, the first theory to be analysed and utilised for structuring the proposed theoretical framework is semiotics. Semiotics includes the study of how meaning is constructed and understood. It is a field of study involving many different theoretical stances and methodological tools. Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign. It involves the study of not only what we refer to as signs in everyday speech, but of anything which stands for something else. In semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gesture and objects. Semiotics deals with the meaning generation process. It is not just concerned with the communication process, along with that they try to construct reality. Political cartoons are text that carries signs which tries to construct those realities thus the theories of semiotics try to answer the question on how meaning is produced in Political Cartoons of Kerala.

3.1 Charles Sanders Peirce theory on semiotics

To describe perceptual interpretation the researcher has used Charles Sanders Peirce broader classification of signs.Acoording to Peirce everything constitutes signs and each signs have different componenets based on which meaning is developed. In a collected paper written by Peirce (1931-1966) he allows us to talk of all signs, whether language or non-language, as components of all forms of meaning. Charles Sanders Pierce, who focuses on the logic of meaning and the philosophy of knowledge, insists that a sign consists of three elements and they includes Representment (sign),Object (to which the sign is related) and an interpretant (the mental image that is developed when a receiver encounters sign) (Peirce,1931).He believes that, "All the universe is perfused with signs, if it is not composed exclusively of signs”. In other words, to Peirce signs are not just words and meaning. They are not necessarily product of conventions or language (Peirce,1931).

Representament

Interpretant Object Fig 4.1: Peirce’s triad of semiotics On explaining about signs Peirce develops a tripartite system that classifies signs into icons,indexes and symbols. 1. Iconic: refers to a sign that resembles the signified 2. Symbolic: a sign which is purely conventional 3. Indexical: a sign which is inherently connected to the signified. Peirce gives the relationship between the sign and its referential reality as much emphasis as the relationship between that of signs to each other and the relationship between signifier and signified within a sign.A sign plays a crucial role in building ideas in political cartoons and delivering proper message to its readers. Therefore signs and symbols used supports and strengthens a message which the cartoonist tried to convey (Peirce.1931).

3.2 Roland Barthes Theory of Semiotics After identifying the signs, a linguistic model (Barthes semiotics) can be used for the analysis of political cartoons. Derived from Saussure’s study of sign and signification, Barthes uses two terms to describe the signification process. Signifier (which is the object that produces meaning) and the signified (the concept or mental impression of the signified) the signified can have multiple signification. According to Barthes there are two levels of meanings: denotation and connotation. Denotation is the “literal or obvious meaning” or the first –order signifying system”. Connotation refers to “second order signifying system”, in which the signs are better understood with its relation to socio- cultural context. (Barthes, 1957). Barthes argues that connotation is a sign which is derived from the signifier of a denotative sign so denotation leads to chain of connotations. Barthes(1957)in his book ‘Mythologies’ decodes the messages of mass culture. Barthes called these messages myths. He asserts that a myth is not just any message, but a message produced by a certain signifying process. Barthes argues that signs dispense messages which are both manifest and latent. But the primary message functions to conceal the secondary message, in order to facilitate its delivery.

1.signifier 2.signified The first

level of

meaning 3.Denotative sign

4.connotative 5.connotative signifier signified Second

level of 6.connotative sign meaning

Fig 4.2: The Barthes’s Map of Sign Function

From the map above, Barthes explains that the first stage is considered to be the denotative level of meaning. In the second stage ,a connotative level of meaning is developed from the denotation. Therefore denotative level of meaning leads to number of connotations as it depends on the perception of the readers and its is related to the socio-political and cultural context.To find the connotation in the cartoon, we need to read deeply on the cartoons and understand how its is clubbed with different meanings and that depends on the knowledge of the readers on a particular context in which the image is developed. Hence, connotation can be defined as subjective meaning. The connotation will be found in the linguistic or visual representation.In political cartoons the meaning of a cartoon is understood based on this connotations. Here the reader gets a deeper understanding of the context by connecting it the political scenario of that particular place.These helps the researcher in analysing how political cartoons act as a statement of Kerala’s political scene. 3.3 Intertextuality Kristeva (1966) in his book titled “Word, Dialogue and Novel” used the term Intertextuality for the first time. Later the notion of intertextuality was introduced by Mikhail Bakhtin. The idea of intertextuality emphasizes that no text is an island. It refers to the complex structure of interrelations that exist between single works and other texts. Thus, it is said that text are not self-contained systems and there are always the traces of otherness. Therefore, intertextuality could be explained as process of connecting a text to other texts based on discourse, themes, and genres, which may also be present or inferred. Intertextuality as an approach recognizes

23 the signs necessary to form political communication and criticism without turning the signs into things that are not necessary. What the text does not say, or says vaguely, the intertext spells out. Thus, Intertextuality enables the political cartoonist to convey the often-tangled relationship between past, present, and future that characterizes political cartoons.Thus it helps us to know more about the political history or other social and cultural traditions that prevailed in a particular place. 3.4 Enthymeme Van Eemeren et al (1997) describe Enthymeme as “a pattern of argument which requires dialectic work between speaker and listener to complete its logic”. Thus, enthymeme refers to an argument in which the logic gets completed in the audience. Gadavanij (2002) explains enthymeme as “the mechanism which leads the audience to the intended meaning without actually saying it. Therefore, enthymeme act as an effective strategy to make certain offensive statements or provocative criticisms as it provides a safety exit for the political cartoonists. Hence the theory helps in understanding the meaning generation process that happen in the political cartoons and the techniques used by the cartoonists to convey the message to its readers.

3.5 Incongruity Theory The incongruity theory is mainly used by the researcher inorder to study the humour and wit used in political cartoons. The theory states that “humour is perceived at the moment of realization of incongruity between a concept involved in a certain situation and the real objects thought to be in some relation to the concept” (Mulder, 2002). The cause of laughter in every case is simply the sudden perception of the incongruity between a concept and the real objects which have been thought through it in some relation, and the laugh itself is just an expression of this incongruity. As a theory, appropriate incongruity is quite an essential explanation that accounts on how humour and wit operate in cartoons. Thus, displaying contradiction can be seen as atypical feature of cartoons. Evidently, these theoretical perspectives provide an insight into different dimensions of political cartoons in terms of meaning creation, comprehension, perception and appreciation.

Hence, the theoretical framework of semiotics along with the use of notions such as intertextuality, enthymeme and the theories of relief and incongruity gives a deeper understanding on the meaning generation process that happens in political cartoons and how it reaches as a medium of political communication.

CHAPTER 4 Methodology 4.1 Introduction

To gain a deeper understanding of the political cartoons, this study entitled “A semiotic analysis of political cartoons in Malayalam newspapers during the 2016 Assembly Election” adopts a qualitative approach. To achieve the research objectives, the source of data was obtained from the two prominent newspapers of Kerala during the period prior to 2016 general elections. This research was not studied from a single perspective of the researcher. The view points of the prominent cartoonists were also incorporated, hence a multi- method study including semiotics and expert interview was favoured by the researcher.

4.1.1 Kerala An important feature of Kerala’s political system is the media penetration among people. Kerala’s two leading daily newspapers, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi, are among the top ten dailies in India, followed by Hindi, English, and Tamil dailies. However, Malayalam is the ninth most spoken the language in India (Indian Readership Survey, 2014). Kerala is known for its high literacy rate (93.91%, against India’s 74.04% - Census 2011) and a correspondingly higher percentage of newspaper readership While in the 2014 survey, rural India recorded a total newspaper readership of 14.3 crore, the rural readership of newspapers is 21.4 crore in 2017. The report also shows that newspaper reading (hard copy) is still a habit among the younger demographic. E.P Unni, the chief political cartoonist of Indian Express is of the opinion that Malayalam language newspapers dedicates more space for the political cartoons compared to other newspapers. it will have a cartoon both on the front page and inside as well with great following (“The future of political cartoons”,2015) 4.1.2 Time Frame The one-month period was selected for the study as there was an intense scrutiny on the activities of government. The press and the public became more critical during this period. The government was facing many controversies and allegations that led to the resignation of the two powerful ministers of Kerala. Thus, this was the time when all kind of political discussions and debates were made. One thing remarkable about the time period was that most of the political activities took place during this period and the activities prior to general elections and the campaigning gave much focus on the major issues of the state (Fernando, 2016).

4.1.3 Newspaper Selection Sixty political cartoons published in two newspapers from 16 April-16 May (2016) were used for the research. The cartoon text was excerpted from two major regional newspapers of Kerala Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi. The two leading newspapers were purposively selected based on the criteria of circulation. According to the ABC report of January –June 2016 Malayala Manorama topped the chart with gross circulation of 2.1 million copies and Mathrubhumi with a circulation of 1.4 million copies had the second position (Audit Bureau of Circulations,2016).Together these dailies account for more than 65% of the total readership in Kerala. Hence, a detailed study of political cartoons of these dailies will be enough to investigate the study objectives. This study will focus on the qualitative analysis of data. Sixty cartoons were interpreted using Semiotic analysis by identifying the signs and symbols and encapsulating the major themes out of it. Along with the analysis an expert interview was also conducted with prominent cartoonist of India particularly cartoonists, working for leading newspapers in Kerala. 4.1.4 Unit of Analysis The data used for this research includes political cartoons published in two mainstream newspapers of Kerala. Political Cartoons of Mathrubhumi was collected by accessing e-paper archives and that of Malayala Manorama from the archives of public library in Kottayam district of Kerala. The cartoons were selected based on its content. The cartoons published on the page next to the editorial page was chosen. The cartoons were drawn by the staff cartoonist of the respective newspapers and each cartoon was having the cartoonist name or signature at the bottom of the cartoon. 4.2 Methods of Study The following analysis was taken, not as a textuality approach of the political cartoon discourse, but mainly as a visual discourse approach. The researcher does not offer grounded views on reader’s response to them or speculate what such responses would be. An audience reception study was not undertaken but the main focus was on the examination of the visual discourse contained in the political cartoons. A semiotic analysis was conducted to decode the signs and symbols followed by an expert interview to validate the qualitative data. Semiotic analysis was an appropriate research method for studying political cartoons as it allows researchers to examine how messages in political cartoons were interpreted and thus helps to achieve the research objectives.

4.2.1 Semiotics

Semiotics is defined most famously as a science that studies ‘the life of signs within society’ (Saussure, 1959). Semiotics became one of the most influential interdisciplinary approaches to the study of culture and communication generally from the 1960s onward (Jensen,2002). The society is constructed based on shared symbols and meaning, the study of semiotics adds to their greater understanding of the human society. Political cartoons are defined as a text with signs and symbols in it ,used to convey a strong message in the society. The signs and symbols helps in meaning generation process.Thus, semiotics is an appropriate tool for studying them (Akande, 2002). Many scholars, including Charles Sanders Peirce, Ferdinand De Saussure, Ronald Barthes, Umberto Eco, Mikhail Bakhtin, Algirdas Greimas and Julia Kristeva, have contributed to the development of semiotics. Many theories were developed to deconstruct the images and text in order to get a proper understanding of a particular context (Akande,2002). But for the purposes of this study, the semiotic theories of Roland Barthes and Charles Pierce was particularly taken into consideration.

Media and semiotic constructs

Media is an integral part of the human society that creates a cyber village connecting people. Through the media, newspapers, Radio, Satellite television, the Internet, the cyber- village is being informed and entertained, commoditized and homogenized linguistically, socially, culturally and commercially. Political cartoons easily get registered to the general public and forms social and cultural notions. Thus, an analysis in a semiotic perspective gives more insight into it.

Concept of semiotics The concept of semiotics was developed based on the two divergent traditions - the European and the American in early eighteenth and nineteenth century. The European approach is proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure who divides a sign into two components – the signifier (the sound, image, or word) and the signified, which is the concept the signifier represents, or the meaning (Saussure,1959). But the relation between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary and conventional, i.e., they can mean different things to different people (Lechte, 1994). Furthermore, Saussure ' sign system is language-based so it is inadequate to explain the complexity of visual communication.

1.signifier 2.signified

3.sign

Figure 3.1: Saussure’s Dyadic Sign Model

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce is considered to be a pioneer of pragmatism doctrine and has provided the basics in the general theory of signs. Peirce developed a comprehensive philosophy of signs which he understood as a form of logic that would support inquiry into the nature of both knowledge and being (Peirce 1992). Unlike Saussure who has introduced the term ‘semiology’, Peirce proposed the term ‘semiotic’, which according to him is synonymous with the concept of logic that focuses on the knowledge of human thinking process. The main principles containing Peirce’s theory are the human mind and sign boundaries, the three- dimensional system (triadic/trichotomy) and the relativity regarding the three typologies or taxonomies of signs (icon, index and symbol). The concept of ‘sign’

The concepts of ‘sign’ is defined from various perspectives. Sign is considered to be the unit of study just as how language becomes the focal point of linguistics. The major characteristics of signs used in communication process is similar to that of language.The ‘signs’ are further divided into dyadic and triadic models.

Dyadic model of ‘sign’

The concept of ‘sign’ is the basic notion of study in semiotics. There are two types of models of ‘signs’: dyadic or bipartite and triadic models.The dyadic model consist of two components such as ‘sign vehicle’ and ‘meaning’.

Triadic model of ‘sign’

The triadic signs consist of three components that includes: sign vehicle, sense and referent. The sign vehicle is similar to Saussure’s concept of ‘signifier’. The ‘sense’ stands for the mental image of the ‘object’ and the ‘referent’ stands for the ‘object’

Roland Barthes

The limitation of Saussure’s concept of ‘sign’ was challenged by the structural critic and theorist Roland Barthes in course of time for the rigidity and constraints of signifier and signified. He extends his concept of ‘sign’ - ‘signifier’ and ‘signified’ in order to emancipate the rigidity between the components of a ‘sign’. A proper functioning of signs take place in a society when it gives life to the signs. According to Barthes signifier played the role of mediators whereas signified was not just ‘a thing’ but a ‘mental epresentation of the thing’He crosses the arbitrariness of language by extending the notion of ‘sign’. Roland Barthes deals with two layers of meaning the denotation and the connotation (Barthes,1972).

Denotation and connotation

According to Barthes denotation refers to the literal meaning and connotation to associative meanings. Each sign has its own denotative meaning while the connotative or the associative meaning depends on the socio-political and cultural context.

Why Barthes and Peirce?

The reason for choosing the semiotic approaches of Barthes and Pierce was mainly because they have been recognized as pioneers in the history of modern semiotics. In addition to that their approaches are not limited to their respective area of studies such as philosophy and linguistics, but have reached and produced significant impacts across other disciplines that includes arts & literature, such as music, theatre, movies and text analysis as well as communication, advertising, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, mathematics and so on.

Charles pierce broader classification of signs was used by the researcher, as the very essence of Peircean semiotics is the process through which an object is represented by a sign and creates another sign. Peirce’s sign classifications can be used to show how we construct and organize our world knowledge. From a semiotic point of view, Studies of meaning leads to the interpretation of messages in terms of their signs and patterns of symbolism. In political cartoons, it would be interesting to deconstruct the visual image to identify them. And by looking at the relationship among these signs, the categories of signs and the relationships between them create a system. The denotative and connotative approaches of Barthes was taken as a framework of this study because Barthes mainly focussed on how things mean than what things mean. The meaning generation process that takes place in political cartoons could be easily studied using

29 his framework in analysing myth. Barthes has analysed the "fashion system," and classified the system of communication through fashion into two categories: image clothing and descriptive clothing. Likewise, in political cartoons; we expect exaggerated and funny signs to be shown, and pleasant yet powerful messages to be interpreted. 4.2.2 Interviews

Furthermore, the interviews with the political cartoon experts throw light on how meaning is produced in political cartoons and what it means to them professional on considering political cartoons as a political statement. Semi-structured interview was employed to obtain views of five experts in the field of Political cartooning. Experts were the political cartoonists of the mainstream newspapers of Kerala. Expert interviews were considered the most appropriate method for collecting data, to gain insights into the views and experiences of individual experts and thus validate the researcher’s findings.

4.3 Research Design

4.3.1 Semiotics

A semiotic analysis was done on sixty cartoons of one-month period prior to the assembly election. The cartoon was taken from two mainstream newspapers of Kerala. Thirty cartoons from each paper was selected and a general analysis was done on every single cartoon combining Charles Pierce’s broader classification of signs and Roland Barthes denotative and connotative approach. Later a pattern analysis of cartoons of each paper was made along with a comparative analysis of both the newspaper.

4.3.2 Interview

Interviewees are experts from the field of Print media. Staff cartoonist of Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi of whom the cartoons are analysed were interviewed. The other cartoonist includes a prominent cartoonist of India and two cartoonists of Kerala newspaper Kerala Kaumudi and Madhyamam. The president of Kerala Cartoon Academy was also interviewed along with them. Questions were asked to them based on the research objectives of the study. On the basis of questions asked, themes were developed and thus it supports the statements made in semiotic analysis of Political cartoons

4.3.3 Data Collection

The two cartoonists of whom the work is being studied were contacted over telephone to obtain an appointment. A digital recording device was used to record the interview. There cartoons were shown to them and was analysed other experts were contacted and interviewed through phone and the voice recordings was recorded with their consent. A semi-structured interview protocol containing a set of open-ended questions for gathering expert views was used to discuss regarding the political cartoons as a tool for political communication. The semi-open structure of the interviews allowed interviewees to elaborate on particular areas which they regarded as important.

Duration

The duration of interview ranged from One to one and half hours. The data collected from the interviewees were transcribed and each interview took 10-15 hours to transcribe. Transcripts were consolidated for analysis after the transcription was completed for each expert and it was divided into different themes.

4.4 Conclusion

According to linguists, it’s the human tendency to interpret the visual things whether it be any situation, the object or drawing. All the things consist of the signs and symbols. Without them everything is incomplete and as Pеircе says that a sign is also incomplete ‘unless it is interpreted as a sign’. Sign takes the form of words, images, objects etc., such things do not possess any intrinsic meaning and acquires the position of signs when we invest them with meaning. In other words, it can be said that meaning cannot be transferred to the audience but, the viewer, actively creates it according to a complex interplay of codes or conventions of which the audience is generally not aware. The interpretation of the cartoons can be stated as the construction and maintenance of reality. Defining reality of the signs serves the ideological function (Sharma,2016). Thus, this research in the following chapters tries to answer the questions such as how the cartoons makes meaning and act as political statement that constructs reality.

CHAPTER 5 Data Analysis and Discussion

5.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with the analysis of political cartoons published in two Kerala newspapers, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi from the time frame of April 16-May 16, 2016, one month prior to the 2016 assembly elections in Kerala. The political cartoons were critically evaluated using the theoretical framework of semiotics, along with that the notions of intertextuality, enthymeme and incongruity were identified in order to get a clear understanding on Political Cartoons. The section of semiotic analysis is presented first, followed by an expert interview with cartoonists.

Sixty political cartoons have been analysed semiotically. In analysing the given data, the researcher used Peirce’s semiotics and Barthes theory. Semiotics helps in describing the logic according to which meanings generation process takes place (Barthes, 1966).

Two levels of interpretations are done in this analysis: the first level of interpretation identifies the signs and its types based on Peircean model. The second level of interpretation deals with the literal and implied meanings of the whole message using the Barthes denotation and connotation theory.

5.2 General Analysis Mathrubhumi Newspaper 1. A

B 1

C 2 3 D

Fig 5.2.1 Mathrubhumi, 16th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. This political cartoon was published in 16th April, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Based on the analysis of the data, the researcher found three signs; the representamen, object,

32 and Interpretant. The data is analysed using Peirce semiotics followed by two level of signification using Barthes theory.

Table 5.2.1. Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 16th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human a

1. The man in green color dress A human being It resembles Sitaram holding a pen in his hand. Yechury, the Political leader that represents The Communist Party of India (Marxist). 2. The pen that man holds in his A tool used for writing It refers to how political hands. parties explain things or make comments. 3. The hands and wide lips of Human body parts It refers to the change in the man. statements made by the political leaders. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Although the radicalists and the reactionaries were prima facie distanced from each other... B. Soviet Union C. It is to be understood that active undercurrents between the two were at play. D. Sonia E. Left candidates support Sonia in West Bengal.

This cartoon connects the West Bengal election with the Kerala assembly election. The cartoonist mainly uses a film dialogue from the Malayalam film ‘Sandesham’. It is a film that deals with unreal political activism existing in Kerala. It is an Indian Malayalam black comedy- political satire film written by prominent actor of Malayalam film industry Mr. Sreenivasan

33 and it takes major digs on the political parties in the state of Kerala. The phrase ‘A’ is dialogue in the film which shows the hypocrisy of politicians. The phrase ‘B’ refers to Soviet Union, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the founding and ruling political party of the Soviet Union. The phrase ‘C’ is again the continuation of the film dialogue and here the active undercurrent between the two refers to the congress and the communist party alliance in West Bengal. The phrase ‘D’ shows some letters of Soviet Union is crossed out and darkened using the pen and the word SONIA is made out of it. Sonia refers to Sonia Gandhi the former president of the Indian National Congress and here it refers to the alliance. The phrase ‘E’ is the news that Communist parties supports Sonia Gandhi in West Bengal and thus forms communist-congress alliance whereas in Kerala they contest against each other.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon is divided into two segments and consists of one character. In the first image an old man in green colour dress holds a pen in his hand. He writes ‘Soviet Union’ in the wall and says ‘the radicalists and the reactionaries’. In the second image he corrects the word by striking out some letters and writes ‘Sonia’ and he says but an active undercurrent between the two were at play. The caption of the cartoon explains Left candidates support Sonia in West Bengal.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoon is based on the communist party’s alliance with their rival Indian National Congress. The cartoonists connect both the West Bengal election with the Kerala Election. In West Bengal CPI(M) made a discussion with the congress party and formed an alliance resulting in their success in Siliguri municipal election. The Siliguri model got much attention that led to the discussion of Left-Congress alliance. Thus, this formed a basis of seat sharing in West Bengal and the refused to call it as an alliance.

In1980s two main political coalitions were formed in Kerala: Left Democratic Front led by the Communist party of India (Marxist) and the Unites Democratic Front led by the Indian National Congress. Alternatively, the two parties come into power and Clashes between the supporters of the two political party have occurred regularly. Both the INC and the CPI (M) have confronted each other on corruptions and scams, promoting political violence, and the general breakdown of law and order when they are in power.

In this cartoon the cartoonist tries to portray the strategies used by the political parties in two different states, the party that created alliance in one state contest against each other in other state. The icon used in this cartoon is the caricature of Sitaram Yechury, leader of the communist party in India. The cartoon is divided into two segments and Mr. Yechury is writing something on the wall with a pen. Writing and illustrating political messages on the walls was an age-old traditional campaign technique used by different political parties. In the first image Mr. Yechury writes ‘Soviet Union ‘on the wall. Soviet Union here refers to the Communist ideologies such as Marxism and Leninism’s Mr. Yechuri explains the ideologies of communism and in the second image, he crossed out certain words from it and it is read as ‘Sonia’ which refers to Sonia Gandhi the former president of Indian National Congress. Thus, the cartoonist portrays the change in character of communist party from holding communist ideologies and later forming alliance with congress party to win the election.

The dialogues used in this cartoon are from the Malayalam movie ‘Sandesham’ (Message). It’s a story which shows the world of politics with all its hypocrisies out in the open. The movie hilariously and artistically exposes the double-speak and hypocrisy of the communists and the corruption and sycophancy in the congress party. The film is well known for its dialogues, some of which have become part of the Kerala folklore. Malayalam actor Shankaradi plays the role of a Marxist ideologue in this film and the dialogue by him when his party loses the election is used by the cartoonist to explain the stand of communist party in West Bengal election. The satire and humour of the cartoons get correctly conveyed to the reader only when the reader has a proper knowledge on the film.

2. A

B C

1 5 2

D 6

3 A E A 7 4

Fig 5.2.2Mathrubhumi, 17th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.2. Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 17th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man with wide A human being It resembles the opened mouth and raised Communist party leader hands. V.S Achuthanandan. 2. An old man with grey Resembles Oommen hairs sitting on chair with Chandy, the former A human being eyes closed. Chief Minister of Kerala. 3. The wide opened mouth of A human body part Controversial statements the old man in the first made by V.S against image. Oommen Chandy. 4. A bald –headed man with A human being Resembles A. K. Antony white colour wings with an Indian politician and victory sign. attorney who currently serve as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, representing the state of Kerala. 5. The man with an angry A human being Resembles V.M face and raised hand. Sudheeran, former President of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee. 6. A golden chair A separate seat for one It represents Oommen person. chandy’s dream for the chief Minister’s position. 7. The old man with his Human body parts It symbolizes Oommen two hands placed firmly Chandy’s prayer to get together. reelected in the election

and to hold the position of Chief Minister for the second time.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 5 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Controversies doesn’t affect development- Oommen Chandy B. ‘Kali’(rage) C. ‘Theri’(spark) D. ‘Swargarajyam’ (Kingdom of Heaven) E. ‘King Liar’

The cartoon deals with the statement made by Oommen Chandy on controversies and scams against congress party. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual. The Interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is the statement By Oommen Chandy that even though allegation and scams are raised against congress party it won’t affect the development of the state. The phrase ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, ‘E’ are names of some popular Malayalam and Tamil movies. The cartoonist tries to connect the current political situation with those movie names. The phrases ‘B’ is a Malayalam movie on extreme anger of the Hero, here the cartoonist portrays V.S Achuthanadan’s extreme anger on Oommen Chandy by making controversial statements against him. The phrase ‘C’ is a Tamil movie and the word ‘Theri’ means a small fiery particle thrown off from fire, alight in ashes. Here the cartoonist uses the word theri as in Malayalam it refers to abusive language. It refers to the statement made by V.M Sudheeran of against the former Chief Minister. The phrase ‘D’ is a 1962 Malayalam film. Here the cartoonist uses the film name to portray that even though politicians shows their rage and anger towards him there is heaven waiting for him i.e. he being reelected as the Chief Minister of Kerala. The phrase ‘E’ is a 2016 Indian Malayalam language comedy film about a compulsive liar. The cartoonist compares Chandy to a King liar. This refers to the controversies and allegations against him and still he wants to be the next Chief Minister.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon is divided into four segments with an old man sitting on a chair. In the first image the old man is sitting on a chair relaxed and a man standing behind him shouts raising

37 his both hands. In the second image the old man holds his hands and stays calm, while a man tries to disturb him by raising his hand and shouting. In the third image the old man looks behind and wonders seeing an angel with victory symbol. In the last image the old man holds his hands and prays while he dreams a golden chair in his imagination. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on a statement made by the former Chief Minister of Kerala against the allegations, scams and corruption cases. The cartoonist has used the technique of labelling using the popular Malayalam and Tamil film names. The labelling helps people to easily connect the situation with those familiar film names. The cartoon is divided into four segments and tries to show different expressions of Oommen Chandy. The caption of the cartoon is a statement made by Oommen Chandy that controversies doesn’t affect development. Oommen Chandy faced a biggest challenge of his career after solar scam and the allegations of dubious land deals by his ex-gunman Salim Raj ( Binduraj, 2014). The controversies surrounding him include criticism over his decision for total prohibition in the state without consulting his allies, an order by a vigilance court to re-investigate Travancore Titanium Products Limited (TTPL), Bar scam, Land scam, Jisha rape and murder case and so on. Although such controversies were raised against him, he believed that it will never affect his political career or the congress party’s reputation. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white, and gold. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include rage, anger, calmness and happiness. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. The color of dress worn by the characters is white that resembles Indian politicians. Dress and identity got relevance in India during Independence movement when Mahatma Gandhi inspired Indians to wear only hand-spun khadi in order to boycott the foreign goods that were imported from Britain. The white coloured Khadi-wear symbolised self-rule or Swaraj. People started wearing khadi to show their support towards the Indian freedom struggle. Today, most of the Indian politicians wear white dress following this tradition. The white colour is more appealing to the masses as it reflects their ideal perception of a politician. For them it symbolizes purity and a sacrifice of luxurious pleasure as they expect politician to be “untarnished” and “clean”, both literally and figuratively (Tarlo, 1996). The golden colour of the chair here represents Chief Minister’s position. The cartoonist tries to compare the Chief Minister’s chair with a royal chair which is also a symbolic representation of power.

The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of politicians which includes V. S Achuthanandan, Oommen Chandy, V.M Sudheeran and A.K Antony. In the first image Oommen Chandy relaxes in a chair and V.S Achuthanandan shouts at him and raise his hands. This shows the controversial statements made by V.S during the campaign period against Oommen Chandy. Mr.Achuthanandan was the main rival of Mr. Chandy in this election as they made several verbal fights in media and open stages. The film name ‘Kali’ was used by the cartoonist to show his rage during campaign period. In the second image again Oommen Chandy is portrayed as calm and quiet with closed eyes and folded hands and V. M Sudheeran tries to disturb him by shouting and the film name ‘Theri’ is used to describe this situation. ‘Theri’ in Malayalam refers to abusive language. so here Sudheeran is portrayed as using abusive languages against Chandy which is an exaggeration done by the cartoonist. Even though Sudheeran and Chandy belongs to congress party they had several issues during decision making. The stand –off between both the leaders delayed even the declaration of congress candidates. In the third image Oommen Chandy looks astonished seeing A. K Antony as an angel. So here the cartoonist used angel as a symbolic representation of a person who is kind and have done favor. Here Antony is portrayed as an angel as he always supports Chandy and the film name refers to the Kingdom of heaven. Thus, he gave Chandy a ray of hope for being reelected as a Chief Minister. In the fourth image Chandy prays and imagines a golden chair which refers to his dream of being reelected as a Chief Minister. The last image is labelled with the film name King Liar. The cartoonist use irony by using this film name as Chandy faces many allegations still he is not ready to accept any of those allegations and wants to continue in the chair. 3. A B

C 1 4

2 5 E D 3 D 6

Fig 5.2.3 Mathrubhumi, 18th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 18th April, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Based on the analysis of the data, the researcher found three signs; the representamen, object, and Interpretant. The data is analysed using Peirce semiotics followed by two level of signification using Barthes theory.

Table 5.2.3 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 18th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man sitting in four A human being wearing The old man resembles VS different postures holding casual dress with gray Achuthanandan one of the an iPad in one hand and hairs. founding leaders of talking to someone over Communist Party of India. phone in the first two images and laughing at something in the second two images. 2. The Gadgets used by the A small tool such as a It resembles that to connect old man, which includes an machine that has a more with tech-savvy youth, iPad and a cell phone particular function. opposition leader V S Achuthanandan has decided to take a cue from his fellow politicians and make his presence felt in the cyber world. 3. The eyes of the old man Human body part The first two images he is looking at something and eyeballs are raised, it shows a serious discussion is taking place. In the other two images the eyes are closed

which means he is happy and laughing at something.

4. The dress of the old man-A A casual dress A shift from traditional blue t-shirt and grey political campaigning trousers with yellow belt. strategies to the use of new A yellow color heart media. shaped image is seen in his t-shirt. 5. The man on the screen A human being It resembles Pinarayi Vijayan, an Indian politician who is the current Chief Minister of Kerala.

6. The closed lips of the old The lips and mouth are It shows V.S man in the first two images the human body parts. Achuthanandan’s and the mouth wide opened The closed lips show he is excitement of using social in the second two images. talking something serious media for the first time. and waiting for response and the wide opened mouth shows his happiness.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Comrade, do you have Facebook to take a post from it? B. . Let daalvada and black tea come from flipkart C. V.S in social media D. Let me unfriend and tag for one more time. E. I’m not old but I’m viral now.

The cartoon deals with the news on usage of social media by the communist leader V.S Achuthanandan. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual. The Interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is a filmy dialogue from the

Malayalam movie ‘Lalsalam’ which is a political drama film that deals with early days of the communist party in Kerala. The dialogue has no specific meaning but for people in Kerala this is an unforgettable dialogue which has the spirit of communism in it. So here the cartoonist tries to transform that filmy dialogue in a modern way which shows the transition from traditional to new school of communism. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘B’ depicts the official food of a Kerala communist. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘C’ is based on the news on which this cartoon is created “V.S in social media”. The Interpretant of phrase ‘D’ resembles an old film song in Malayalam and this shows his character, he is a person who always fights with his party members and later tries to maintain the friendship with them. This is an indirect way of telling that he wants to be the next Chief Minister of Kerala and the Interpretant of phrase ‘E’ portrays a conversation between VS Achuthanandan, one of the founding leaders of communist party in Kerala and Pinarayi Vijayan. In this cartoon VS Achuthanandan is trying to tell him that he is not old and he can be the next chief minister of Kerala as people supports him.

The denotation level of the image The label of the cartoon explains VS Achuthanandan’s entry into social media. The above political cartoon consists of two characters. A man wearing casual dress and grey hairs is shown in four different body gestures which include different sitting postures and in the last image he is lying down on a bed. The character in the cartoon is shown as a modern man using new technologies. The man holds a tablet computer and in first two images he is talking over phone and in other two images he is laughing by looking at something in his tablet computer. The second man in the cartoon is shown as seen on the screen of the computer. It seems like a conversation happens between them. The dialogues are delivered in a humorous way. The first dialogue said by him is “comrade, do you have face book to take a post from it?” The second dialogue is “let dal vada and black tea come from flip kart”. The third dialogue is “let me unfriend and tag for one more time”. The last image shows a conversation between the two characters and the man lying down in the bed is telling him that he is not old but he is viral now.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist has used the art form of caricature in order to portray the two prominent leaders of communist party of Kerala V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan. The cartoon mainly focus on VS Achuthanandan, chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission .One of the front page news on Mathrubhumi published in 18th April was on the

92 year old Achuthanandan’s entry into digital world (“Smart Achuthanandan,” 2016) Taking cue from the 2014 elections that saw social media emerge as the real game changer, the communist party was keen to tap the immense potential of new media and reconnect with the masses and the youth in particular. A redesigned version of Achuthanandan's website was launched by CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. CPM district secretary C K Rajendran launched the new Facebook page and Government Victoria College union chairman Anand Jain launched the Twitter account. The new website was having details of political milestones of VS Achuthanandan and the history of states communist movement, there was also a section dedicated for his selected speeches and caricatures on him (CPM’S 92 year,”2016). The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colors used in the cartoon i.e. blue, green and yellow. The dress that the man wears in this cartoon is given priority than the colour of the dress. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include happiness and excitement of using social media. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. Here the colour of the dress is bright which indicates youth (Bortoli & Maroto, 2001).Young men enjoy oddities of fashion. They always prefer bright colors and experiments new trends. the casual bright colored dress shows how V.S try to adapt the changes and trends in the society. The yellow heart on the T-shirt denotes a heart of gold emoji. It signifies happiness, friendship and the joy of the life (Moloney, 2017). The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of V. S Achuthanandan in different body postures and that of Pinarayi Vijayan. The symbol used in this cartoon includes tablet computer, phone, the yellow heart on the T-shirt and the casual dress. These all are the symbolic representation of shifting from traditional way of campaigning to the adoption of digital campaigning strategies i.e. the change of an old school Marxist to a digital revolutionary. The index is the written language that is used to inform the reader which is analyzed by the researcher in the verbal analysis. The Interpretant of the cartoon is that the veteran leader V.S. Achuthanandan of the CPM opened Facebook and Twitter accounts during the campaign period and used them effectively to attack their opponents. Campaign on various social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter were more organized for this election compared to earlier elections. The most commonly used platform was Facebook. Facebook accounts of several candidates have professionally shot videos which they posted at regular intervals. Indian Union Muslim League candidates created an edge on social media in the initial stages but soon the opponents made it a level playing ground. LDF was the

43 first to post several promotional videos while UDF and NDA followed it up with equally relevant videos.

Most of the candidates used Facebook as a medium to counter the allegations or claims made by his/her opponent. The fight of Azhikode candidates M.V. Nikesh Kumar and K.M. Shaji gained much attraction. BJP’s election campaign was significant on Facebook. The streaming of videos of national leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a boost for the BJP cadre.

Apart from an interactive website, Achuthanandan also launched an exclusive mobile app to provide instant updates on his activities and ensure direct engagement with voters. The application includes daily press release of the leader and his audio message on the contemporary political situation (Shaji,2016). The dialogues used in this cartoon are delivered in a humorous way to generate sarcasm. In the first two images he is talking to someone over phone. The first dialogue resembles a filmy dialogue from the Malayalam movie ‘Lalsalam’ which is a political drama film that deals with early days of the communist party in Kerala. The dialogue “comrade, do you have cigarette with you to take a matchbox” has no specific meaning but for people in Kerala this is an unforgettable dialogue which has the spirit of communism in it. The dialogue is a code among communist party members. In this cartoon this dialogue from the film is converted in respect to the present scenario which shows that he is ready to adopt the new trends. In the second dialogue he is placing order in flip kart for dal vada and tea which depicts the official food of a Kerala communist.

The third dialogue resembles an old film song in Malayalam and it shows that in a way he wants to be the next Chief Minister of Kerala. The last image portrays a conversation between VS Achuthanathan and Pinarayi Vijayan, The current Chief Minister of Kerala. These two leaders were the chief ministerial candidates of Left Democratic Front in 2016 general election. Even though they belong to the communist party there are some ideological differences between the two and can be considered as a relevant factor for the discord. In this cartoon VS Achuthanandan is trying to tell him that he is not old and he can be the next chief minister of Kerala as people support him.

In 2006, when the state party leadership decided against VS candidature, it was sheer public response that overwhelmed the party politburo into rescinding its own decision to keep VS away. The same was repeated in 2011.the only difference in 2016 is that this time around,

44 the politburo did not wait for the masses to spring up in VS favor and went ahead to announce the candidature of both VS and Pinarayi for the assembly polls (“The VS-Pinarayi,”2016).

1 3 B

2 C 4

Fig 5.2.4 Mathrubhumi, 19thApril, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.4 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 19th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. A shirtless Old man A human being It resembles the former wearing a specs Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy. 2. The two politicians in Human beings It resembles Ramesh white dress holding the Chennithala, the Leader of old man. the opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly and V.M Sudheeran, former President of the Kerala

Pradesh Congress Committee. 3. The specs that old man Eyeglasses, People who It represents Gandhi specs, wears have defective vision to show that Oommen need spectacles to see Chandy follows Gandhi’s properly. ideologies. 4. The eyes and lips of the Human body parts It represents Oommen old man Chandy’s change in character. 5. The green bottles that old A container used for It represents the liquor man holds in both his storing drinks or other policy of UDF hands. liquids. government.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 5 phrases which have been analyzed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Raghupati Raghava Raja… B. Six new Bars C. Rum

The cartoon is based on the news of granting license for six new bars in Kerala. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is a bhajan (Hindu devotional song) that was widely popularized by Mahatma Gandhi. The old man in the cartoon is singing the bhajan and stops without completing it. this interprets that Oommen Chandy is trying to follow the Gandhi’s ideologies by prohibiting Liquor in the State. The Phrase ‘B’ deals with the news of sanctioning license for six new bars in Kerala. This shows a change in liquor policy. The phrase ‘C’ is a continuation of the song sung in phrase ‘A’. Instead of ‘Ram’ it is pronounced as ‘Rum’ which show the change in character of Chandy from being a Gandhian to a political leader who supports liquor in state. ‘Rum’ refers to a distilled alcoholic drink made from sugarcane byproducts.

The denotation level of the image

The image is divided into two segments and it consist of three characters in it. In the first image a shirtless old man is walking with the support of two men on his left and right holding

46 him. The old man wears a round specs and sings a Hindu devotional song. The cartoon consists of caption in which it is written ‘six new bars. In the second segment they turn back and walks away. The old man turns and gives a smile and he hold some bottles in both the hands. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on the liquor policy in Kerala which mainly focused on the 2016 assembly election. Releasing the election manifesto of the Front at a press meet, Oommen Chandy commented that some were misusing the policy by converting the three- and four-star hotels to five star and the UDF, if voted to power, would not give licence to such hotels (“Kerala will be liquor free,”2016). The cartoonist use irony as a technique in this cartoon to portray the character of Oommen Chandy as a politician. Kerala with a highest per capita alcohol consumption at more than eight litres per person yearly, implemented liquor policy as a move towards total prohibition of alcohol within 10 years. The government wants to make the southern state free from alcohol and thus protect youth from destroying their lives.

The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white and green. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which shows calmness in the face of the old man and deceiving look in the second image. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. Here the white colour is used to represent the politicians and the green colour bottle to represent alcohol or the liquor policy of the state.

The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of Oommen Chandy, V.M Sudheeran and Ramesh Chennithala. The specs that Oommen Chandy wears is a symbol of following Gandhian policies."Gandhism" refers to the ideologies of Gandhi specially his words and actions that people try to imitate in their life and live according to it. By prohibiting alcohol from the state, he tries to make Kerala a liquor free state. The technique of irony is used in the labelling of the cartoons. In the first image Oommen Cahndy sings a Hindu devotional song “Ragupathy Raghava Raja,’ which was sung by Gandhi and his followers during the Salt March to Dandi. The song symbolizes the policies of the UDF government. In the second image he continues the song but with a change in the lyrics. He replaces ‘Ram’ (represents Lord Rama), with ‘Rum’ (an alcoholic drink). This shows the change in policies. Even though prohibition of liquor was implemented licenses were sanctioned for six new five-star bars. Later Oommen Chandy explained that it is the Centre that grants bar license to new five-star hotels in the state as part of its tourism policy and the government had no role in it.

The prohibition policy of the erstwhile UDF government has sparked off a war of words between former Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and former KPCC president VM Sudheeran. Chennithala’s statement that the UDF liquor policy did not help UDF in the assembly elections and that the party should take a relook at the liquor policy has triggered off a fresh controversy over the policy (“Chennithala-Sudheeran feud”, 2016). Thus, the liquor policy created a war among the members of the congress party and it doesn’t favour the 2016 assembly election.

5. B

1 E C 2 4 D

3 5 F

Fig 5.2.5 Mathrubhumi, 20th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.5 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 20th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The woman in yellow It resembles Sitaram dress. A human being Yechury, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the politburo communist party of India.

2. The pillow and the A blanket is a piece of It represents a house and blanket. soft cloth used to cover its bedroom. The the body and pillow is Congress-Communist used to support the head alliance is compared with when lying or sleeping. an illegal relation 3. A person lying next to the A human being Resembles Rahul Gandhi, woman President of the Indian National Congress. 4. A mobile phone A tool used for Statement made by communication. Sitaram Yechury on the alliance between congress and communist party. 5. The finger on lips Human body part It shows communist party is not ready to accept their alliance with Indian National Congress in public. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 5 phrases which have been analyzed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. It’s a big lie... B. I just look at him… C. And they consider it as an illegal relation... D. Who is calling at this midnight…? E. Shh... F. No alliance with Congress in Bengal-Yechury.

The cartoon is in the form of a conversation between the characters. The news based on which the cartoon is drawn is the statement made by Sitaram Yechury about the alliance of communist party with congress in west Bengal. Here the cartoonist gives importance to the labelling by creating sarcasm out of it. The dialogue between the characters is on the alliance between congress and communist party and the alliance is compared with adultery. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is that Yechury denies the alliance with congress. The phrase ‘B’ is given as a conversation in family and the woman says that there is no such relation with that

49 man and ‘if I see him, I just look at him’. The phrase ‘C’ is the continuation of the dialogue that people consider it as an illegal relation. In phrase ‘D’ the man asks the woman who is it and the woman silence him as they are not ready to declare the alliance within the parties. Phrase ‘F’ deals with the news related to the congress- communist alliance in West Bengal and Yechury denies it.

The denotation level of the image The image takes place in a bedroom and the cartoon consist of two characters a woman and a man. The cartoon is divided into four panels. The woman is sitting on the bed and talks with someone over the phone. In the first image she adjusts her dress and says that all such rumours are big lies. She wears her earrings and says that she just looks at him and they are telling that there is an illegal relation. In the last image the man sleeping next to her wakes up and asks her who is it and she silence him. The caption of the cartoon is the news in which Yechury says that there is no such alliance with congress in Bengal.

The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of analogy in this cartoon by comparing the congress – communist alliance in Bengal with adultery or an illegal relationship. By relating an issue or a happening with a much familiar situation, cartoonists can help their readers to see it in a different light and can make them think more deeply into it. The enthymeme is used as the cartoonist leaves it to the reader to understand the political strategies used by the political parties. The news that Yechury denied the alliance with congress in Bengal is the topic of the above cartoon. Even though the alliance between the Communist party and that of Congress is considered as an unprincipled and opportunistic as they differ in their ideologies, it should be remembered that politics is an art if survival. Thus, the alliance was the only strategy that can be used against the Trinamool as it is there common foe (Chatterjee, 2016). The objects which have found in this cartoon include icon which shows Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the politburo communist party of India and Rahul Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress. Sitaram Yechury was portrayed as a woman. Here the woman represents the communist party and the man i.e. Rahul Gandhi represents the congress party. Here the cartoonist portrays man as woman in order to show the relation between the two parties i.e. they became alliance in West Bengal and in Kerala they still fight each other. So, the relation is portrayed as adultery and that has irony in it. The woman had an illegal relationship with the man and she explains to someone over the phone that there

50 is no such relationship. The index found in this sign is verbal text which used as information to the reader such as the captions and dialogues.

A B 4

1 5

2 3 6

Fig 5.2.6 Mathrubhumi, 21stApril 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.6 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 21st April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. An old man in white It resembles Oommen colour dhoti and a piece of A human being Chandy, the former Chief cloth on the shoulder. Minister of Kerala.

2. The man in white dhoti A human being It resembles V.M standing near to the old Sudheeran, former man with folded hands President of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.

3. White colour dhoti A traditional wear. It portrays Oommen Chandy as a landlord (Jenmi). 4. A damaged roof with Structure of a building It represents an ‘illam’, a holes in it lineage system used for classification and identification of caste system in Kerala. 5. An old man wearing A human being It resembles Vijay Mallya bright colour dress with an Indian businessman and the image wine glasses in former politician it. 6. The folded hands of the Human body parts It portrays V.M Sudheeran

man as a servant who obeys the order of the landlord (Oommen Chandy).

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which was analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Kerala government granted public land to Mallya at throwaway price. B. Is there any rich man left without supper….?

The cartoon is based on the new land scam that hit the Congress-led UDF government in Kerala. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is that fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries Group was given twenty acres of land in Kanjikode in Palakkad district by the Kerala government. Some media reports commented that the land that costs over three lakh rupees was given to UB group for Rs.70, 000.the interpretant of phrase ‘B’ is that there was a tradition in Kerala of asking that anyone is there left without supper, before closing their main gates. Here the cartoonist portrays Oommen Chandy as a landlord who is very compassionate. Even though the state lack money he is ready to help rich men like Vijay Mallya.

The denotation level of the image The image takes place in the front portion of a house. The cartoon consists of three characters, an old man, his helper and a man dressed colourfully. The caption of the cartoon is

52 that Kerala government granted public land to Mallya. The old man comes out of the house and asks that is there any rich man left without supper. The roof top of the house is damaged and has holes in it as if the building is ready to collapse.

The connotation level of the image The cartoonist of this cartoon has used the technique of analogy and compares the political scenario with another situation that is known to the general public. The news based on which the cartoon is published was the new land scam that hit the congress-led UDF government in Kerala. Oommen Chandy government came under the scanner for reportedly transferring industrial land in Palakkad to the liquor baron Vijay Mallya at purportedly low rates. The cartoonist compares the land scam case with a traditional feudal system in Kerala. The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of Oommen Chandy, V.M Sudheeran and Vijay Mallya. the front portion of the house symbolizes ‘nalukettu’ house in Kerala. Earlier in 18th and 19th century, Kerala was having a ‘tharavadu’ tradition and the house was known as ‘Nalukettu’ which was built based on the principles of ancient ‘thachushastra’ (science of carpentry). People used to stay together as joint families with patriarch and matriarch systems. This was the time when the Nairs and Namboodiri’s dominated the society with their power and wealth. Here the cartoonist compares the state of Kerala with a traditional Nalukettu which loses its power and the building is ready to collapse. The scams and corruptions cases in Kerala is tarnishing its image as a developing state. The ‘Kerala model’ was earlier followed by many states. But during these years the leaders faced many controversies. The government had come under fire for gifting land to controversial godman Sathosh Madhavan, later the controversial order was withdrawn along with another order on the Methran Kayal case, where the state cabinet issued an order to fill up the Methran Kayal and green lighted landfilling at Kadamakuddy in Kochi. The cartoonist portrays OommenChandy as a Jenmi (landlord) and he wears a white dhoti White colour costumes ‘Mundu’ was the traditional dress for the men in Kerala. In olden days the men did not wear any cloth on the upper part of the body. The upper castes drape a piece of cloth on the shoulder. V.M Sudheeran stands near to him holding a piece of cloth in his hand which shows that he is a servant of the landlord. ‘Athaazha Pazhchnikaarundo’ (Is there anyone left without supper)?” This was the question that every feudal landlord in Kerala used to ask before closing their main gates every night. The landlords used to make sure that no one is starving in the night. Here the cartoonist uses

53 irony in the labelling technique of the cartoon. The question asked by the landlord is changed and an element of sarcasm is included in it. Here the landlord i.e. the former Chief Minister is asking that is there any rich man left without supper. The cartoonist makes the point that the state of Kerala is facing corruptions, scams and allegations that affects its development but still the politicians supports and tries to do favour for liquor baron like Vijay Mallya. The colourful dress that Mallya wears have the design of wine glasses in it which helps the reader to understand the caricature of Vijaya Mallya as a liquor barn. He walks away from the house which symbolizes that he received the help and Chandy and Sudheeran is waiting for the next wealthy man so that they can help them. Here the cartoonist brings an idea of traditional systems in Kerala, thus a proper knowledge on it will help the reader to understand the cartoon in a larger context. 7.

3 B 2

Fig 5.2.7 Mathrubhumi, 22nd April 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.7 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 22nd April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. Two bulls standing back Animals It resembles V.S to back without facing Achuthanandan and each other. Pinarayi Vijayan

2. An old man standing A human being It resembles Oommen looking at the bulls. Chandy, the former Chief Minister of Kerala. 3. The man salivates seeing Increased secretion of Enjoying the verbal fight those bulls. saliva as a reaction to certain smell or sight of food.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Do not go for a chain, the moment you hear bull give birth to a calf-Facebook post B. It doesn’t matter who gives birth but we need beef fry.

The cartoon is based on the Kerala’s election battle in Facebook. The communist party witnessed serious political factionalism between V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan and the two leaders have constantly engaged in war of words. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is an answer by V. S to the remarks by Pinarayi Vijayan that the resolution criticizing Mr. Achuthanandan by the party state committee, prior to the Alappuzha State conference, was still valid. Phrase ‘A’ is a Malayalam proverb or traditional saying that expresses a truth based on common sense or experience. By using the proverb in his facebook post he answered Pinarayi Vijayan that Left Democratic Front leaders should not, even by mistake, utter words that could result in misunderstanding and wrong interpretation. The interpretant of phrase ‘B’ is that the former chief minister Oommen Chandy is enjoying the fight in communist party and tries to take benefit out of it.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of three characters two bulls and an old man with grey hairs and white dress. The bulls stand back to back without facing each other and the head of the bulls are of human beings. The cartoon is labelled with a caption that ‘Do not go for chain the moment you hear bull give birth to a calf’-Facebook post. Seeing the bulls, the old man’s mouth-waters and he says that it doesn’t matter who gave birth but we need beef fry. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist has used the technique of exaggeration in this cartoon. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes Sinsign. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include grudge, anger and happiness. The icon in the cartoon is the caricature of V.S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Oommen Chandy. The cartoonist converted the statement made by V. S into image thus the characters of Pinarayi and V.S are exaggerated and they are portrayed as bulls. Facebook was the new battleground for the politicians in Kerala. People witnessed serious fights by different politicians using their facebook posts. This cartoon was based on the rivalry between V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan. The ideological differences between the two was considered as a relevant factor for the discord. While VS is an old-school Marxist, Pinarayi was seen as a supporter of neo-liberal policies. More than ideological feuds, the strained relationships are mostly due to power struggle with both leaders trying to assert their influence in the Communist party (“The VS-Pinarayi rivalry”,2016). During the campaign for the assembly election both the leaders had a fight and the facebook posts was a major tool used by them. Mr. Vijayan commented in a press meet that the resolution criticizing Mr. Achuthanandan by the party State committee, prior to Alappuzha state conference, was still valid. Even though a fight was there between the leaders of communist party Mr. Achuthanandan did campaign work for Mr. Vijayan and kept silence about the remarks made by Mr. Vijayan but later he posted in facebook a proverb ‘Do not go for a chain the moment you hear bull give birth to a calf’. This is a common Malayalam proverb and VS replies to Mr. Vijayan’s statement through a sarcasm. He advised the Left Democratic Front leaders that even by mistake they should not utter any words that could result in misunderstanding and wrong interpretations. The cartoonist portrays both V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan as bulls and the fight between them was shown by their standing posture and face expression. Oommen Chandy was another character in this cartoon who stands near to them and enjoys the fight. He is portrayed as an old man with grey hairs and white dress and

56 his dress is slightly ripped as it is considered that Oommen Chandy always wears ripped dress. His mouth gets salivated seeing the bulls which refers to the benefits that Congress party gets out of the fight between Communist party leaders during the campaigning period. The element of humour is added to the dialogue by Oommen Chandy. He says that it doesn’t matter who gives birth (a reply to the proverb used by V. S Achuthanandan), but we need beef fry. The pot belly of Mr. Chandy symbolizes their satisfaction from the verbal fight and which is later used as a campaigning tool against the communist party. 8.

2 3 1 3 2 C 3 2 4 D

Fig 5.2.8 Mathrubhumi, 23rd April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.8 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 23rd April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. A shirtless old man A human being The old man resembles VS holding a mug in his Achuthanandan. hands and watering the plant 2. The black lines drawn Curved lines drawn with It shows that someone above the wall. pen or pencil. hides behind the wall and

the black lines indicate the hairs of that person. 3. A red colored mug that a large cup, typically It refers to the campaigning old man holds to water the cylindrical with a handle strategy of VS during the plant. election period. A small container, for It resembles the current 4. A flowerpot with green growing a plant in. Chief Minister of Kerala plants in it. Pinarayi Vijayan. The old man that peep out A human being It resembles the former 5. of the wall. Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy.

It refers to the changes in 6. The eyes and wide opened Human body parts statement made by V.S mouth of the old man. Achuthanandan.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Earth day B. Crooked C. What? (A Malayalam expression) D. I was talking about that person not you.

The cartoonist in this cartoon compares the election campaign with the observance of earth day. The labelling in this cartoon is done in a comic dialogue form. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is that the state of Kerala observed earth day. Phrase ‘B’ is comical Malayalam expression which means ‘ripen seed’; the expression is used to address a crooked person. V.S Achuthanandan calls Mr. Pinarayi as a crooked politician but in the phrase ‘C’ Pinarayi gives a doubtful expression and suddenly V.S changes his statement and in phrase ‘D’ he says that he was talking about that person pointing to Mr. Chandy.

The denotation level of the image

The image takes place in an area surrounded by walls. The cartoon consists of three characters and the image is divided into two segments. A shirtless old man sits wearing a white dhoti and holds a red coloured mug and waters the plant placed before him. The second character is a flowerpot which has a human face and a plant with two green leaves sprouts from the flowerpot. The third character is an old man whose face is not visible in the first image and his hairs are seen. He overhears the conversation between the old man and the flowerpot. In the second image the old man with grey hairs peep out of the wall with fear as the other man who waters the plant points his fingers at him.

The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of analogy and compares two different things to make a stand on particular issue. Here the cartoonist compares the election campaigning of Mr. Achuthanandan with the observance of earth day by the state. The icon used in this cartoon includes the caricature of V.S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Oommen Chandy. The flowerpot used in this cartoon is a symbol which resembles Pinarayi Vijayan, whose face is exaggerated. The labelling of the cartoon consists of humorous elements in it as the labels are in the form of a conversation between the old man and the flowerpot i.e. V.S and Mr. Vijayan. The cartoon is divided into two segments. In the first image V.S Achuthanandan waters the plant and says a Malayalam expression which means crooked and the flower pot gives another expression of asking ‘what?’ i.e. the flower pot asks whom did you mention as crooked. There is wall in the image and curved black lines are seen which is an indexical sign of hairs which indicates that someone stands at the others side of the wall and overhears the conversation. Achuthanandan watering the plant indicates the observance of earth day. Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22. Worldwide and various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Pinarayi Vijayan is portrayed as a flower pot as it refers to the “go green” campaign of communist party for protecting the environment. V.S Achuthanandan watering the plant indicates V. S supporting Mr. Vijayan. It shows that even though there are ideological difference between V.S and Mr. Vijayan, they support each other while doing campaigning in their constituencies, V.S was the crowd puller of the campaigning and he made several statements against Pinarayi regarding the Lavalin case but during campaigning for Pinarayi at Dharmedom (Mr. Vijayan’s constituency) he kept silent of such controversies and asked people to vote for Pinarayi as he is a strong candidate. The red colour of the mug indicates communism.

V.S was active in social media and facebook was a major platform for him to make controversial statements against his rivals including Pinarayi Vijayan. V.S mentions Pinarayi as a crooked person in the first image. In the second image the man standing on the other side of the wall becomes visible and it resembles Oommen Chandy. During campaigning in different constituencies V.S gave much importance to explain the corruption of the UDF government including the land scam, solar scam and Jisha murder case. Mr. Chandy questions his silence on the corruption cases against Mr. Vijayan while doing campaign work for him in his constituency. But Mr. Vijayan has mentioned that the resolution passed by CPI-M in 2015 that Achuthanandan has anti –party mindset "still exists". However, Achuthanandan kept silence on that issue and instead he focussed on campaigning for him to ensure that Mr.Vijayan was elected with an "impressive majority" (V S Achuthanandan campaigns for Pinarayi Vijayan , 2016).

In the second image V.S says that he mentioned Oommen Chandy as crooked and he will never call Pinarayi as a crooked person. This indicates how V.S changes his statements and keeps silence of the controversies of leaders in his parties during campaigning which denotes the political strategy of leaders to get into power.

9. C A B

1 D F E 3 2 4 5

6 Fig 5.2.9 Mathrubhumi, 24th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 24th April, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. The data is analysed using Peirce semiotics followed by two level of signification using Barthes theory.

Table 5.2.9 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 24th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man in five A human being with The old man resembles different body gestures gray hairs, wearing V.S Achuthanandan, the swallowing letters and white dhoti. chairman of the Kerala sharp weapon and finally Administrative Reform taking rest. Commission.

2. The wide opened mouth Human body part V.S Achuthanandan tries to of the old man trying to hide the controversies and swallow letters and a denies the statement he sharp weapon made during the campaigning period 3. The things in his hand An English letter, two The letters and the sharp which he tries to swallow. Malayalam letters and a weapon denote the sharp weapon. controversies and the statement made by VS Achuthanandan against the political leaders, which he denies later. 4. The closed mouth A human body part The closed mouth denotes that he swallowed everything and now he feels relaxed 5. The pot belly A human body part; - It symbolizes that VS tries Deposits of body fat to cover the controversies. He denies the comments

localized around the and statements that he abdomen made against the party leaders and the party. 6. The stretched leg of the A human body part It shows that the V.S is old man relaxing after denying all the statements made by him.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 6 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Lavalin B. T.P C. Pillai D. Ganeshan E. My stomach is full F. You can’t put words into my mouth-V. S The cartoon is based on an interview with V.S Achuthanandan conducted by the Indian Express newspaper. In this verbal analysis, the signs are the words categorized and the object of this analysis can be seen at the visual image. The Interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is based on the statement made by VS against Pinarayi Vijayan on the ‘Lavalin corruption scam’ in which he was involved. The Interpretant of phrase ‘B’ is based on the political murder of TP Chandrasekharan, who was the member of communist party. The phrase ‘C’ denotes the political leader of Kerala R. Balakrishna Pillai. The phrase ‘D’ represents K. B Ganesh Kumar, the member of legislative Assembly representing the Pathanapuram constituency of Kollam district, Kerala. He is the son of R. Balakrishna Pillai, former minister of Kerala. The Interpretant of the phrase ‘E’ is that V. S swallowed all those controversial statements made by him by denying it. Phrase ‘F’ is the news on which the entire cartoon is based on. In an interview to The Indian Express, Achuthanandan had said, “people want me to become chief minister”. However, later he denied this statement by saying that the future CM will be decided by the party leadership and that his words were twisted by the media and they were trying to put the words into his mouth.

The denotation level of the image “You cannot put your words into my mouth”-VS, is the label of the cartoon. The cartoon consists of one character who is an old man in five different body gestures. In the first four images the old man is trying hard to swallow some letters and a sharp weapon. His mouth is wide opened and his eyes are closed which explains his difficulty to eat up those things. In the fifth image his mouth is closed and he stretch his leg and smiles, pointing his pot belly he says that his stomach is full which means he swallowed those letters and sharp weapon and he sit back and take rest.

The connotation level of image

Exaggeration is one of the major techniques used by the cartoonist in this cartoon. The exaggeration technique is often used in cartoons to overdo the thoughts and this is found in various collected cartoons for emphasizing certain characteristics in a person and to make a point. Political cartoons use this technique to highlight certain differences of opinion and changing strategies (Shaikh, Tariq, & Saqlain, 2016) .The cartoon portray VS Achuthanandan the leader of the opposition as a juggler who swallow swords. Sword swallowing is an act performed by jugglers which is a part of acrobatic theatre and was popular at festivals and large gatherings. In this cartoon he is trying to swallow some letters such as “L” (written in English), “B” and “G” (which is written in Malayalam) and a sharp weapon. Each letter denotes certain controversial statements made by him during the campaign. The representamen which is found in the cartoon includes Sinsign that explains the expression of character which include struggle and relaxation. In the first four images he is trying hard to swallow those letters and weapon. His eyes are tightly closed which shows the struggle in hiding things. In the fifth image he is in a relaxed state. The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of the communist leader V.S Achuthanandan .The pot belly is the symbolic representation of covering controversies and those letters and sharp weapon are the symbolic representation of certain controversial statements made by him during the election campaign period. The legs being stretched is an indexical sign of relaxing after doing a hectic work. The smile on his face shows that he is happy with what he has done and is taking rest.

The controversies began with an interview given by VS to Indian Express. In that interview he said, “people want me to become chief minister, but everything has to be decided by the party leadership and the LDF” (Philip, 2016) .However, later he denied this statement by saying that the future CM will be decided by the party leadership and that his words were

63 twisted by the media and they are trying to put the words which he doesn’t know into his mouth. He also mentions his dislike to certain candidates of communist party and later he denied those statements (“My words distorted,”2016).

This interview is the background of the above cartoon. The first letter “L” in the cartoon denotes “Lavalin case” of Pinarayi Vijayan. During the election campaign of 2016 general election VS has mentioned the Lavalin case in his facebook post and later removed it. The leader of communist party Pinarayi Vijayan has been facing corruption allegations in the SNC Lavalin case from the time the Auditor General’s report on the deal was leaked to the press on May, 2009. On various occasions, VS made snide remarks hinting at Pinarayi’s involvement in the corruption scam. Also, when the then Governor asked the CBI to prosecute Pinarayi based on prima facie evidence, thus overruling a cabinet recommendation, VS seemed to approve the Governors decision. The CPI (M) had called the Governors move as unconstitutional. The state electricity board made an agreement with the Canadian firm SNC Lavalin for renovation of three hydel power projects and Mr. Vijayan was the then power minister(“VS-Pinarayi,”2016) The case was based on an agreement with SNC-Lavalin in 1997 to repair three generators, which later caused a loss of Rs 266 crore to the state exchequer (“Kerala HC,”2017).

The sharp weapon in the second image indicates “T.P murder case”. The political murder of TP Chandrasekharan in Onchiyam, Kozhikode district on May4, 2012 led to a new chapter in the infamous factional feud between VS Achuthanandan and Mr.Vijayan. Chandrasekharan defected from CPI (M) to form his own party-Revolutionary Marxist Party. While the congress- led UDF blamed the CPI (M) for the murder, both Achuthanandan and Pinarayi used the killing to increase their leverage in the party. Chandrasekharan had left the CPI (M) in 2009 to form a splinter communist party called Revolutionary Marxist Party, and led his newly formed party to moderate success in local polls. The communist party had a grudge on him for this reason and therefore CPI (M)'s local organization was widely blamed for it. Chandrasekharan and others revealed Pinarayi Vijayan’s right-wing deviation and anti-party activities and thus it developed a personal grudge in Pinarayi Vijayan which is considered to be the reason behind his death. Congress party utilized this as a political tool against communist party and they were silenced by this murder case. Taking contrarian views, Pinarayi referred to Chandrasekharan as a traitor, while Achuthanandan defended the creation of a new party. Drawing parallels between the RMP and the CPI (M), Achuthanandan said that the existence of CPI (M) was possible only because they split from the Communist party of India (CPI). He announced in

64 public that he saw similarities between Pinarayi and S.S Dange, the chairman of CPI who was seen as an antagonist in the split and was later expelled from the party

The third and fourth letters in the image are “B” and “G” which is written in Malayalam and it denote two political leaders Balakrishna pillai and his son Ganesh Kumar. At first VS has expressed his dislike towards nominating Ganesh Kumar as a candidate representing communist party. R..Balakrishnan Pillai was the founder head of the Keral Congress(B) and was a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front until 2016.Later they joined Left Democratic Front and K.B Ganesh Kumar ,son of Balakrishna Pillai was a well-known actor and the Member of Legislative Assembly.He served as a minister (portfolio in Forest, Sports and Cinema) in the UDF government until his resignation on April 1, 2013 and later he was competing as an LDF candidate in 2016 general election.

It was the same Communist Party of India (Marxist) that had pursued a legal battle against Pillai after the Idamalayar dam scandal broke in 1982 – although it had taken close to 10 years for the case to go to court. A trial court had convicted Pillai, but the Kerala High Court had later acquitted him. Achuthanandan had appealed against the acquittal in the Supreme Court.

The fourth image shows that VS is relaxing after having a heavy food. His pot belly denotes that he had swallowed all those controversies and statements made by him. The dialogue in the fourth image is ‘my stomach is full “which explains the common nature of politicians i.e., denialism. They swallow all what they have said and thus denies the controversial statements. therefore, in this cartoon VS is trying to create a clean image of himself denying all the statements by covering them up by telling “you cannot put your words into mouth” which means it is the media not him that have created all these controversies.

10. A B

3 C 1 4

5 2

7 Fig 5.2.10 Mathrubhumi, 25th April, 2016.E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.10 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 25th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. An old man that looks pale A human being The old man resembles a and unhealthy. common or the general public.

2. The tired eyes and wide Human body parts. The problems and troubles opened mouth of the old faced by the common man. man. 3. The man standing wearing A human being It resembles V.S a white jubba. Achuthanandan. The man in white shirt and It resembles the former 4. Dhothi lying on the floor A human being Chief Minister of Kerala, and working on the laptop. Oommen Chandy

The injured leg of the old Human body part. It shows the minor injury on 5. man. Oommen Chandy’s foot during the campaign period. It represents a pillar 6. Red coloured Martyrs’ A pillar in pyramid shape dedicated to freedom. Column

The laptops used by the Technology used for Use of social media by both the leaders. 7. two characters in this communication.

cartoon.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 3 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Both of you listen, life is being too hard B. It’s good to use large pad and it’s better to online C. Can spend more time in cheating and chatting.

The campaigning during 2016 the Assembly election was different as the leading politicians shifted from the traditional form of campaigning to digital campaigning by the use of social media especially Facebook. The labels used in this cartoon are in a dialogue form. The element of humor and sarcasm is added into it, thus this cartoon has an equal importance of both the drawing and that of labels used. The interpretant of ‘A’ is that the old man expresses the problems and troubles faced by the general public and says that life is becoming tougher. The interpretant ‘B’ and ‘C’ are the replies given by the two prominent leaders of Kerala Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Chandy. They give answers to the old man that it is better to use large pad (tablet computers) and can-do chatting. This shows that the politicians are busy in using social media and they are not ready to hear the problems of the general public. Rhyming words are used in these labels to convey the sarcasm and humour. The Malayalam word for ‘difficulty’ and ‘tablet computers’ are used as rhyming words and humour is generated from it.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of three characters that include a shirtless old man and two politicians dressed in white. The old man looks pale and unhealthy. His eyes are tired he looks

67 worried and sick. He is talking to the other two characters that look very happy and they are engaged with some other works. The man in white jubba stands near to pillar like structure which is red in color. He is working on a laptop that is placed on the pillar. The third man in the cartoon is lying down on the floor and works on the laptop. His one leg is injured and is bandaged.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoon is based on politicians change from traditional campaigning to digital campaigning strategy. The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and irony. The cartoon is trying to visualise the difficulties faced by the public and whether general public gets benefitted by the campaigning. Here the cartoonist speaks for the common man in the society. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white and red. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include tiredness in the face of the old man as he faces so many problems in life. Happiness and excitement in politicians face as they are using social media. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. Here the white colour represents the Indian politicians. The red colour of the Martyr’s Column refers to the communist party and the martyrs who laid down their life for the country.

The icon in the cartoon includes the caricature of V.S Achuthanandan, Oommen Chandy and that of a common man that represents the entire public. The Martyrs’ Column in red colour is a symbol of freedom. It is a tribute to those who laid down their life for the country's independence and is often used as a place for peaceful gatherings, protest march and other important events. Placing the laptop over the Martyrs’ Column shows the shift from old to new form of communism. The Martyrs’ Column is a remembrance of those who laid their life for party and worked together in building communism and thus played a pivotal role in the upbringing of the poor. But in this present scenario the politicians are not ready to hear the problems of the general public who votes for them as they are busy with the Facebook war.

A shirtless old man who looks pale and unhealthy represents the common man and he tries to express his feeling to their representatives. Unemployment, labour shortage, frequent strikes and debts of farmers were some of the issues faced by the people. The old man says that life is becoming more hard and tough to live but the two politicians are not listening to their problems. The man in white Juba is V.S Achuthanandan and he started using social media during the 2016 election and it was the main campaign tool used by him. He answers the old man that a

68 larger pad (tablet pc) is better and asks the old man to buy it from online. Rhyming words are used in the dialogues and thus it has an element of humour in it. when the old man talks about his life the politicians are busy with social media and they answers the old man but not to the questions.

Oommen Chandy is lying down on the floor and he is busy with laptop. His legs are injured and are bandaged. Mr. Chandy was addressing the first-time voters, and when they rushed towards him to take a selfie, a glass pane of a door broke and the pieces fell on his right foot. He answers the old man that more time can be spent on chatting or cheating if a large tablet pc is used. Thus, this cartoon portrays the issue faced by the public and the politician’s attitude towards such issues.

11.

A B

C 1 2

E 3 D 4

6 Fig 5.2.11(Mathrubhumi, 26th April, 2016) . E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.11 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 26th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human

1. The man in white dress A human being It resembles the current standing with hand on his Chief Minister Mr. cheeks. Pinarayi Vijayan. 2. The old man in specs A human being It resembles V.S holding a letter ‘f’ in his Achuthanandan. hand. 3. The letter ‘f’ F is the sixth letter in the It represents ‘facebook’ modern English and the use of social media alphabet by V.S Achuthanandan. A black coloured sharp Sharped or pointed It refers to the statement 4. weapon. objects that could cause made by CPM leader injuries P. Jeyarajan on political murders.

5. The man in white dress A human being Resembles CPM Kannur holding the sharp weapon. district Secretary P Jayarajan

6. The man sweating sweat glands producing Refres to the controversial fluids. statement made by the P.Jayarajan and how it affeceted the communist party.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 5 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. We are facing bankruptcy… B. Yes true, World Bank, IMF, American… C. Not that... Look. D. I’m trapped E. “Repays when it is repeatedly the recipient of debt.”-Jayarajan.

The cartoon is based on the controversial ‘debt repayment’ comment by P. Jayarajan, the CPM Kannur district Secretary. The labels used is in the form a conversation between the three leaders. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is that Pinarayi Vijayan talks with Achuthanandan and says that we are facing bankruptcy and in phrase ‘B’ Achuthanandan replies that it is true and he talks about the international affairs such as world bank, IMF and America. In phrase ‘C’ Mr. Vijayan interrupt and says he is not talking about such international affairs but the recent controversial statement by P. Jayarajan. In phrase ‘D’ Jayarajan talks to the two leaders and says that he is trapped as the statement by him became controversial. The phrase ‘E’ is the news based on which this cartoon is drawn. Mr. Jayarajan who is an accused in the Manoj murder case, reportedly said that though the CPI (M) did not initiate political violence, it repays when it is repeatedly the recipient of debt.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of three characters dressed in white. The image divided into two segments and in the first segment two characters are talking to each other. The man places his hand on his cheeks and the other man holds a blue coloured letter ‘f’ in his hand. In the second image another man comes to the scene and talks to them. He holds a sharp weapon in his hand and is sweating.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and symbolism in this cartoon. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white, blue and black. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include nervousness. The three characters in this cartoon, looks nervous on the controversies. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. Here the white colours represent the Indian politicians,

71 the blue coloured letter ‘f’ represents facebook. According to The New Yorker, Zuckerberg the founder of the online networking service company ‘facebook’ is red-green colour-blind, which means the color he can see best is blue. That is the reason for blue colour dominating the facebook website and mobile app (Vargas, 2010) The black colour shows the sharp weapon which can be used for attacking people.

The icon in this cartoon are the caricatures of the political leaders such as V. S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and P. Jayarajan. The letter ‘f’ in this cartoon is a symbolic representation of V.S active in social media and he spends his time in making facebook posts on other leaders that often leads to controversies. The sharp weapon used in the cartoon is also a symbol that refers to the political murders happening in Kerala. The sweat is an indexical symbol of nervousness. Here P. Jayarajan is nervous of the ‘debt repayment’ statement.

Humorous dialogues are the main highlight of this cartoon. In the first image Pinarayi Vijayan and Achuthanandan has a friendly conversation were Mr. Vijayan says that we are facing bankruptcy in which he indirectly mentions about the “debt repayment” comment but Achuthanandan talks about the international bankruptcy of America, IMF and world bank. Here the cartoonist uses the technique of irony to show that Mr. Achuthanandan is busy with social media and international affair and keeps silence on states’ affairs. In the second segment of the cartoon Pinarayi clarifies what he meant by bankruptcy and points P. Jayarajan who is sweating out of nervousness. He informs them that he is trapped as his comment became a major controversy against the communist party.

Kerala's Crime Records Bureau estimates that during these ten years around hundred people where been killed as a part of political violence. Most cases of political crimes happen in Kannur and Thalasseri in north Kerala's Malabar region. The issue of political violence was one of the major topics for discussion during the campaigning period of 2016 assembly election (Why brutal murders dominate Kerala politics, 2016).

P. Jayarajan the district secretary of communist party of India (Marxist) was the master brain behind the murder of E. Manoj who belongs to Rashtriya Swayam sevak Sangh (RSS). Manoj was earlier an accused in a case pertaining to the murder attempt on Jayarajan and he was hacked to death at Kathiroor in Kannur. The CBI mentioned Jayarajan was having political and personal vengeance toward the RSS member Manoj. He was charges under section 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of the unlawful activities (prevention) Act (UAPA). The members

72 of CPM including the former Payyanur CPM area secretary T. A Madhusoodanan, Rejilesh, Shajilesh and Mahesh were also involved in the act (“KathiroorManoj murder case.”2017).

During the campaign period Jayarajan made a comment on the political murders and their stand on such crimes that CPI (M) does not initiate political violence, it “repays when it is repeatedly the recipient of debt”. This ‘debt repayement’ comment became controversial and other parties started using it as campaigning tool as the comment justifies the violence done by communist party and their support to such political crimes.

12. A

C D B E

1 F H 2 G 4 3

Fig 5.2.12 Mathrubhumi, 27th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.12 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 27th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human

1. The man in white shirt and A human being Resembles the current dhoti. Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan.

2. The old man in white A human being Resembles V.S Jubba standing with Achuthanandan. folded arms. 3. The book that the man A written or printed It shows the discussion holds in his hands. work. between the political leaders on what to talk during campaigning. The man sweating Moisture released from Here it reffers to the fear of 4. skin pores as a result of Mr. Vijayan on V.S excess heat, fever or Achuthanandans fear. statements.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 8 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. V.S in Thripunithura B. Beware of Media C. Yes, will speak on place history D. But what to speak about Thripunithura E. Royal City F. ‘Capital of Kingdom of Kochi’ G. What H. Is it the ‘capital’ in ‘Capital Punishment’?

The cartoon is based on V.S Achuthanand’s campaigning in Thripunithura. The phrase ‘A’ is that V. S Achuthanandan supported M. Swaraj, candidate of Tripunithura constituency who has a track record of anti-VS views. The labelling in this cartoon is in the form of a humorous conversation between two characters. The phrase ‘B’ explains the fear of media as the statements made by V.S usually becomes controversial. The phrase ‘C’ and ‘D’ is a discussion between the two politicians on what to speak while campaigning in Tripunithura and V.S says he will talk on history of Tripunithura. The verbal phrases ‘E’ and ‘F’ talks about ‘Tripunithura’, a constituency and a prominent historical and residential region in the city of Kochi in Kerala. It is a royal city and one of the most prominent centres of traditional Kerala cultural heritage. It was the capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin and the descendants of

74 the Cochin royal family still lives in this place. The phrases ‘G’ and ‘H’ are the dialogue by V.S Achuthanandan. He asks about what Mr. Vijayan has explained and asks that the capital mentioned by Mr. Vijayan is the word Capital in ‘Capital Punishment’. Long years back there was a controversial statement made by V.S regarding the Capital Punishment. So, the cartoonist connects that statement with the present scenario.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon is divided into four segments and consists of two characters. In the first image the man places his hands on the shoulders of the old man who is standing folding his arms. They talk about the media and to be careful about it and the other man says that he will talk on history of the place. In the second image the old man asks what to talk about ‘Tripunithura’ and the other man replies ‘Royal city’. In the third image the man wears specs and holds a book in his hands. Pointing his fingers, he says ‘Capital of Kingdom of Kochi’ and the old man stands perplexed. In the fourth image the old man looks happy and he asks is it the Capital in ‘Capital Punishment’ and the man standing near him starts sweating hearing his dialogue.

The connotation level of the image

In this cartoon the cartoonist gives more importance to its labelling than the drawing. The techniques of irony and sarcasm is used in the labelling. It is in the form a conversation between the two characters in the cartoon and humour is developed out of it. icon used in this cartoon include the caricatures of V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan. The cartoon is divided into four segments. The cartoon is based on the campaigning work done by V.S in Tripunithura. V.S addressed an election rally in Tripunithura in support of M. Swaraj, who has a track record of anti-VS views. In the first image Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Achuthanandan discusses on the topic for addressing the election rally and Mr. Vijayan warns V. S to be aware of media as the statements made by him always becomes controversial.

In the next images Mr. Vijayan asks V.S to talk about the Tripunithura which is known as a Royal city. Tripunithura is a prominent historical and residential region in the city of Kochi in Kerala. Tripunithura was the capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin. The 'Raja nagari' or the royal city was the most prominent centres of traditional Kerala cultural heritage.in the third image Mr. Vijayan mentions Tripunithura as the ‘Capital of Kingdom of Kochi’and V. S asks him about the word Capital used in it is the same that of in Capital Punishment. hearing his doubt Mr. Vijayan starts sweating. This refers to the political fight between V.S and Pinarayi in a meeting held many years back V.S indirectly mentioned Pinarayi and made a

75 statement that there are some who raises slogans for giving him capital punishment. V.S then reminds them that “Communists have faced the gallows, lathis and bullets even before. So, don’t try to threaten with capital punishment. It will have no effect”- V.S Achuthanandan.This statement led to many controversies and it was said that the member who demanded the “capital punishment” prescribed by the party constitution expulsion from the party for VS Achuthanandan was M. Swaraj, who was a youth leader and Vijayan acolyte, for making the statement .so here the cartoonist tries to link these two situations that V.S does the campaign work for the person who demanded V.S Achuthanandan’s expulsion from the party.

13.

4 2 5

A B 6 C 3 7

8 Fig 5.2.13 Mathrubhumi, 28th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.13 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 28th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human

1. A framed photograph The frame along with its It resembles Mahatma mounts protects and Gandhi. often makes the art look better.

2. A shirtless man praying in A human being It resembles V.M front of the framed Sudheeran. photograph. 3. The ‘charka’ or the A tool used for spinning The spinning spinning wheel. thread. wheel,symbolized Gandhi's constructive program. The book written or printed work It represents the 4. autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi , “The Story of My Experiments with Truth.” The radio and the Radio -is the technology Here both the radio and the 5. footwear. of using radio waves to sandal is connected to carry information, such Mahatma Gandhi.V.M as sound and Sudheerans Gandhian Footwears-outer nature is portrayed in this coverings for the feet, cartoon. such as shoes, boots, and sandals The man dressed in white A human being Resembles V.M Sudheeran 6. shirt and dhothi. and his change in character.

7. The man allows other A body posture. It refers to the campaign person to sit on his work done by V.M shoulder. Sudheeran for Adoor prakash. 8. The man who sits on the A human being It resembles Adoor shoulder Prakash, the former minister of Kerala. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 3 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Raghupati Raghava…. B. V.M Sudheeran in Adoor Prakash’s campaigning.

C. Lead kindly light…

The cartoon was based on V.M sudheeran campaign work for the former minister of Kerala Adoor Prakash. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is that it is a bhajan or devotional song that was widely popularized by Mahatma Gandhi. VM Sudheeran, the former president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee was among a handful of politicians who have developed a clean, incorruptible image. He was the man behind the liquor ban in Kerala. So he is portrayed as a gandhian and the cartoonist use such songs of Gandhi. Phrase ‘B’ is the news base on which this cartoon is drawn. Mr. Sudheeran who had opposed the candidature of Mr. Prakash till the final round of candidate selection process in Delhi started praising him during the election campaign period. Phrase ‘C’ shows the change in Mr. Sudheeran’s character by supporting Mr. Prakash.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon is divided into six images and shows six different gestures of a man .In the first image the man is praying to a framed photograph and an oil lamp is placed in front of the photo frame.in the second image he is spinning thread in the charka (spinning wheel) and in the third image he reads a book in which it is written ‘The story of My experience with truth’. The fourth image shows that he is lying on the floor and listening to the music and there is a pair of sandals near to him. In the fourth image the man is dressed in white shirt and dhoti and he is looking at the watch as if he is ready to go.in the last image another man dressed in white sits on his back. The caption of the cartoon says that V.M Sudheeran campaigns for Adoor Prakash.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist has used the technique of exaggeration, irony and symbolism in this cartoon to make his stand on the news. The cartoon is based on V.M Sudheeran’s change in character. The cartoon consists of six images and six different body postures of him. In the first image he is praying to Mahatma Gandhi by looking at his framed photo and an oil lamp is placed in front of him. He is shirtless in the four images which shows that he tries to follow the ways of Gandhi. Ninety five years ago Gandhi made a momentous decision to change his attire and he decided to wear a simple dhoti and shawl. His desire to identify himself among the poor masses was the reason for this descision.in the second image Sudheeran is spinning thread on a charka (spinning wheel). The charka was considered a symbol of the Indian Independence movement. Mahatma Gandhi through his teachings brought charkha into wider use.

In the third image Sudheeran is reading ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’ which is an autobiography by Mohandas K. Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921.the fourth image portrays him as lying down on the floor and listening to the song ‘Ragupati Raghava ‘played in the radio. the song is a Hindu devotional song popularized by Mahatma Gandhi. A pair of old models sandal is placed near to him.in the fifth image he is dressed in white shirt and dhoti and checks the time as he is ready to go somewhere. Here the cartoonist draws the change in character from a politician who supports gandhism to the politician of present age .Among the politicians in Kerala V.M Sudheeran was considered as a politician with a clean and incorruptible image.Party workers consideres Sudhheran as a person with strong views and uncompromising stands that keep him away from all other groups in state congress (Sanandakumar, 2014).

While finalising the list of candidates for Assembly election V.M Sudheeran objected a few names including Excise Minister K. Babu and Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash, to which Chandy and Chennithala expressed their disagreement. Meanwhile, local congress leaders in Konni supported the state Revenue minister, Adoor Prakash, whose re-nomination was refused , and have stated that any move to deny him ticket, will be opposed by them. The former KPCC President took the stand that persons facing allegations should not be given seats and those who had contested more than four times should make way for younger and new faces (Congress yet to finalise Kerala candidates, 2016). An FIR was registered against the former ministers Adoor Prakash and P K Kunhalikutty in connection with controversial land scam case involving the godman Santhosh Madhavan. However, the government withdrew the order following widespread criticisms and Sudheeran was against the government order. In the sixth image the former Minister Adoor Prakash sits on the shoulder of Mr. Sudheran which portrays Sudheeran’s change in character. In the sixth image the former minister Adoor Prakash sits on the shoulder of Mr.Sudheeran which portrays the change in sudheeran’s character and how he started supporting Mr. Prakash .Mr. Sudheeran who opposed the candidature of Mr. Prakash till the final round of candidate selection prcess in Delhi started praising him while he was engaged in the campaign work for Mr. Prakash. He startedexplaining his contribution to the general public and a list of development initiatives taken up by him in the assembly segment over the past five years.

14. A

B C D

4 2

Fig 5.2.14 Mathrubhumi, 29th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 29thApril, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.14 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 29th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man in three A human being The old man resembles different yoga poses. V.S Achuthanandan, the chairman of the Kerala Administrative Reform Commission.

2. The man’s body with less Human body It signifies that VS clothes Achuthanandan is flexible. The term flexible here is linked with his change in character.

3. The legs and hands of the Human body parts The legs are stretched and man in different yoga palms together are some of poses the yoga poses. The three yoga postures are linked with the caption of the cartoon “one, two, three” Here it signifies that V.S Achuthanandan is ready to campaign for those candidates with whom he was in rivalry. 4. The lips of the old man A human body part It signifies the fake smile on the face of VS. He seems to be happy and this happiness is the symbolic representation of how he forgets the anger towards the candidates. 5. The red shorts that the old A casual dress VS Achuthanandan’s man wears. character during campaign period is related to a yoga master whose body is flexible at any condition.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 5 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. One Two Three B. Dharmadom C. Thripunithura D. Idukki E. V.S Achuthanandan campaigns for MM Mani.

The cartoon is based on the news covered regarding VS Achuthanandan’s campaign for Idukki candidate MM Mani. In this verbal analysis, the signs are the words categorized and the object of this analysis can be seen at the visual image. The Interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is based on a controversial speech made by MM Mani, the current electricity minister of Kerala. The speech focused on how his party literally wiped out their opponents. The phrase ‘B’ is the name of constituency of Kerala legislative assembly, situated in Kannur district. This was Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Assembly constituency. The phrase ‘C’ signifies M Swaraj, politician of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) representing Thripunithura constituency in Kerala. The phrase ‘D’ represents Udumbanchola Assembly constituency which is a part of Idukki Lok Sabha constituency. MM Mani is elected as MLA from this constituency and he is the current electricity minister of Kerala. The Interpretant of the phrase ‘E’ is that VS Achuthanandan’s campaign for idukki candidate MM Mani. The visit held special significance as both leaders have not been on good terms since past few years. The denotation level of the image

The image shows three different yoga of an old man. His face seems to be happy and his body is flexible. The label of the cartoon explains that VS Achuthanandan does campaign works for MM Mani. The captions of the cartoon mention three different places in Kerala which include Dharmadom, Thripunithura and Idukki. Above the image it is written one, two, and three in Malayalam.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist in this political cartoon has used the technique of Analogy which means a comparing two unlike things. By comparing two different situations, the cartoonists can make its readers think more deeply and make a point out of it. In this cartoon the role of VS Achuthanandan in election period is compared to a yoga master, to show how flexible he is. Even at 93, he was ready to do campaigning for those candidates in communist party whom he was in rivalry with. The three places mentioned in the cartoon are three different constituencies in election and it denotes the candidates of these constituencies, they are, Pinarayi Vijayan, M Swaraj and MM Mani. The sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of the communist leader VS Achuthanandan. Here he is having a fake smile on his face and he tries to look pleasant. The objects which have found in this cartoon include icon which shows the chairman of the Kerala Administrative Reform Commission, VS Achuthanandan. Second is the symbol which can be found in this political cartoon such stretched legs and hands and the shorts that

82 signifies the flexibility of VS and his change in character. The index found in this sign is verbal text which used as information to the reader such as the captions and dialogues.

The label in this cartoon is based on the major news covered on that day regarding VS Achuthanandan’s campaign for Idukki candidate MM Mani. The visit held special significance as both leaders have not been on good terms since past few years. In 2007 when VS Achthanandan’s Munnar operation against land grabs began to target party offices, their started a rivalry between the two politicians. Mani in his speech declared that he will chop off VS Achuthanandans hands if he attempted to carry out the operation in Munnar, VS had then retorted: “Mani should first check whether he himself will be able to retain his own hands and legs while leaving Munnar.”This very public spat went on to trigger a war of words between the two that mostly involved verbal abuses (“How VS was forced,”2016). In this cartoon the fake smile in the face of VS explains that even though the campaigning was a sign of patch-up between the two leaders, VS himself was not happy at the turn of events and was clearly uneasy throughout the campaigning.

The caption written above the cartoon one two, three refers to the controversial speech made by MM Mani that boasted of how his party had literally wiped out his opponents in the 80s and how the party had even prepared a list of those who ought to be murdered. “The first three were killed, one was shot dead, one was stabbed to death and the other one was beaten to death,” Mani boastfully announced at a public meeting in 2012, kicking up a political storm. During 1980's three political murders -all the murdered were Congress leaders and all those who were arrested in connection with those murders were acquitted later, owing to lack of evidence(“CPI(M)leaderMMMani,”2012).

Anchery Baby, a local INTUC leader was shot dead on November 13, 1983 at Manathodu in Idukki and the seven persons arrested were acquitted in 1986 due to lack of evidence. Another political murder was that of Rajakumari Panchayat president Mullachira Mathai who was beaten to death on January 16, 1983.

Muttukad Nanappan of Chinnakkanal in Idukki was stabbed to death on June 6, 1983. This case also unravelled as there were no witnesses. The police believe that Mani was referring to these political murders during the period and started investigations against him. The speech proved disastrous for MM Mani who was once the right-hand man of opposition leader V S Achuthanandan. Later Mani shifted his loyalty towards CPI (M) state secratary Pinarayi Vijayan, after this fiery speech was made, a secret operation called operation Ringtone

83 was at work in Kerala’s Idukki district to arrest CPI (M) leader and former district secretary MM Mani and finally he was arrested. The cartoonist links this one, two, three, speech controversy with three constituency in which VS had done campaigning. The speciality of this three constituencies is that VS had a rivalry with these three candidates. The first constituency mentioned is dharmedam and the candidate is Pinarayi Vijayan. The two leaders VS and Pinarayi were the chief ministerial candidates of Left Democratic Front in 2016 general election. Even though they belong to the communist party there are some ideological differences between the two and can be considered as a relevant factor for the discord.

The second constituency mentioned is Thripunithura and the LDF candidate is M Swaraj. There was conflict between VS and the party on ideologies and his name was dropped from the party’s state committee list. Amidst of all the uproars over VS, a Malayalam newspaper reportedly claimed that the DYFI state secretary and young CPM leader M Swaraj had showered heaps of criticism on VS Achuthanandan during the party state committee meet. The next day posters came up criticizing Swaraj questioning his credibility and how he was eligible to say anything against a veteran like Achuthanandan.

The third constituency mentioned is Idukki and the candidate are MM Mani.so the cartoon tries to portray the common characteristics of the politicians i.e. even though they have conflicts and fights over certain issues they try to cover all those issue during election period.

15. A B a

1 C / 4 2 / / 5 31 1 D 6 1

Fig 5.2.15 Mathrubhumi, 30th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 30th April, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Based on the analysis of the data, the researcher found three signs; the representamen, object, and Interpretant.

Table 5.2.15 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 30th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man running in a A human being wearing The old man resembles the hurry with a piece of white shirt and dhoti former Chief Minister of paper in hand in which with gray hairs. Kerala Oommen Chandy. something is written in He faced so many Malayalam. allegations during the general election.

2. The long nose and wide Human body parts long The corruption and opened mouth of the old nose and wide opened allegations against the man. mouth shows the chief minister and other nervousness in the old ministers which tainted the man. party’s reputation. 3. The hands and legs of the The hands and legs are Oommen Chandy is man in a running posture the human body parts. running towards Sonia The old man holds a Gandhi, the former paper in one hand and he president of congress party is pointing someone with to inform that that he is other hand. defamed by the allegations raised against him by the opposition party. 4. The bump on the head An outgrowth in head, The bump on her head is an this shows that exaggeration on the effect

something fell on the of a helicopter that falls on head of the woman her head. Thus, the bump in this cartoon symbolizes the AgustaWestland Scam. 5. Tears that comes from the Strong internal emotions The fear of facing the eyes of both the men and controversies women 6. The woman A human being wearing The woman resembles a yellow saree. Sonia Gandhi, the former president of Indian National Congress. 7. The hands and legs of the They are the human The AgustaWestland scam woman body parts and the was a major controversy woman is sitting on the raised against Sonia floor, because of the Gandhi which was used as effect of something a major tool against heavy fell on her head. congress during election. Her sitting posture shows the impact of that scam on Congress Party. 8. The nose and wide opened The nose and mouth are The scam tarnished the mouth of the woman. the human body parts. image of Sonia Gandhi and The wide opened mouth that of Indian National shows the pain caused by Congress. some heavy thing falling on head

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Madam, I feel ashamed. B. Helicopter is falling on my head and you are crying for being defamed. C. Defamation case

D. Helicopter Scam The topic of the cartoon is about the defamation case filed by Oommen Chandy and the Helicopter Scam against Sonia Gandhi. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual. The Interpretant of phrases ‘A’ is Mr. Achuthanandan, the CPM-LDF candidate from Malampuzha, had alleged that there were 136 cases before the Supreme Court against 18 cabinet ministers and 31 against the Chief Minister and thus the Oommen Chandy was defamed. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘B’ is the allegations raised against Sonia Gandhi by the opposition. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘C’ is the defamation case filed by Oommen Chandy against the opposition leader V.S Achuthanandan. The Interpretant of phrase ‘D’ is the AgustaWestland helicopter scam against Sonia Gandhi that tarnished the reputation of the Congress Party. The denotation level of the image In this cartoon, the cartoonists portray two characters, a woman, and a man. The first character is of a man who seems to be in a hurry and he is crying. He holds a paper in which it is written “defamation case”. His long nose, wide opened mouth, and his hands show his nervousness. The second character in this cartoon is of a woman who is sitting on the floor as if something falls on her head and there is a bump on the head, so she is crying out of pain. A paper is there in front of her in which it is written “Helicopter scam”. There is a conversation between these two characters i.e. the man is running towards the woman to inform her that he was defamed but the woman is crying and shouting at him by saying that the helicopter is falling on my head and you are crying on you being defamed. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist has used exaggeration and labelling as a technique to convey meanings to the people. The caricature of the two prominent leaders of Congress party along with labels helps the people to understand the political scenario and make it clear what they stand for. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white, green, yellow and red. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include sadness, shock, fear, and shame etc. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. The color of dress worn by the first character is white that resembles an Indian politician.

The green and yellow color saree worn by the second character helps the viewers to easily identify the character of Sonia Gandhi. She inherited two things i.e. a powerful presence in the society and the perfect sense of dressing from her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, who was the

87 only female prime minister of India. Sonia Gandhi prefers light hues and pastels which portray a bright picture that conveys her thoughts about improving things despite the dark and contrasting shades of turmoil that she shields her followers from (Power dressing and the Saree, 2015). The red color of the bump is to show the severe pain which is caused by the heavy thing that falls on her head. The cartoon is based on the defamation case filed by the chief minister Oommen Chandy against CPI (M) veteran VS Achuthanandan, seeking Rs.1 lakh compensation, for levelling baseless allegations against him. Mr. Chandy also filed a complaint against the Opposition leader before the Chief Electoral officer, seeking an inquiry under Section 171 (G) and 188 of the Indian Penal Code for giving false statements during the campaign for the May 16 assembly election (“Kerala Polls,”2016). In this suit filed before the First Additional District court, Mr.Chandy said the defamatory statement before TV channels and other media was fabricated for the sole purpose of destroying the reputation he enjoys among the people of his constituency and as well as around the world and to devastate his stature and position in the party. Mr. Achuthanandan, the CPM-LDF candidate from Malampuzha, had alleged that there were 136 cases before the Supreme Court against 18 cabinet ministers and 31 against the Chief Minister (“CM Oommen Chandy”, 2016). The objects which have found in this cartoon include icon which shows the chief minister Oommen Chandy along with the former president of Congress Sonia Gandhi. Second is the symbol which can be found in this political cartoon such as the bump and tears, which represent the political controversies and issues faced by Congress leaders. The index found in this sign is verbal text which used as information to the reader such as the captions and dialogues. The man in the cartoon is the then chief minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy and the woman in the cartoon resembles Sonia Gandhi the president of Indian National Congress. Oommen Chandy is trying to complain Sonia on the defamation case but Sonia is already under so many allegations and she is not in a state to help him because she herself is in trouble. The body postures of the two characters show their nervousness on the controversies raised against them. Oommen Chandy is running towards her telling that he is being defamed and she is replying that a helicopter is falling on her head and you are afraid of being defamed. The bump on her head is an exaggeration of the effect of a helicopter that falls on her head. The helicopter refers to the AgustaWestland Scam. In 2010, the UPA government and the Indian Air Force agreed to purchase twelve helicopters from Italian company AgustaWestland. These helicopters were to be used primarily to transport the president, the prime minister, and any other VVIP (“VVIP Chopper Scam,”2016).

As with most public scams in India, the controversy around the deal revolves around with whether the Indian government and air force officials received bribes in order to give the contract to AgustaWestland. In 2013, Italian authorities arrested AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini and Finmeccanica (the parent company of AW) Chairman Guiseppe Orsi over charges that they engaged middlemen to bribe Indian politicians and Indian Air Force officials in order to secure the deal. Shortly after this, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started their own investigations and the helicopter contract was put on hold. A majority of the money paid out to AgustaWestland has been recovered. During initial investigations and immediately after the controversy broke, most attention was centred on Tyagi whose cousins allegedly received kickbacks through various north Indian shell companies. Tyagi also was in the limelight after the Italian authorities alleged that he used his position as air force chief to favour AgustaWestland by tweaking the minimum technical specifications required for the purchase. The new Italian court order on this scam does mention the names of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, but not with an association to them receiving bribes or kickbacks. The order also does not indict these individuals (Jaganathan & Srivas, 2016). The order references Michel’s letter to AgustaWestland India sales head, which notes that “Sonia is the driving force” and that her closest advisers should be targeted in order to clinch the deal. Singh and Patel’s names are mentioned a few times order, but mostly under circumstances more closely relatable with corporate lobbying and not with any illegal wrongdoing. One instance that stands out, however, is a handwritten note from middleman Orsi, asking his people to use Italian diplomats to ask Singh to “scuttle the probe by non- cooperation from the Indian Government’s side” (“VVIP Chopper case”, 2015). The Interpretant of this political cartoon was that the cartoon points out the controversies faced by the two political leaders of Congress party and how it affected the entire election. This political cartoon was supported by the articles to describe the political issue. Thus, in this cartoon Chief minister Oommen Chandy tries to save his image from all allegations and seek help from Sonia Gandhi the former President of Indian National Congress. But Sonia Gandhi is facing severe controversies and she is not able to help him. So together this shows how the controversies both in state and central level of the congress affected the image and reputation of the party during election campaigning period. The cartoonist has intellectually presented the government’s actual condition during the election. Too much

89 information has been delivered in just a cartoon with clarity, humour, and satire. The captions and the labels are sarcastic. 16.

6 1 7 2 C 8 3 B

4 9 Fig 5.2.16 Mathrubhumi, 30th April, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

The political cartoon was published on 1st may 2016 on Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.16 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 1st May,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The man in yellow shirt A human being The man resembles and white dhoti talking to Vellapally Natesan,general secretary of the Sree the man sitting beside Narayana Dharma him. Paripalana Yogam.

2. The old man in white shirt A human being The old man resembles and dhoti with bunch of Kummanam Rajasekharan, flowers in his hands. the former president of Bharatiya Janatha Party in Kerala.

3. The lips and eyes of the The human body parts Signifies a political men sitting cross legged. strategy of BJP to start They are trying to entice alliance with Nair the girl by offering Community of Karala. flowers. 4. The straw basket with A container to carry It depicts the vision flower in it. flowers. document or the Darshan Regha released by NDA for the Kerala Assembly election 5. The eyes and lips of the Human body parts The Nair community is not girl. interested in the offer by BJP and they refuse to be a part of the political party. 6. The girl wearing a long A human being The girl resembles G skirt with flowers on hair Sukumaran Nair, general and a pooja basket in secretary of Nair Service hand. Society. 7. The bunch of flowers in Jasmine flowers BJP attracts NSS and tries the hands of the old man to make them their alliance. and flowers in girl’s hair. 8. A Taluka in girl’s hand Metallic oval pooja It represents Hindu basket. tradition and here it signifies Nair Community. 9. The girls dress Long skirt and top Hindus traditional dress.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 3 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Girl, do you want garland of jasmine… B. Cast an extra garland of flowers C. Mannam Scholarship for students-NDA The topic of the cartoon is based on the news of NDA starting their Kerala unit. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual.

The Interpretant of phrases ‘A’ is that BJP explores all possibilities in Kerala to enlarge its social base. The local body elections give a positive message and there are encouraging signals for prospective alliances in the assembly polls (Mathew, 2015).The cartoonist try to portray how the BJP party attracts others to be a part of the alliance. The Phrase ‘B’ is a humorous phrase used in Malayalam this is to show that before other parties makes alliance with Nair community BJP will try to make an alliance with them so that they can make sure of the votes cast by Nair community. The Phrase ‘C’ is the news based on which this cartoon is created. The Mannam Scholarship Scheme was one of the highlights of the manifesto of BJP party which mainly targeted on Nair Community. The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of three characters with two men sitting on the floor and a man dressed like a girl is walking straight holding a small flower basket in her hand. The two men is sitting on the floor with a straw basket in front of them. The basket contains jasmine flowers in it and the man in white shirt and dhoti takes out a bunch of flowers and offers it to the girl. The man sitting behind the politician comments with a Malayalam comical phrase. The girl walks away refusing the flowers offered to her.

The connotation level of the image The cartoonist has used the technique of analogy in this cartoon. Here the political strategy of BJP is compared with people selling flowers and garlands for Hindu temple worship. This cartoon is based on the news of NDA starting their Kerala unit. Three characters are portrayed in this cartoon. Two men are sitting in the road with a straw basket with jasmine flowers in it. The two men resemble Kummanam Rajashekaran, the former state president of BJP in Kerala and Vellappally Natesan, the general secretary of Sree Narayanaguru Dharma Paripalana Yogam. The man who is dressed like a girl in long skirt and top walks with a flower basket in her hand. The girl resembles G. Sukumaran Nair, the general secretary of Nair Service Society. The cartoonist has used the technique of exaggeration that portrait G. Sukumaran as a Hindu girl. This Hindu girl like appearance is a symbol used by the cartoonist to depict the Nair Community in Kerala. Long skirt and top with flowers on head and flower basket in hand resembles a traditional Hindu girl going to temple for doing rituals. According to the historical caste system of Kerala Nair was ranked just below Brahmins and Kshatriya and they were considered to be higher caste. There were many Nair rulers in Kerala region before India's independence. Here the qualisign is colors used in the cartoon i.e. yellow, white, orange and brown. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include entice,

persuasion and refusal. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. Here the yellow colour of the shirt indicates SNDP yogam which was formed on 1903 by the efforts of a group of people who worked hard for the upliftment of the socially backward classes. The colour used by them was yellow -the colour of Sri Krishna and Sri Buddha. The white shirt and dhoti of the man represents him as a politician. The orange and brown coloured long dress worn by the girl represents the traditional Hindu girl.

The cartoonist portrays the political strategy of BJP i.e. its alliance with different parties and other welfare organization to win this election. Kummaam Rajasekharan takes a bunch of flowers from the straw basket and offers it to G.Sukumara which shows the BJP’S technique to attract the Nair Service Society. The straw basket depicts the vision document or the Darshan Regha released by NDA for the Kerala Assembly election. The NDA Kerala unit comprises of ten political parties. Besides BJP, the other prominent partners in the alliance are Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, a faction of Janadhipathya Samrakshana Sena, P C Thomas faction of Kerala Congress, Socialist Janata Dal and Janathipathya Rashtriya Sabha led by tribal leader C K Janu. Some of the other highlights of the document are the following:

• See Narayana Guru Housing project: The entire homeless and those who live in ramshackle homes would be covered under this scheme • Government jobs for Adivasi youth: All adivasi youth who have passed 10th standard will be given government jobs • Interest free agricultural loan: Farmers will be given Rs.3 lakh interest free loan emulating the Madhya Pradesh Model • Rs.10000 crore packages for coastal region: Cooperating with central government a Rs.10000 crore package would be implemented to help build basic infrastructure in coastal region and for the benefit of fishermen. • Mannam Scholarship Scheme: Scholarships will be given to students of economically weaker sections under irrespective of caste Creed and religion. • 100000 small scale industries would be set up to help the youth cooperating with Mudra scheme • Rs. 10000 crore packages for traditional industries • Uninterrupted water supply for 24 hours • Slum free Kerala • 10000 flat apartments will be built in 2 years to eliminate slum dwelling.

The Mannam Scholarship Scheme was one of the highlights of the manifesto which mainly targeted on Nair Community so that they become one of the partners in alliance and thus help to target the votes of Nair Community. Nair’s constitute 14.5% of South and Central Kerala. The NSS has always been criticized by the community for not taking benefit by being part of political party. In fact, the outfit has always maintained that it does not want to align with any political party or front, though it has been seen as close to the UDF government. Thus, the cartoonist tries to portray how BJP tries to attract different sectors and groups in Kerala so that it may help them to open an account in the state assembly. 17.

1 B C 5

6 3

Fig 5.2.17 Mathrubhumi, 3rd May. E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 3rd May, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.17 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 3rd May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The man in white shirt A human being The man resembles V.M sitting in two different Sudheeran. postures.

2. A photo that hangs on the A yellow framed The man in the photo wall with a man smiling. photograph with blue resembles K. Babu, the background. former minister of fisheries, ports and excise.

3. A packet with pickle and It is a common form of This signifies the bar packaging. the plate with red colour scam- case registered pickle on the table. against the former Minister K. Babu for irregularities in allotting bar license. 4. A photo that hangs on the A framed photograph in It resembles Mahatma wall in the first image. black and white Gandhi, leader of the background. Indian independence movement and known as “Father of the nation.” 5. The hands of the man with Human body parts This signifies the change in pointing fingers in first the character and image and bended fingers statements made by V.M in the second image. Sudheeran before campaigning and during campaigning. 6. The two different body Human body It denotes the political postures of the man. strategies adopted by politicians.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 3 phrases which have been analyzed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Practical idealism B. shh…the pickle is very spicy C. Sudheeran seeks vote for K. Babu. The topic of the cartoon is based on the news that V.M Sudheeran campaigning for K. Babu. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual. Phrase ‘A’ is that V.M Sudheeran talks about practical idealism and always

95 stands for truth but suddenly he stops his speech in between which denotes his change in attitude towards the ideologies he followed. The Phrase ‘B’ denotes the bar scam as pickle as it is most often used along with alcohol. K. Babu, a senior Congress leader and a loyalist of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, was the second minister in the Congress-led UDF government to quit office in relation to the scam. The Phrase ‘C’ denotes sudheeran doing campaign works for K. Babu. this becomes a news because V.M. Sudheeran, who earlier took a stand against the party backing former minister K. Babu in the bar bribery case, started supporting him by stating that Vigilance booked a case for disproportionate assets against Mr Babu to take political vengeance. The denotation level of the image The cartoon portrays a man in two different situations. In the first image he is sitting in a chair and pointing his figure straight as if he is delivering a speech to someone. A framed photo is shown behind him. In the second image the same man is shown as sitting in the chair and he holds a packet in one hand. A plate is on the table and he is having food from that plate. Another framed photo is shown in the figure which is hanged on the wall. The label in the cartoon is “V.M Sudheeran campaigns for K. Babu.” The dialogue in the first image is about practical idealism and the second image is about the pickle which is very spicy.

The connotation level of the image

This cartoon is based on the news on V.M Sudheeran’s campaign for K. Babu, the candidate of Thrippunithura constituency who was the former minister for fisheries, ports and Excise. The technique of caricature is used in this cartoon to portray Mahatma Gandhi, V.M Sudheeran and K. Babu. The cartoon portrays V.M Sudheeran, the President of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee in two different situations. In the first image he is sitting in a chair pointing his fingers straight and is talking about Practical Idealism. A framed photograph of Mahatma Gandhi is shown behind him. Practical Idealism is a term adopted by Mahatma Gandhi and was first used by John Dewey in 1917(Gandhi Marg, 2002).It describes a philosophy that holds it to be an ethical imperative to implement ideals of virtue or good. V.M Sudheeran was considered as a man who always tried to follow the practical idealism of Mahatma Gandhi. His strong views and uncompromising stands that kept him away from all groups in the state congress and he was the man responsible for the states proposed liquor ban (Sanandakumar, 2014) The major roadblock the UDF faced while finalizing the candidates for the election was the clash between the VM Sudheeran and Oommen Chandy. Sudheeran had

96 repeatedly demanded that tainted ministers and aspirants who had contested more than four previous elections, be excluded from the candidate list. The ministers K. Babu, Adoor Prakash, KC Joseph and MLAs Dominic Presentation, Benny Behanan were all names that Sudheeran wanted to keep out of the list. While Sudheeran had objected to the candidature of Babu, Prakash and Benny Behenan because of the allegations raised against them, he wanted the other candidates rejected for having contested too many prior elections. Oommen Chandy, however, was set on his decision that all of these candidates would be nominated (“Congress yet to finalise,”2016).

The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colors used in the cartoon i.e. white, the colourful photo frame and the black and white photo frame. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include honesty and insincere attitude. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. Here white colour represents politicians specially V.M Sudheeran. The black and white photo frame denotes something old. here the doctrines of Gandhi are shown as something old. the second image have a more colourful photo frame with K. Babu in it shows the new doctrines in politics which the politicians likes to follow.

The objects which have found in this cartoon include icon which shows Mahatma Gandhi, V.M Sudheeran and K. Babu. Second is the symbol which can be found in this political cartoon such as the framed photo Mahatma Gandhi which shows the doctrines of him that congress leaders should follow. the pickle in the cartoon is a symbolic of Bar scam. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it literally drains water out of you. The salt and vinegar in the pickle will cause your body to start storing water and restoring electrolytes to put your body back in balance. Thus, pickle and alcohol are related. The index found in this sign is verbal text which used as information to the reader such as the captions and dialogues. In the second image V.M Sudheeran is portrayed as sitting on a chair with a packet of pickle in one hand and a plate is placed in front of him in the table and some pickle is there in it. He tastes the pickle and with a smile in his face he says that the pickle is very spicy. This shows his change in character during the election period. He who was against K. Babu commended that he is people’s representative and showered praise on Mr. Babu for resolving people’s issues and focusing on development. He urged voters to enhance Babu’s victory margin.

Pickle in the cartoon is shown in an exaggerated and humorous way. Most of the people are familiar with the combination of alcohol and pickle. In the second image V.M Sudheeran says

97 that “this pickle is spicy”, this is indirectly connected with the Bar Scam allegation against K. Babu, for which he resigned from his post. He was the second minister in the Congress led UDF government who has resigned in the case after former Finance Minister KM Mani.

The resignation was made by him following a vigilance court order that a FIR needs to be filed against the minister and a progress report must be submitted within a month, in a case where it is alleged that K Babu had taken a bribe of Rs 50 lakhs from bar owner Biju Ramesh to not increase the bar license fee. Kerala government had shut down all bars, except those under the five-star category as part of its partial liquor prohibition policy which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court, following which bar owners put forth allegations that the then Finance Minister KM Mani and Excise Minister K Babu had taken bribe from them to not increase bar license fee and reopen closed bars. Thus V.M Sudheeran who seems to follow the practical idealism of Mahatma Gandhi, changed his attitude towards K. Babu and started supporting him saying that his response got delayed as he needed more clarity on the issue. Sudheeran who one’s opposed K.Babu changes his opinion by saying that the corruption charges and ongoing vigilance probe against Babu is nothing but political vendetta (“Sudheeran finally defends”2016).This was considered as one of the political campaign strategy of politicians. The cartoon brings out the humorous element in the nature of those politicians i.e. they often change their political stands according to the situations.

18. A B C

1 3

2 5

Fig 5.2.18 Mathrubhumi, 4th May, 2016 . E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 4th May ,2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper.

Table 5.2.18 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 4th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The three men dressed Human beings The three women sitting on like women in sarees. the stool resembles V.S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Oommen Chandy.

2. The two men sitting Human beings The men sitting in the opposite to those women. jewellery store resembles Sitaram Yechury and V.M Sudheeran. 3. The ornaments that the Pieces of jewellery It signifies the cultural women are wearing, the event i.e. Akshaya Tritiya. gold chains, the bangles and the crown on the head. 4. The black wallet that the A small bag for holding It denotes campaign men are holding in their money and plastic cards. finance. hands. 5. The mirror Reflects a clear image Politicians are the mirror of the society because it gives an image but the image is not necessarily a true image.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory.

A. “Akshaya Tritiya booking started”-news B. How is it... C. It’s not bad… D. look, it’s amazing... The topic of the cartoon is based on the news of Akshaya Tritiya. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual. The Interpretant of phrases ‘A’ is that the news says booking for gold has started as it is Akshaya Tritiya. One of the important ritual performed on Akshaya Tritiya is buying gold as it symbolizes wealth and prosperity. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘B’ is V.S Achuthanandan is asking how is the ornaments that he is wearing while, the Interpretant of Phrase ‘C’ is that Pinarayi Vijayan is that looking at his own ornaments he is saying it looks good on him and it’s not bad. The Interpretant of phrase ‘D’ is that Oommen Chandy is asking V.M Sudheeran to look at his ornaments and he is telling it’s amazing.

The denotation level of the image

The image takes place in a jewellery store. Three men dressed like women are sitting on the stool placed there. They are wearing ornaments and mirrors are placed near to them. Two men are sitting opposite to them in a stool and they hold a black wallet in their hands. The label of the cartoon is “Akshaya Tritiya booking started”. The captions of this cartoon are in a dialogue form which is a conversation with the men and women sitting there. The women are asking about their appearance after wearing all those ornaments.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist has used the technique of analogy in this cartoon. In this cartoon the cartoonist compares the race for Chief Minister’s post with Akshaya Tritiya.Akshaya Tritiya or Akja Teej is one of the most auspicious days for Hindus and Jains. It is celebrated on the third Tithi (lunar day) of Shukla Paksha (Bright Half) of the Vaishakha month. In Sanskrit ,Akshaya means never diminishing and the day is believed to bring prosperity and success. The day is considered very auspicious to buy new property or start a new venture. One of the important ritual performed on Akshaya Tritiya is buying gold as it symbolizes wealth and prosperity. Different beliefs and philosophies recommend buying and gifting of gold, silver or anything precious on Akshaya Tritiya. The practice in vogue in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh has caught up in Kerala too since the last few years.

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Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, here all the characters are having a pleasant face and they are smiling which symbolizes the campaigning strategy. The objects which have found in this cartoon include icon which shows the former chief minister Oommen Chandy along with the current chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and communist leader V.S Achuthannadan. Second is the symbol which can be found in this political cartoon such as the black wallet and mirror, Black wallet represents campaign finance which refers to all funds raised to promote candidates, political parties or policy initiatives and referenda. political campaigns have many expenditures, that includes travel costs, advertisements and publicity cost and direct costs of communicating with voters via media outlets. Campaign spending depends on the region. The mirror represents how the candidates are presenting them in the public how they are reflected. Here the candidates are ready for the election and they are making themselves ready for the race. The index found in this sign is verbal text which used as information to the reader such as the captions and dialogues. The technique of exaggeration is used to portray politicians as women s wearing Kerala Saree which is a traditional outfit thus the cultural and political values are interlinked in this cartoon. The race for the CM post is compared with Akshaya Tritiya i.e. the election campaign is compared to a jewellery store where woman try out things and looks beautiful, in the same way candidates do campaigning to get a good image of themselves. The Chief Minister candidates of communist party,V.S Achuthanandan, Pinaray Vijayan and that of Congress Party,Oommen Chandy are dressed like woman wearing all ornaments and are asking whether they look good in those ornaments. So, this auspicious day is used by the politicians to present themselves as the chief ministerial candidates and they are speaking to the men sitting opposite to them that they are ready for the election and they are the most suitable candidates for the chief minister’s post. The two men sitting opposite to them in a chair resemble V.M Sudheeran, president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and Sitharam Yechury, leader of the Communist Party of India. They are holding a black colour wallet in their hand which resembles the fund raised during the election for the campaigning of those candidates.

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19. A A

B 1 5

C 6 2

3 D

4 Fig 5.2.19 Mathrubhumi, 5th May, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. This political cartoon was published in 5th May, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.19 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 5th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

The two men holding a The old man resembles the 1. placard Human beings former Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy. the man behind him is V.M Sudheeran.

2. The long nose and eyes of Human body parts long The allegations against the the old man with raised nose and the eyes with LDF on TP murder case eyebrows. raised eyebrows show which UDF considered as a the anger. political strategy against the communist party.

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3. The placards A public display, either It denotes the political fixed to a wall or carried campaign strategy of both during a demonstration the parties against each other. 4. The nose and perplexed Parts of the human being It signifies humiliation eyes of the old man and faced by congress leaders his hands placed on the when allegations are raised nose. against them. 5. The two men standing on Human beings The old man resembles the right side of the V.S AchuthanandanThe image. man standing behind him is the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan.

6. The eyes and lips of the Human body part It shows the humiliation old man in two mages faced out of the allegation raised against LDF and in the second image he is smiling at the allegations raised against congress party. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. 51 injuries B. TP death anniversary. C. 38 injuries D. Jisha The topic of the cartoon is about the allegation raised against the political parties during the election campaign. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual. The Interpretant of phrases ‘A’ depicts TP Chandrasekharan murder case. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘B’ is about the death anniversary of TP

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Chandrasekharan which Congress party utilized as a political tool against communist party. The Phrase ‘C’ indicates Jisha rape and murder case. The Interpretant of phrase ‘D’ is about the murder case of Jisha. The crime took place in during the campaigning period of the Kerala Legislative elections, and hence gained momentum and focus from political parties. The denotation level of the image

The cartoonist has divided the cartoon into two sections, in the first image the cartoonists portray four people who looks like politicians wearing white dress. The two men are standing opposite to the other two politicians facing them as if a fight is taking place between them. The long nose and eyes of the first two men signifies their anger towards the other two who seems to be standing quiet. The man on the left side holds a placard in one hand in which it is written 51 injuries and a paper on other hand with a written message “TP death anniversary” in it. The other two men facing them are pointing their finger towards downward direction.

The second image is just the opposite of the first image, here the first two men are standing silent and their long nose and perplexed eyes with hand placed on the nose signifies humiliation. They are standing embarrassed and confronted with other two politician who is pointing their finger towards the placard they hold in which it is written 38 injuries, the other man holds a paper in which it is written “Jisha”.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist in this cartoon has portrayed the fight between the two parties i.e. congress and communist pointing out their wrongdoings. Each party used Jisha rape and murder case and TP Chandrasekhar murder case as political strategy to win the election. The technique of exaggeration and humour is used to depict this. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white, green and red. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include anger and humiliation. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. here the white colour is used to represent the politicians. the green colour used in the placard depicts the congress party and the red colour in the second image depicts communist party. certain colours are used to represent certain political parties in different countries with similar ideologies. The red colour symbolises the left-wing ideologies in many countries. The red colour was chosen to represent the blood of the workers who died in the struggle against capitalism. In the political world red has powerful connotations, both positive

104 and negative. Red has been the symbol of blood and of revolutionary rage (Germani & Swales, 1998)

The cartoon is divided in two sections showing two different situations. Four politicians dressed in white color are shown in this cartoon. Oommen Chandy and V.M Sudheeran from Congress Party and V. S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan from Communist Party are depicted in this cartoon. In the first image the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is holding a placard in one hand and a paper in the other hand. In the placard its written 51 injuries and the paper it is written TP death anniversary. The face of the two politicians are raging with anger. Facing them stands V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan the communist leaders, they stand quiet with mouth shut. here, 51 injuries and TP death anniversary depicts the TP Chandrasekharan murder case. T.P Chandrasekharan was a local leader who formed a separate party of communism Known as Revolutionary Marxist Party and gain more public attention after being hacked to death by his rivals.Chandrasekharan and others revealed Vijayan’s right- wing deviation and anti-party activities and thus it developed a personal grudge in Pinarayi Vijayan which is considered to be the reason behind his death (Rema, 2015).Congress party utilized this as a political tool against communist party and they were silenced by this murder case.According to police report ,Mr.Chandrasekharan, a 51 year old communist party member was attacked by his rivals using Country-made bombs and he was brutally killed using sharp weapons mainly focusing his face. The postmortem report explains that he received 51 ante- mortem injuries. All the accused arrested were the leaders and supporters of Communist Party of India (Marxist). It included an area secretary, a prominent position in CPI (M) organizational hierarchy, more than two area committee members and a few local committee members.

The politics propounded by RMP and Chandrasegharan was against Mr.Vijayan.Chandrasekharan and others revealed Mr.Vijayan’s right-wing deviation and anti- party activities and thus it developed a personal grudge in Pinarayi Vijayan which is considered to be the reason behind his death. Congress party utilized this as a political tool against communist party and they were silenced by this murder case.

In the second image the same politicians are seen but in a reverse situation where the communist party leaders are holding the placard and paper in their hands. V.S Achuthanandan holds a placard in which it is written 38 injuries and Pinarayi Vijayan holds a paper with the name Jisha in it. Jisha, a 29-year-old law student at the Government Law College, Ernakulam, was found murdered on April 28, 2016 at her home near a canal in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam.

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Forensics concluded the body injuries showed violence, possible torture and presence of alcohol. The report also noted that the culprit had used a sharp weapon to disembowel her. Jisha was stabbed over 30 times and was pierced with a dagger and there were 38 injuries in his body. Upon preliminary investigation, the police revealed that Jisha was murdered when she resisted the rape attempt. The crime took place in the backdrop of the Kerala Legislative elections, and hence gained momentum and focus from political parties. Human rights activist Jomon Puthenpurackal alleged in a letter submitted to Chief Minister that Jisha was the daughter of the Congress leader and had approached P.P.Thankachan shortly before her death asking for a share of his assets.Jomon had also hinted UDF convener Thankachans involvement in Jisha’s murder. But the allegation was denied by him. Thus the brutal rape and murder of Jisha in Kerala has become an election issue and both the Congress-led UDF and Left-ruled LDF were trying their best to capitalize on the issue to reach their respective political goals (Ghosh, 2016) So in the second image the congress leaders who were raising allegations against communist party was silenced and embarrassed because of the Jisha murder case.

But it was unfortunate that instead of taking care of the women's safety, the political forces were using it as an election plank to corner the Opposition. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the rate of crime against women in the southern state was higher than even the national average. Jisha was not the last woman to meet such experience. Days after that gruesome incident, another teenage girl was gang raped in an auto rickshaw in the state, but it was not taken into much consideration which clearly suggests that politicization of the Jisha issue was only to help the parties to prepare their strategy to grab power.

20. A B

2 3 1

C 6 Fig 5.2.20 Mathrubhumi, 6th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. E-paper archives,Kerala.

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This political cartoon was published in 6th May, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.20 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 6th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The first two politicians Human beings wearing The old man resembles the on the cartoon. white shirt and dhoti. former Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy. The man on whom Chandy sits resembles V.M Sudheeran.

2. The eyes and hands of the Human body parts. The politicians speak about politicians. the election manifestos. 3. The two politicians on the Human beings The two politicians right side of the image. resemble V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan. 4. The eyes and lips of the Human body parts It denotes the political fight two politicians crawling between the two political on the floor. parties. 5. The old man sitting on the Human being It resembles a common floor. man or the general public. 6. The eyes and hands of the Human body parts People are perplexed and old man. confused with the political parties.

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Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 3 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. A goal of corruption free government B. Chief Minister will be declared soon. C. A joke above this is possible only in dreams. The topic of the cartoon is about how the general public is confused with the statements made by the politicians during the election period. The phrase ‘A’ is an irony which shows how congress party was facing corruption cases and allegations against them. The Phrase ‘B’ is again an irony which explains the fight in communist party for the chief minister’s post. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘C’ depicts the situation of a common man who feels that all the statements made them are mere jokes. The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of five characters with four politicians and one common man. The politicians are wearing white shirt and dhoti while the man is sitting only wearing a white dhoti. The two politicians are sitting face to face and they are sitting on the back of other two politicians. The first man sitting on the back of the politician speaks about his goal on corruption free rule while the second politician tells that the chief minister will be decided as soon as possible. The other two politicians look each other with anger. The old man sits in the floor perplexed listening to the statements made by them and tells that a joke above this is possible only in dreams.

The connotation level of the image

This cartoon uses the technique of irony which is the difference between the way’s things are and the way things should be, or the way things are expected to be. Cartoonists often use irony to express their opinion on an issue. In this cartoon four political leaders are portrayed which include Oommen Chandy and V.M Sudheeran of UDF and V. S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan of LDF.A common man is shown sitting in the floor listening to the statements made by the politicians. Oommen Chandy is sitting on the back of V.M Sudheeran and says that a corruption free rule is his goal.

The team solar case was at first considered as one of the numerous cheating cases that the state has witnessed but later the case. Instead the case has grown in dimensions with regular revelations of hoary tales of sleaze and corruption by the too ambitious entrepreneurs Saritha

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S Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan and they added enough spice to the campaign for the Assembly election slated to be held on 16 May. The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF), which used the Suryanelli and Kozhikode ice cream parlour sex scandals to prevent the rival United Democratic Front (UDF) from retaining power in 2006 and to contain its majority to one of the lowest in the state’s poll history in 2011, has taken it up along with the bar bribery scam as its most potent weapon to beat UDF's “development and care” poll plank.

The two scams together have put nearly one third of the UDF ministry, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy himself, in the dock over charges ranging from bribery to sexual exploitation. While Saritha accused Chandy and a former Union Minister of raping her, Biju, who is also her former live-in partner, added two more ministers, an MLA, son of a minister and a senior police officer to the list.

The duo also accused the Chief Minister and two of his ministerial colleagues and a host of MLAs and ruling front leaders of accepting bribe of around 1.9 crore for supporting their business. The bar bribery scam was other major corruption that involved mainly two ministers, K.M Mani and K. Babu. Never before in the history of Kerala have so many ministers faced such grave charges of corruption and sexual exploitation.

On the other hand, in this cartoon Pinarayi Vijayan is seen as sitting on the back of V.S Achuthanandan and says that the chief minister will be decided as soon as possible. Achuthanandan’s rivalry with Pinarayi Vijayan is a well-known fact among the general public of Kerala. Both Achuthanandan and Vijayan were suspended from the politburo in 2007 after the two openly criticized each other. Later, they were reinstated in the politburo. A bitter power struggle between Pinarayi Vijayan and Achuthanandan was one of the highlights of the 2016 general election. This contradictory statement by the two politicians shows the irony used by the cartoonist in this cartoon. The other two politicians in the cartoon are portrayed as if they are ready for a fight i.e. for the success in the general election. A common man is portrayed in the cartoon which depicts the general public sitting on the floor with perplexed eyes and watching the politicians. The man after listening to the statements says that a big joke other than this is possible only in dreams, which means he is mocking at the politicians who tries to fool the general public with their promises.

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21. A B

1 4

5 C 6 2

. 3 7 Fig 5.2.21 Mathrubhumi, 7th May, 2016.E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 7th May, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.21 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 7th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man standing A human being with grey The old man resembles the with holding hands. hairs. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. 2. The police man sitting on A human being It resembles Ramesh the stool. Chennithala,the former home minister of Kerala. 3. The mobile phone in the A device used for The letter ‘f’ denotes the hands of the policeman communication. facebook and here it shows with the letter ’f’ in it. the facebook post made by Ramesh Chennithala commenting on the statement made by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. 4. The woman standing Human being It resembles V.M Sudheeran.

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5. The woman A human being wearing a The woman resembles yellow saree. Sonia Gandhi. 6. The patient on the bed A human being It resembles Oommen with body casts. Chandy. 7. The black sunglasses of Glasses tinted to protect Hiding the controversies or the patient the eyes from sunlight or closing eyes against them. glare. 8. The body cast Indexical sign to denote Political controversies the injuries. faced by the congress party Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Government closed eyes on Jisha murder case. B. He can’t look anyone because of eye disease C. Jikku, bar, saritha, salimraj, paatttoor etc The topic of the cartoon is on the series of corruption and an allegation raised against congress.it is based on the statement made by Narendra Modi against the congress party. The phrases ‘A’ is based on the statement made by Narendra Modi. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘B’ is that congress party is trying to hide the controversies raised against them. The Interpretant of Phrase ‘C’ is the corruption cases against congress party. The denotation level of the image

The image takes place in a hospital. The label of the cartoon is a statement made by Modi i.e. Government shut their eyes against Jisha murder case. The cartoon portrays four characters that include a policeman, a patient, bystander and an old man. The patient is lying on the bed with body casts and some names are written on the plaster such as Jikku, Salimraj, saritha, bar, Joppan, paatoor and so on. The policeman sits on the stool near to the patient and he is busy with phone. The bystander of the patient is portrayed as a woman and she talks to the old man who came there to see the patient, she says that the patient has eye disease so he can’t look at anyone. Her dialogue resembles a comedy dialogue from a Malayalam film.

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The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist has used the technique of exaggeration to portray the political condition in Kerala. The political field is depicted as a hospital i.e. the technique of analogy is also used in this particular cartoon. This cartoon was based on the news on Modi’s statement against the congress party (ruling party). Modi slammed the Congress-led UDF over the solar scam and the brutal rape and murder of the Dalit woman saying there seemed to be "no government" in the state. The cartoon consists of four characters the first character is the old man who is in the hospital to visit the patient. The old man resembles Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the patient resembles Oommen Chandy. Narendra Modi visited Kerala for the campaigning programme. He accused that both LDF and UDF supports each other when it is about holding power. Both the political fronts are fooling the general public by acting and projecting themselves with different ideologies. In reality, they were all the same.Modi raised many allegations against Oommen Chandy. The controversies include the solar scam,bar bribary,paatoor land scam,methran Kayal controversy and so on .This is written on the white plaster on his body which means because of all these controversies he feels like an injured person., Mr.Chandy’s image was tainted by allegations of corruption and sleaze .He was covered with corruption charges and allegations. The Chandy government had faced the elections under a cloud of charges from bar bribery case to solar scam with even the 72-year- old chief minister facing severe personal allegations. Modi made a statement while he visited Kerala during election period, he said that the government closed its eyes against the Jisha rape case. here the cartoonist portrays Oommen Chandy as a patient who can’t even open the eyes and his bystander supports him saying that he has eye disease. The technique of irony is used by the cartoonist.

The bystander of the patient resembles KPCC president V.M Sudheeran who talks to Mr. Modi and Malayalam comical dialogue is used here to tell him that he can’t look anyone because of eye disease. The famous dialogue on eye disease is from the Malayalam film: Akkare akkare akkare” staring Mohanlal and Sreenivasan. A Malayalam comedy thriller film directed by Priyadarshan. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include sadness, pity and anger.

The sunglass used by the patient is a symbolic representation how they cover controversies without facing them. The policeman resembles Ramesh Chennithala, the former home minister of Kerala. He is dressed like a police man which is a symbolic representation of home minister

112 who controls the Kerala police and he takes quick action against the statement made by Modi through a Facebook post. He wrote a facebook post against Mr. Modi mentioning that it was a “cheap politics” made by Modi with an eye on Assembly election. Chennithala made his strongly –worded rejoinder in a Facebook post, barely hours after Modi attacked the Chandy government, in his election rally.

4 1

3 5

Fig 5.2.22 Mathrubhumi, 8h May, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.22 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 8th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human a

1. The child that looks like an A human being Resembles Oommen old man with white shorts. Chandy.

2. The two children in red Human beings Resembles V.S shorts. Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan. 3. The child like old man with A human being Resembles Kummanam white beard. Rajasekharan, the former

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state secretary of Bharatiya Janatha Party. The woman in Saree A human being Represents the general 4. public

The tears strong internal emotions It represents how the 5. leaders of the political parties try to influence the general public during campaign period. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Mother’s Day B. Don’t act…. there is no vote for all crying babies.

In this cartoon the cartoonist connects Mother’s Day and election campaigning. The phrase ‘A’ deals with Mother’s Day. Mother's Day is celebrated to honour Mothers of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. The phrase ‘B’ is an idiom that says “crying baby gets milk first. The cartoonist exaggerates the idiom and technique of irony is used to create sarcasm out of it. Thus, the cartoonist portrays the techniques used by the political leaders while they seek votes from the general public.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of five characters four children and a woman. The children look like old people and are crying badly that the woman can’t manage them. Three of them along with woman sit on the bed while a child sits on the floor and the place where he sits is surrounded with his tears.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of analogy in this cartoon and compares two different situations to make the idea clearer. The cartoon is based on the election campaigning of different parties and the techniques used by them to gain votes. The cartoon is published on

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Mother’s Day. So, Mother’s Day and election campaigning are the two different situation that are interlinked. The cartoon takes place in bedroom of the house where a woman sits on the bed. Along with the woman sits three children and a child sits on the floor. The icons used in this cartoon are the caricatures of the political leaders such as V.S Achuthanandan, Oommen Chandy, Pinarayi Vijayan and Kummanam Rajasekharan. The four children are crying out loudly and the woman could not manage them and she says that don’t be mischievous for there is no votes for all crying babies. Babies usually cry if they are hungry and mothers understands it and provide milk for them. Here the mother of the four children is a symbolic representation of general public who cast their votes and gives them the power. The child who cries represents the political leaders of the major parties of Kerala. Here the milk represents vote and they are crying to get maximum votes from the public for that they use all possible forms of campaign techniques. The colour of the shorts that children wear denotes different parties. The white colour represents congress, the red colour represents communism and the orange colour represents the BJP party. Kummanam Rajasekharan sits on the floor is a symbolic representation that other parties already have their position and a place in the Kerala politics and BJP tries to be a third alternative in this election.

23. B A

2 C D 3

Fig 5.2.23 Mathrubhumi, 9th May, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

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Table 5.2.23 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 9th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human a A

1. The man sitting in the A human being Resembles Vellappally helicopter in a yellow Natesan. dress. 2. The helicopter A flying machine Bjp’sPolitical campaigning using helicopter. 3. The man hanging on the A human being Resembles V.S helicopter. Achuthanandan. The man sitting on the A human being Resembles Pinarayi 4. motor bike. Vijayan

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Natesan dumps waste by travelling in helicopter-V. S B. Kolilakkam (Shockwave) C. Mr. Natesan I won’t let you go D. Modiji there is an enemy.

The cartoon is based on the news that Vellappally Natesan joining the big league of Netas using helicopter for election campaigning. The phrase ‘A’ explains the statement made by V.S Achuthanandan on Natesan’s campaigning using helicopter. V.S states that the campaign only will help in spreading poisonous wastes among the people. The phrase ‘B’ is a 1981 Malayalam disaster drama film, starring the famous actor of Malayalam film industry ‘Jayan’.The phrase ‘C’ and ‘D’ are dialogues used by V.S and Mr. Natesan.this shows the political fight between the two parties.

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The denotation level of the image

The cartoon takes place in a road side and consists of three characters. A man sits on the helicopter and calls someone over the phone. He is wearing a yellow dress and is sweating A man rides the motor bike and the man behind him takes support of the bike and hangs on the helicopter. The man who hangs on the helicopter says that he will not allow him to go and the man in the helicopter informs someone that there is an enemy.

The connotation level of the image

In this cartoon the cartoonist uses the technique of analogy and compares two different situations. The cartoonist links the political scenario of Kerala with a Malayalam film named ‘Kolilakkam’. Exaggeration is used to recreate a scene in the film with the Political scene in Kerala.

‘Jayan’ a popular Malayalam film actor died in an accident that took place on the set of the movie Kolilakam (Shockwave).The climax scene of the film was taken in Sholavaram, near Madras, Tamil Nadu. The actor met with the accident, while performing a particularly dangerous stunt that involved him boarding an airborne helicopter from a moving motorbike. The shot was accepted by the director in the first take, but Jayan, who is a perfectionist wasn’t happy with the scene and insisted for a re-take. While shooting for this the helicopter lost its balance and crashed along with Jayan who was hanging onto the landing skids, and he later succumbed to his injuries and his death was declared.

Here the cartoonist recreates this scene with Vellappally Natesan’s political campaigning using helicopter. Though national leaders and top politicians in the state used to hire helicopters during elections, it was Nateshan's first aggressive campaign tour using helicopters. The SNDP leader was instrumental in bringing a large section of the influential Ezhava Community to the NDA fold, brightening the prospects of the BJP alliance in the assembly elections. The central government had deployed ‘Y’ category security for Nateshan after he allegedly received death warning from the Al-Ummah terrorist outfit.

V.S Achuthanandan reacted to this by stating that the campaign using helicopter will only benefit in spreading poisonous waste in the state. The cartoonist portrays V. S as the man dressed like the actor ‘Jayan’ and hangs on the helicopter saying that he won’t allow him to do the campaign. Thus, it shows the political conflict between the two parties.

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24.

C 6 1

2 7

8 4 D 5

Fig 5.2.24 Mathrubhumi, 10th May, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 10th May, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.24 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 10th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The rose flower It represents the A flower corruptions and scams in the state of Kerala. 2. The old man watering the A human being It resembles former Chief garden with a rose flower Minister of Kerala in one hand. Oommen Chandy. 3. The green pipe with A pipe to feed water It denotes the statement droplets of water from it made by Oommen Chandy where he compares Kerala with garden.so here the cartoonist portrays Oommen Chandy as the

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gardener watering the plants. 4. The old man trying to cut A human being It represents V.S the pipe Achuthanandan. 5. The sickle that old man An agricultural tool. It denotes the political fight holds during the campaign period 6. A plastic bag A type of container used It denotes the strategies or containing and used by the BJP party transporting goods. 7. The two men standing on Human beings It represents Vellapally the other side of the wall. Natesan and Kummanam Rajasekharan. 8. The green colour garden A garden with plants and It represents the state of with rose flowers in it. flowers in it. Kerala.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 4 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Do not sow poisonous seeds in the garden of Kerala retorts Oommen Chandy to BJP. B. Flowers, rose flowers, C. It’s not the seed but waste D. Solar scam, salimraj, paatoor, text book printing, Methran Kayal controversy, Joppan, Jikkumon. The cartoon is based on the verbal fight between the leaders of different parties. The phrase ‘A’ is a statement made by the former chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy against the allegations of the former BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan. The interpretant of phrase ‘B’ is a famous Malayalam song on rose flowers. Here the cartoonist uses this song and compares it with the statement made by Oommen Chandy who compared Kerala with garden. The phrase ‘C’ is an answer for the statement by Oommen Chandy. The BJP leaders say that they are not sowing any poisonous seeds but the waste which denotes that they are just trying to nourish the plants i.e. the corruption and scams against congress party. The phrase ‘D’ explains the scams and allegations raised against that congress party faced

119 during the campaigning period, the allegations and scams are portrayed as rose flowers in a garden.

The denotation level of the image

The image takes place in a garden surrounded by walls. The cartoon consists of four characters. The old man who looks like a gardener hold a flower in one hand and water the plants using a green color pipe. Two men are standing outside the wall and try to throw a cover into the garden. Another man enters the garden by making a hole in the wall and tries to cut the pipe using a sickle. The garden with green grass consists of different colour flowers in it.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoon is based on the Facebook post made by Oommen Chandy the former Chief Minister of Kerala against the BJP party. The campaign period witnessed the verbal fight by politicians of different political parties. In this cartoon the cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration. In an interview with Kummanam Rajasegharan, the former president of Bharatiya Janatha Party in Kerala ,he expressed the opinion that Kerala is frustrated with the inefficiency of the congress and the communist party, rapes, public lynching, falling health and educational standards, political murders, rampant child abuse, plunder of natural resources, alcoholism and drug abuse have become the hallmark of a people who once gifted the world with mathematical geniuses like Sangama Grama Madhavan and spiritual giants like AdiSankara.

Oommen Chandy was offended by this statement and in his facebook post he answered him by taking poetic turn to quote Guru Nitya Chaitanya and appealed to him not to sow poisonous seeds in the garden of god. Mr. Chandy wrote in his Facebook post that Kerala is a state where people, irrespective of their religion and caste, have been living in harmony with each other. Mr.Chandy accused Kummanam Rajasegharan for spreading communal venom regarding his statement that the comrades have a history of betraying the freedom movement without hailing the motherland and always justifying pro-Pakistan calls (Oommen Chandy,2016).

The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and portrays the statement made by Oommen Chandy and compares Kerala with a garden and Oommen Chandy as its gardener. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon. The green, red, rose and pink colour represents a garden with green grass and different colour flowers grown in the garden. Here the garden

120 symbolizes Kerala and the flowers symbolizes different allegations, scams and corruption cases against congress party. The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of Oommen Chandy, V.S, Achuthanandan, Kummanam Rajasegharan and Vellappaly Nateshan. Oommen Chandy is portrayed as a gardener who waters the garden Kerala but the result of his effort is the scams and allegations raised against him that tarnished his image as a political leader. V.S Achuthanandan is portrayed in a way that he is making a big hole in the wall and tries to enter the garden and cuts the pipe which symbolically represents that he wants to be the next Chief Minister and he uses every platform to raise allegations against Mr. Chandy. Kummanam Rajashegaran and Vellapally Natesan are portrayed as people that stand outside the wall that surround the garden and tries to put waste into it. This represents the BJP party’s propaganda of making allegations against the political parties in Kerala and they are portrayed as outsiders who are trying to enter the garden using their strategies.

The interpretant of flowers in the garden is that it denotes several allegations against the congress party. Being the chief minister of Kerala, it was his toughest time in his political career following allegations of a multi-crore rupee solar scam conducted allegedly with the tacit support of his office aides. Saritha Nair and her accomplice Biju Radhakrishnan, the prime accused of Solar Case allegedly duped people by offering solar panel solutions through advanced payments and used the names of political higher-ups, including that of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, to canvas business. TheCPI (M)-led LDF, then in opposition, had launched an agitation following reports of Saritha's links with the office of the chief minister. Allegations of sexual harassment have claimed many top political leaders in Kerala. Solar Scam was a case that shaken the foundation of several Kerala politicians.

The delay in textbook printing was another allegation raised against the ruling party by the opposition. The delay in printing affected more than lakhs of students in Kerala and the state witnessed several agitations and protests by opposition parties and student organizations (Dhanuraj & Mathew, 2015)

Other major controversies and scams raised against the congress party were the Methran Kayal controversy in which the congress-led UDF government in the state landed in trouble for according sanction to reclaim about 430 acres of Kayal backwaters and paddy fields for commercial purposes in alleged violation of norms.

Pattoor land scam case was another allegation raised against former chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The case assumes significance as former chief minister Oommen Chandy

121 and former chief secretary E. K. Bharat Bhushan are among those facing allegations of illegally facilitating the encroachment of about 16 cents of land by the private builder, Artech Realtors.

The observations made by Justice A.S. Sirijagan of the Kerala High Court in connection with a petition filed by Kottayam CMS College principal are a pointer. ‘‘The ruling and opposition parties have no interest in development issues. No one is bothered about lack of roads, rain havoc, price hike and people’s plight. The main focus is on solar and bedroom scenes. No one sees the misery of the people or the real issues of the country. Discussions are centered on two or three women. In pursuing sensational issues, responsibility to public issues is forgotten,’’ the court said (Panicker, 2013).

25.

1 3 A 4

B 6

Fig 5.2.25 Mathrubhumi, 11th May 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.25 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 11th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human

1. A beggar sitting in the A human being A man who tries to get a roadside with a plate to favor, often a gift or collect money. money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation.

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2. A white car with red A vehicle It represents the former beacon light. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. 3. The eyes and lips of the Human body parts Expectations of the beggar. common man that their leaders will help them. The man in white shirt and A human being It resembles the former 4. dhothi with grey hairs. Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy. The old man sitting in the A human being It shows that in Oommen 5. roadside shirtless and Chandy’s statement in an torned dhothi. affidavit filed along with nomination papers, that he has no cash in hand. The lips and eyes of the Human body parts The beggar is perplexed 6. begger who sits next to the old man with his hand placed on head. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. In the affidavit filed along with the nomination papers, Chandy mentioned that he has no cash in hand. B. Don’t worry, its only till sixteenth

The cartoon is based on politicians filing affidavit along with nomination papers. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is that the former Kerala Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Puthuppally Oommen Chandy mentioned that he has no immoveable assets while his moveable assets are worth Rs 3.21 lakh. In his affidavit filed he says that he has no cash in hand. The phrase ‘B’ is a dialogue by Oommen Chandy to the beggar that till the election day he will be poor. Here the cartoonist use sarcasm and humour in the dialogue.

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The denotation level of the image

The cartoon is divided into four segments and consists of two characters. In the first image a shirtless man with ripped dhoti sits on the roadside near the bus stop. A plate is kept near him. In the second image the man saw a car with red beacon light and feels happy as he thinks the man in the car will help him. The third image shows that a man in white shirt and dhoti comes near this beggar and the beggar with much expectations raise the plate towards him. In the fourth image the man dressed in white removes his clothes and sits near the beggar holding a plate. The beggar sits perplexed and the old man starts begging. The old man tells the beggar don’t worry it is only till the election.

The connotation level of the image

The technique of exaggeration is used in this cartoon. The news regarding the former Kerala Chief Minister’s asset is sarcastically portrayed in a narrative style and the cartoonist tries to bring humour out of it. The cartoon is divided into four segments and explains four different situations. The icon used in the cartoon is the caricature of Oommen Chandy. In the first image a beggar sits in the roadside near a bus stop. He looks so tired and waits for someone to help him. In the second image the beggar saw a white car with red beacon light. Red beacon lights are used by the dignitaries of Indian government. By seeing the red beacon light, the beggar looks happy as he expects something from the person in the car. The third image shows the former Chief Minister of Kerala as the person in the car seeing him the beggars feels happy and has wide opened mouth as he thinks that Mr. Chandy will help him but in the fourth image things happens against his expectation as Mr. Chandy removes his dress and sits along with him and starts begging.

Along with the nomination paper, candidates are required to file an affidavit in Form 26 (Annexure VI B). The affidavit is sworn before a Magistrate of the First Class or before a Notary Public or a Commissioner of Oaths appointed by the High Court of the State concerned (Election Commission of India). Mr. Chandy in his affidavit filed with nomination papers mentions that he doesn’t have any cash in his hands. He declared that he has no immoveable assets while his moveable assets are worth Rs. 3.21lakh.

The cartoonist exaggerates this situation and compare the former Chief Minister with a beggar. There is a conversation between Mr. Chandy and the beggar and he say to the beggar not to worry for he will be with the beggar only till sixteenth which is the Kerala Legislative

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Assembly election day. Thus, the cartoonist uses an irony in the dialogue and portrays the character of political leaders.

26. A

4 2

Fig 5.2.26 Mathrubhumi, 12thMay, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.26 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 12th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. A coffin It represents Jisha murder case and the A coffin is a funeral box political strategies. used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.

2. The old man A human being It resembles former Chief Minister of standing Kerala Oommen Chandy. 3. The nose and the Human body parts It denotes that Oommen Chandy is hands tensed and he feel ashamed by facing certain allegations.

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4. ATM Electronic It symbolically represents vote bank. telecommunications device 5. The two men Human beings It represents V.S Achuthanandan and standing in front Kummanam Rajashegaran of the ATM counter to withdraw money Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Don’t play vote bank politics with Jisha’s death: Kemal Pasha B. Need Money The cartoon is based on using Jisha murder case as a political weapon against each other. The phrase ‘A’ is a statement made by former judge of Kerala high court Kemal Pasha. In a function organized to protest the violence against women and children he mentioned that political parties should not engage vote bank politics using the name of Jisha, a law student who was murdered at her house in Perumbavoor. The interpretant of phrase ‘B’ is an irony used by the cartoonist where the vote bank is compared to an ATM counter and politicians are in need of money. Money here denotes the votes.

The denotation level of the image The image is divided into two segments with a coffin in the first image. An ATM machine is shown in the second segment and an old man tries to take cash from it. Two other characters are shown in the image, one accompanying the old man waiting for his turn and another man is standing far from them. He looks like he is nervous and he keeps his fingers on his nose and is sweating. The label shows a news in which it is written don’t play vote bank politics with Jisha’s death: Kemal Pasha. The second image has a dialogue in it which the two men are talking to the man standing near to them and says that they are in need of money. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses different techniques in this cartoon such as exaggeration, irony and symbolism. The cartoon is based on the fact that the brutal rape and murder of Jisha in Kerala was considered as an election issue and both the Congress-led UDF and Left-ruled LDF were trying their best to capitalize on the issue to reach their respective political goals. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality.

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Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. Black and white. Here the white colour represents the politicians and the black colour is the symbolic representation of death. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters such as contempt and being humiliated. The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of politicians such as Oommen Chandy, V.S Achuthanandan and Kummanam Rajashegaran. sweat is an indexical symbol used in this cartoon which shows how tensed Oommen Chandy is. The symbol used in this cartoon is the coffin and the ATM machine which denotes the death of Jisha and ATM machine denotes the vote bank. The technique of irony and symbolism is well executed in this cartoon by portraying the campaign strategies of different parties. The Left attacked Oommen Chandy government over this issue, saying it was callous in handling it. Later the former judge of Kerala high court in a function organized to protest the violence against women and children mentioned that it’s not good to engage in vote bank politics using the name of Jisha, a law student who was murdered at her house in Perumbavoor. Here the cartoonist uses irony and sarcasm by portraying vote bank politics as an ATM machine. so from the first image of a coffin it changes it shape to an ATM machine that shows how the death of Jisha is converted into vote bank politics and how politicians like VS Achuthanandan of communist party and Kummanam Rajashegaran of the BJP party get benefits out of it. The dialogue also uses the sarcasm by comparing money with votes. Here the politician talks to Oommen Chandy that they are in need of money so they convert the coffin into an ATM machine which portrays their strategy of using Jisha murder case for gaining votes by tarnishing the image of congress party. 27.

A B

4 1 5 2 C

3 6

Fig 5.2.27 Mathrubhumi, 13thMay, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

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This political cartoon was published in 13th May, 2016 by Mathrubhumi newspaper. Table 5.2.27 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 13th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. A shirtless old man It resembles former Chief holding a child in his lap. A human being Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy.

2. A malnourished child Human being It represents Kerala 3. Sweat Production of fluids It shows that Oommen secreted by the sweat Chandy is worried and is glands stressed by allegations against him. 4. An old man standing A human being It represents V.S outside the wall and Achuthanandan. peeping into the house and laughing 5. The hands and nose of the Human body parts It denotes that he is worried old man of seeing the women 6. A woman wearing a A human being It resembles Saritha Nair, colorful saree and holding the main accused in luggage’s in her hands Kerala’s multi-crore solar panel scam. 7. The luggage’s that Baggage It denotes that she is back woman holds in her into the news. hands.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 3 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Today something will be revealed-Saritha

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B. I just took a break for few days and you are playing with a child. Don’t worry I will take care of you. C. Somalia

The cartoon is based the controversial speech by Modi and the allegation related to the solar scam. The phrase ‘A’ is a statement made by Saritha Nair the prime accused in the solar scam. She had challenged the state with great revelations of the lust in the corridors of power by naming her abusers in a row. The list has shocked Kerala as it rattled the Chandy government to the core. The phrase ‘B’ denotes that during his visit to Kerala the Prime minister Narendra Modi mocked Kerala by comparing it with Somalia that leads to the protests against him along with that came the revelation of Saritha Nair. Thus, in this cartoon the cartoonist tries to link these two different topics and makes a humour out of it. The phrase ‘C’ refers to the controversial statement made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi by comparing Kerala with Somalia.

The denotation level of the image

The image takes place in the front portion of a house. A shirtless old man sits on the doorsteps of the house holding a small child in his lap. The man is sweating and looks worried. The child looks malnourished and has a pale color. A woman tries to enter his house wearing a bright colour saree and holding luggage’s in both hands. It seems that she went for a break for few days. An old man holds his hands and stands outside the walls watching the entire scene and laughs at them. The woman talks to the old man sitting on doorsteps that while she was not there he starts playing with some kids and now she will take care of him.It is written Somalia to mention that child. The caption of the cartoon says that some revelations will be made by Saritha. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of analogy to compare two different situations. Here two different news stories are combined together and sarcasm is created out of that. The first news was based on the controversial statement made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While participating in an election rally Mr. Modi said "infant mortality rate among the scheduled tribe community in Kerala is worse than Somalia”. This statement has angered politicians and social media users. Twitter users have responded with hashtag #PoMoneModi (Go off Modi) and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Mr. Modi's remarks were "baseless". Mr. Modi's Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying to get a foothold in the southern Indian

129 state which has been traditionally ruled by either Congress-led governments or a coalition of left parties. But his statement to win Kerala's voters seems to have backfired(Indian PM Modi mocked over Kerala-Somalia comparison, 2016).Along with that came Saritha Nair with more revelations related to the solar scam. It is a trend followed by the election campaign that Saritha Nair gets into the news during the election campaign. The news was linked together and the cartoonist created an atmosphere of a home where Oommen Chandy sits in front of the doorsteps holding a child and suddenly comes a Saritha with her luggage’s in both the hands which shows that she came back with more evidences.

Here the qualisign is colors used in the cartoon i.e. colorful saree and luggage’s and the pale colour of the child. The dress that woman wears in this cartoon is given priority than the colour of the dress. The colorful dress and accessories helps people to easily identify the woman as Saritha Nair. Even though Saritha was an accused much attention was given to her and her style of dressing became a trend in Kerala. The pale colour of the child shows that the child is malnourished. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include fear in the face of old man, tiredness of the child, excitement of the woman and happiness of the man standing outside the walls.

The icon in this cartoon is the caricatures of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Communist Veteran V.S Achuthanandan and Saritha Nair the prime accused of the solar scam. The sweat is an indexical symbol of being tensed this shows how tensed Oommen Chandy was when Saritha came back with more revelations. The child that Oommen Chandy hold is a symbolic representation of Kerala as Somalia. Somalia has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition and infant mortality in the world, while Kerala state has lowest infant mortality rates in India. The picture that Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to while suggesting that the situation of Scheduled Tribe children in Kerala was more terrible than in Somalia, basede on a news that appeared in Mathrubhumi on November 4, 2015, and was subsequently picked up by local newspapers and TV channels. But later it was revealed this news as a false news. The malnourished child can also be considered a symbolic representation of Kerala as politicians are not giving much importance on its development but on scams and allegations.

The old man keeps his hands on his head which denotes that he is tired of the woman as she always puts him in trouble. The major solar scam has destabilized top ranking Congress officials in the state over the last three years and has helped Saritha gain a celebrity status. As per reports, her presence on television increases TAM ratings. Sarita’s revelations have come

130 down heavily on the Congress and Chandy government. The woman produced pens drives and compact discs as evidences before a judicial commission headed by Justice B. Sivarajan, probing the solar scam. The old man standing outside the walls of the house laughs at the man which happens in a day today life where neighbors enjoys the fight in the house near to them. In the same way V.S is happy with allegations, scams and other cases against congress party and he enjoys the fights as other parties utilize this a political tool to gain more votes.

28. A

1 5

2 6

3 7

8 B Fig 5.2.28 Mathrubhumi, 14th May, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.28 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 14th May,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

A hum

1. An old man with his It resembles V.S mouth wide opened. A human being Achuthanandan. 2. An old man with grey A human being It resembles Oommen hairs and bandaged hand. Chandy. 3. The hands and nose of the Human body parts Oommen Chandy tries to old man file case against statements made by V.S Achuthanandan.

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4. The symbols used Grawlixes- They are It refers to the typographical symbols controversial statements used instead of made by V.S dialogues. Achuthanandan during election campaign. 5. The bandaged hands of A bandage used to cover It is an exaggeration of the old man. injured part of the body how Oommen Chandy tried to silence V.S Achuthanandan from making such statements. 6. The wide opened mouth Human body part The statements made by of the old man V.S Achuthanandan. 7. Hand in the mouth of the Human body part Represents Oommen old man Chandy’s failed attempt in court. 8. Blood drops Injury Court rejects chandy’s petition to silence VS Achuthanandan.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Oommen Chandy’s attempt to shut my mouth was a failure-V. S B. Court verdict The cartoon is based on the court verdict rejecting the interim application of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy seeking to stop opposition leader V.S Achuthanandan’s public statements against him. The phrase ‘A’ is the reaction of V.S Achuthanandan towards the court verdict. The phrase ‘B’ refers to the court verdict.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon is divided into four segments with two characters and portrays their change in expressions. In the first image the man in white dress is screaming and his mouth is wide opened. The man standing next to him gets irritated and his hands are bandaged. The second image shows that he is shouting more loudly that the other man is covering his ears. In the third

132 image the man gets more irritated and tries to silence him by keeping his hands on the mouth. The last image shows that the man eats the old man’s hand and holds a paper in which it is written ‘court verdict’. Blood comes out of the old man’s hand and he feels scared of him. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist has used the technique of exaggeration in this image and he exaggerates the court verdict and the verbal fight between V.S and Chandy sarcastically. The icons in this cartoon are the caricatures of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Communist Veteran V.S Achuthanandan. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters. Four different expressions of the characters are shown in this cartoon. In the first image Achuthanandan is screaming and Chandy gets irritated. The cartoon doesn’t use any dialogues but grawlixes which are symbols that appear in the dialogue balloons in place of actual dialogue. Thus, grawlixes are indexical symbols representing offensive statements made by V.S. In the second image screams more loudly and use make offensive statements and Oommen Chandy cover his ears using both the hands. His one hand is injured which signifies that he already tried to stop VS from making such statements but was futile. This refers to the defamation case filed by Oommen Chandy against V.S. The third image shows that Oommen Chandy uses his other hand to cover Achuthanandan’s mouth which denotes the plea made by Chandy through an interim application filed during the hearing of defamation suit he filed against Achuthanandan. Finally, in the last image he loses his other hand which refers to the court verdict. The court further explained that the interim application was rejected on technical ground that the plea in the interim application was not mentioned in the original suit, that is the defamation suit. The court pointed out that restricting the opposition leader from making statements was an infringement on his rights. It was the duty of the opposition leader to point out the omissions of the state government(Court dismisses CM Oommen Chandy’s petition against VS Achuthanandan, 2016).

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29.

B C 1

2 4

D 3 F

E 5

6 Fig 5.2.29 Mathrubhumi, 15th May, 2016. E-paper archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.29 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 15th May,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. An airplane It represents Narendra A flying machine Modi, Prime Minister of India. 2. An old man with grey hair A human being Resembles Oommen pointing fingers to the Chandy. plane and shouting at it. 3. The man holding weapon A human being Resembles V.S in hands Achuthanandan 4. Tears Strong emotions. Chandy being offended by the controversial statement made by Modi. 5. Old man’s hand Human body part The election symbol of Congress party.

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6. The sharp weapons Any device that can be Political strategy used with intent to inflict damage or harm.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 5 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Modi, you mocked at Kerala B. I can’t bear it C. It’s ok, we know Kerala is a paradise D. Such a beautiful place E. Listen, the paradise should continue. The cartoon is based on the controversial statement made by Prime Minister Modi. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is that the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is expressing anger towards Modi for comparing Kerala with Somalia. Phrase ‘B’ explains the feelings of Oommen Chandy as he feels insulted and says that he can’t bear it. Phrase ‘C’ and ‘D’ are the dialogues of V.S Achuthanandan trying to console Chandy. Finally, phrase ‘E’ is a dialogue by Chandy that compares Kerala with paradise. The cartoonist has used the technique of exaggeration and irony in the labelling part of the cartoon. In this cartoon it is the labelling that conveys the sarcasm and wit than the drawing. The denotation level of the image The cartoon is divided into four segments and the image consists of two characters and their different expressions. In the first image the old man points his finger and shouts looking at an airplane and the other man hold a weapon in his back and silently watches it. In the second image the old man is crying and the man tries to console him. In the third image he makes the old man happy and at the same time the man hides sharp weapons in his back. In the last image they hug each other. The cartoon is in the form of a conversation between the two. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist has used the technique of symbolism and irony in this image. The cartoon is based on how the state united when Prime Minister Modi insulted Kerala by comparing it with Somalia. Icon in this cartoon includes caricatures of the former chief Minister Oommen Chandy and communist veteran V.S Achuthanandan. The sinsign in the cartoon is the expression of the characters. In the first image Oommen Chandy in anger shouts and point

135 fingers at the airplane. Here the airplane is a symbolic representation of Prime Minister Modi. It shows that he visited Kerala as a part of campaigning and he left the state after making a controversial statement. In a poll rally in the state he said that infant mortality rate among the scheduled tribe community in Kerala is worse than Somalia and that set off a political storm in the state. Oommen Chandy reacted to the statement asking Modi to show some “political decency” by withdrawing the statement as they are baseless and contrary to ground realities. Tears are indexical sign which represent intense emotions. Here Oommen Chandy is portrayed as he is crying that he cannot bear Modi’s statement. In the first image V. S is standing behind him holding a sharp weapon. The sharp weapon is a symbolic representation of Jisha murder case which was the political tool used by communist party against the congress party. In the second image V.S is trying to console him saying that “we know Kerala is a paradise and that is enough’. The cartoonist uses this dialogue as it has an irony in it. The statement says that even though they fight each other they won’t allow others to tarnish the image of Kerala. The irony in the statement is that V.S compares Kerala with a paradise and he carries weapons like Jisha and Saritha in his hands which he hides. This shows the corruption and scams that politician’s face in Kerala. The third image shows V.S praise Oommen Chandy by saying that Kerala is such a beautiful and sweet place and finally Chandy feels happy and says that the paradise should continue, which is similar to the slogan of the Congress party ‘UDF should continue’ 30.

C 5

1 6 2 7 3

Fig 5.2.30 Mathrubhumi, 16th May, 2016. E-paper Archives,Kerala.

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Table 5.2.30 Visual analysis of Mathrubhumi Cartoon: 16th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Human a

1. The old man with grey A human being It resembles Oommen hairs sitting on the bench. Chandy.

2. The closed eyes and long Human body parts Oommen Chandy’s nose of the old man. expectation of winning the election. 3. The lotus flower An aquatic flower Election symbol of BJP approved by the Election Commission of India. The man sitting on the A human being It resembles Kummanam 4. floor with white hair and Rajasekharan. beard holding a lotus flower in one hand. The shitless man sitting A human being It resembles Pinarayi 5. cross-legged. Vijayan, the current Chief Minister of Kerala. The old man in white A human being It resembles V.S 6. Jubba and dhoti holding a Achuthanandan. red umbrella in his hands.

7. The red umbrella It is used as a protection The red umbrella refers to against rain. the communist party and expectation of V.S in winning the election is portrayed here. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 3 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory.

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A. Chances of heavy rainfall today B. Does it rain with lightening? C. ‘Thullikoru Kudam Pemaari Ulliloru Thodam Thenmaari’ (Malayalam film song)

The labelling in the cartoon connects the election news and the weather report. The phrase ‘A’ is that The India Met Department predicted a heavy rainfall on the day of polling. In the phrase ‘B’ the current Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is asking whether it will rain with lightening. Here the cartoonist use rhyming words that connects the words ‘lightening’ and Mr.Vijayan’s place name ‘Pinarayi’. This indicates the poll results will be like lightening that LDF will win the election. The phrase ‘C’ is a Malayalam song from the film Yaetta or Eeta by I.V Sasi starring Kamal Haasan, Madhu, Sheela and Seema. The song is about the heavy rain and the heart’s desire thus, Oommen Chandy is eagerly waiting for the result expecting for a second chance.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of four characters and three of them sit on the bench and one on the floor waiting for the rain. The caption of the cartoon is about the heavy rainfall in Kerala. The old man sits in a position with his one leg on the bench and sings a Malayalam song on rain. The second man looks at the sky and asks that whether it will rain with heavy lightening. The third man dressed in white, holds an umbrella and expects for the rain. The man sitting on the floor has a lotus flower in his hands and sits looking at the sky.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of analogy in this cartoon and compares two different things to make a point. The cartoon is based on the Election Day and the expectation of the three major parties, Congress-led UDF, LDF headed by CPIM, and BJP. After two months of campaigning the election poll was held on May 16, 2018.The cartoonist compares the Election Day with the weather report. The Indian Met Department predicted heavy rain in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala on the Election Day. The icons in this cartoon are the caricatures of the political leaders Oommen Chandy, Pinarayi Vijayan. V.S Achuthanandan and Kummanam Rajashegaran. The four leaders represent the three major parties in Kerala and their expectation of winning the election. The dialogues used in the cartoon are related to the expectation of rain. Here rain is a symbolic representation of election results. The four characters are sitting in a relaxed manner and with a happy face. They are expecting for their victory. The three characters in the cartoon doesn’t wear a shirt which gives us an image of them taking rest after

138 their campaign work, while V.S is fully dressed which shows that he is active and ready to take over the power at any time. The red umbrella is symbolic representation of getting into power. The red color represents communism and he is ready for opening his umbrella as he expects the rain i.e. the results.

Oommen Chandy sits in the bench which his one leg on the bench and singing a song which says in his heart he desires for the second chance as the Chief Minister of Kerala. Pinarayi Vijayan sits next to him cross-legged and says that whether it will rain with lightening and the rhyming word interconnects ‘lightening’ and ‘Pinarayi’. This shows that he wants to be the next Chief Minister. Along with this three leaders Kummanam Rajashegaran sits on the floor holding a lotus flower, Lotus is the election symbol of BJP and here it is used to show that Kerala is eagerly waiting to Know whether BJP will rise as a third alternative party. Kerala was one of the earliest elected Communist governments in the world. Since then, the state has been a ‘political laboratory’ (Gopakumar 2014: 317) and largely an exception to the national political processes. Left Democratic Front (LDF – alliance led by the CPI (M)) and United Democratic Front (UDF – alliance led by the Congress) governments have been alternatively in power in Kerala since 1982.Thus the ‘modi effect’ and the BJP-BJDS alliance becomes an important factor in this election to know whether BJP will rise as a third alternative in Kerala.

General Analysis – Political Cartoons of Malayalam General Analysis – Political Cartoons of Malayala Manorama 31.

4 1 5 6 2 7

3 8

Fig 5. 2.31 Malayala Manorama, 16thApril, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.31 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 16th April ,2016

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NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The man in green shirt A human being It resembles M.K Muneer former Minister for social welfare and panchayath affairs of Kerala. 2. The man in white dress A human being It resembles Pinarayi planting saplings. Vijayan, the current Chief Minister of Kerala. 3. Planting the sapling in the Placing the sapling in It refers to the “Go Green” soil. the newly dug hole in the approach of the Left soil. Democratic Front. 4. A tablet computer A mobile device It refers to the campaigning method adopted by M.K Muneer using Social media and facebook live to communicate with the voters. 5. The man in violet jubba A human being It resembles T. M. Thomas and white dhoti. Isaac the current Minister of Finance of Kerala. 6. The letter ‘F’ A letter in English Refers to the social media alphabet. campaigning during the assembly election.

7. The broomstick and the Cleaning waste The campaign method waste. materials adopted by Thomas Isaac by cleaning roads and public places

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8. The man in white shirt A human being It resembles P.V Jagadish wring on the black board. Kumar, a Malayalam film actor who contested in 2016 Assembly election from Pathanapuram constituency.

9. The black board and the A writing board for It refers to the campaigning white chalk. writing purpose. method adopted by Jagadeesh Kumar by taking classes in private collages and clarifying doubts of the students.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of four characters and each character is engaged in different activities. A man in green shirts holds a tablet computer in his hands and near to him stands a man in Purple jubba and white dhoti holding a broom stick and cleaning the waste materials. A man in white dress plants sapling in the soil and a man near to him writes on a black board with white chalk. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on the various campaign strategies adopted by the candidates of different constituencies and different political parties in Kerala. The cartoonist uses the techniques of symbolism in this cartoon. The icon used in this cartoon are the caricatures of political leaders such as Pinarayi Vijayan, M.K Muneer, Thomas Issac and the Malayalam film actor and candidate from Pathanapuram constituency Mr. Jagadeesh Kumar. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon and white, green and purple are the main among them. The white colour represents the politicians and here the green colour is a representation of Islam and in Quran, it is associated with paradise. Thus, the green shirt refers to M. K Muneer, a candidate that represents Indian Union Muslim League. The purple colour jubba of Thomas Issac shows the change in dressing styles of Kerala politicians from a uniform well-stretched white khadar shirts and white dhotis.

141

A striking feature of the 2016 Assembly elections was the innovative campaign technologies adopted by the political parties in Kerala. The ‘Go Green’ campaign technique adopted by the Left Democratic Front explained their environment friendly approach. During the election campaigning Mr. Vijayan stressed on green priorities by planting saplings at the campaign centres after every speech. He urged party workers to save all the flex banners which were put up across the state in order to make ‘grow bags. The CPM candidate Thomas Isaac adopted the method of cleaning roads and public places as a part of his campaigning. Along with that Mr. Isaac combined his facebook posts and published a book. The blue colour book with letter ‘F’ in it denotes this book. The actor and the UDF candidate Jagadeesh Kumar took a different mode of campaigning by taking classes for Commerce students and clarifying their doubts regarding the subject. The black board and the white chalks symbolize the Jagadeesh Kumar as a lecturer. The UDF candidate from Calicut Mr. Muneer focused on social media and used facebook as a medium to communicate with his voters. He made facebook lives to express his opinions and to understand the perceptions of the public. The use of new technologies and the presence of professional campaign managers made this election different from that of previous elections. The Congress party posted several videos under the tagline “Once Again UDF”, concentrating on the developmental initiatives of the government. In a video, the Congress introduced Poornachandran, a rehabilitated victim of political violence, as the brand ambassador for the government’s motto “Development with care”. The communist party on the other hand posted videos under the banner “LDF will come” mainly to expose the “development deceit of the UDF”. BJP which tries to emerge as the third front used the platform of social media to talk about both the Congress and the CPM by using Ottanthullal, a dance and poetry performing art. The videos of an Ottanthullal performer lampooning rivals have drawn a large audience (Philip,2016). 32. c A 1 3 d b 4

2 a 5

Fig 5.2.32 Malayala Manorama, 17th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala

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This political cartoon was published in 18th April, 2016 by Malayala Manorama newspaper. Based on the analysis of the data, the researcher found three signs; the representamen, object, and Interpretant. The data is analysed using Peirce semiotics followed by two level of signification using Barthes theory.

Table 5.2.32 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 17th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

The old woman sitting on The old woman resembles 1. an elephant holding her A human being K.R Gauriyamma head of hands tightly. the Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS), a political party based in Kerala

2. The four characters in the human beings They resemble Kerala cartoon dressed in white politicians: - shirt and dhoti. a) P.P Mukundan, the former state organizing general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party, Kerala b) Kummanam Rajasekharan, the current Governor of Mizoram, P.P Mukundan c) Ramesh Chennithala, the

143

former Home Minister in the government of Kerala. d) Kodiyeri Ballakrishnan, secretary of the communist party of India (Marxist), Kerala State Committee. 3. Umbrella Protects from rain It denotes the political strategy of three parties i.e. LDF, UDF and BJP to invite K.R Gauriyamma to their respective parties thus form an alliance with JSS. 4. Rain liquid water in the form Here the significance of the of droplets rain is that the three major parties are ready to protect JSS from rain which indirectly shows that they want to form an alliance with JSS. 5. Elephant Animal The position in party is compared to sitting on an elephant. Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. F. Kudamattam (Changing Umbrellas)

The cartoon is about the major parties of Kerala trying to create an alliance with Janathipathya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS) ever since the party decided to contest alone in the 2016 assembly elections. Parties offer is compared to “Kudamattam” in Thrissur Pooram.The Interpretant of

144 phrases ‘A’ denote changing umbrellas in Thrissur Pooram. Thrissur Pooram-is a Hindu festival held in Thrissur district of Kerala yearly. This festival is celebrated to mark the importance of Pooram (Leo) nakshatra (star).At the end of the pooram, after the Ilanjitharamelam,the two groups which include Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi enters the temple through the western gate, come out through the southern gate and arrange themselves face to face in distant places for “kudamattam” (changing umbrellas).The most attractive part of this festival is the exchange of colourful and crafted umbrellas sitting at the top of the elephants.This ritual of changing umbrellas is compared with JSS changing Parties one after other and umbrellas are offered to JSS by each politician shows that they are ready to give seat for JSS in their party. The denotation level of the image In this cartoon, the cartoonists portray five characters, four men and a woman. The woman is sitting on an elephant holding her hands tightly and it’s raining. In the left side of the elephant stands two men, one is offering a colourful umbrella with lotus on the top of it to the woman. Behind the man stands another man who is asking for the umbrella since it is raining. The right side of the elephant, there stands a man holding a red umbrella and offering it to the woman, along with that another man is trying to climb over the elephant with a green closed umbrella and tries to open it for her. The label of the cartoon is written Malayalam “Kudamattam” which means Changing Umbrellas. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist has used the technique of analogy in this cartoon. This depiction is so convincing in a way that readers can laugh at the depiction and at the same time put their concerns across to what is happening around us (Mwetulundila & Kangira, 2015).In this cartoon the cartoonist compare certain political strategies to the “Thrissur Pooram”.The background of this cartoon is based on the news that offers to strike an alliance have been raining down on Janathipathya Samrakshana Samithy(JSS) ever since the party decided to contest alone in the upcoming assembly elections(“Everybody wants a piece of JSS,”2016).The image take place in the background of “Thrissur Pooram”. UNESCO considers Thrissur Pooram as “one of the most spectacular festival events on the Planet”. It is the biggest of all the festivals in Kerala that takes place in the Thrissur district of Kerala. It is a grand assembly of Gods and Goddesses in and around Thrissur. These Gods and Goddesses make their visit to the Lord Siva at Vadakumnathan Temple premises on caparisoned elephants accompanied by grand ensembles of Chendamelam and panchavadyam(five instruments) (Sivadas, 2010).The

145 cartoonist linked the Thrissur pooram and the election campaign that happened in the same month. In this cartoon the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white, saffron, red, green, and black. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include persuasion, happiness, perplexed and sad. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of color. Here each colour represents certain aspects of political persuasion and strategies. The white colour represents politicians, the saffron, green and red are the colours of the umbrellas in this cartoon. Each colour signifies three different parties of Kerala, congress, communist and BJP.The red stands for communism, green for congress and saffron for BJP. The saffron colour of BJP indicates their connection with Hindu religion for whom saffron is the holy colour. In addition to that saffron is the colour of their party flag. Cartoonist by using the technique of analogy connects the political strategies of politicians during 2016 general election to the “kudamattam” or changing umberellas of the Thrissur Pooram. Thrissur Pooram was started by Raja Rama Varma (former ruler of Cochin 1751-1805), famously known as SakthanThampuran. SakthanThampuran unified the ten temples situated around Vadakumnathan temple and took steps to celebrate Thrissur Pooram as a mass festival. He divided the 10 temples into two groups namely, the Eastern group (Paramekkavu side) and the Western group (Thiruvambady side). At the end of the pooram, both the groups enters the temple through the western gate, and comes out through the southern gate and arrange themselves face to face in distant places for “kudamattam” (changing umbrellas).The exchange colourful and crafted umbrellas competitively at the top of the elephants which is the most attractive part of this festival (Sivadas, 2010) Here “kudamattam”or changing umbrellas shows the changes happened in JSS.96-year-old KR Gouri was the former prominent Communist leader and four-time minister in Communist- led governments. later after many political dramas she left communist party and started her own party. In 2016, CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front’s unexpected decision to deny her Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samiti even a single seat to contest in the general Assembly election changed her mind and joining BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s camp. The JSS (Rajan Babu), which had broken away from Gouri’s party, joined NDA and the BJP, tried to use her former colleagues to encourage her to make the cross-over. However, she was tight- lipped on her response to the BJP invitation. All that she would say was that her party’s State committee would decide it later (Basheer, 2016).

146

In this political cartoon the politicians are holding colourful umbrellas in their hands and is offering it to GowriAmma, the head of the Janathipathya Samrakshana Samithy(JSS).In a report published in Malayala Manorama it is explained that NDA was interested in conducting a discussion with JSS regarding a possible alliance and offered GowriAmma with the position of Governor.she declined the offer standing by the party’s decision to contest alone in the general election 2016.In spite of GowriAmma having turned down an offer to merge with CPM in the past, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan approached JSS for alliance. UDF is also said to have approached JSS seeking alliance.so each party tried to persuade her but she was sitting confused or perplexed.

The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of five politicians of Kerala, P.P Mukundan, Kummanam Rajashegaran representing BJP, K.R Gauri Amma, representing JSS, Ramesh Chenithala representing Congress and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan representing Communist party. The symbol used in this cartoon includes umbrella, lotus flower and the elephant. The umbrellas in this cartoon symbolize the how political parties offer a seat for JSS and persuading them. The lotus flower on the top of the umbrella represents BJP party, Lotus flower is the election symbol of the BJP, approved by the Election Commission of India. The elephant denotes the position of JSS party which each party offers them. Elephant is considered to be the animal of Kerala and is featured on the emblem of the Government of Kerala state. Most of them are owned by temples and individuals. The index is the written language that is used to inform the reader which is analyzed by the researcher in the verbal analysis. The interpretant of the cartoon is that in the left side of the elephant there stand Kummanam Rajashegaran who was the state president of Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala during the 2016 election. Near to him stands P. P Mukundan, former State Organizing General Secretary of BJP in Kerala. He is requesting for the umbrella but Kummanam is not responding to him while the three politicians representing BJP, congress and communism is busy in offering umbrella to K.R Gauri Amma who is sitting on the elephant Mukundan was once the BJP’S organizing secretary for Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He has been away from RSS-BJP for the last nine years because of some ideological clashes with the party leadership. However, after Kummanam Rajashegaran became the BJP state chief, the return of Mukundan to the party gained momentum. Kummanam declared to the media that Mukundan will be back to the party but he kept silent on Mukundan sworning as NDA

147 convenor for the state as there was a strong opposition from other leaders of BJP (“Veteran RSS leader,”2016).

The cartoonist connects the political scenario during the 2016 general election with the festivals of Kerala thus it links politics with the culture and traditional values of Kerala and gives a clear image of the current political situation

33.

th Fig 5.2.33 Malayala Manorama, 18 April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.33 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 18th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The man in white dress A human being It resembles the former writing ‘X’ on the bottle Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy.

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2. The hands of the man A human body part It refers to the promises made by the parties during the election. 3. The bottle A container to store It refers to the liquor policy liquid of both UDF and LDF. 4. In the second image, The A human being It resembles Pinarayi man holding a pen and Vijayan. marking ‘X’ on the bottle . 5. The ‘X’ symbol on the An English alphabet It refers to the quality of bottle Alcohol and here it is related to the liquor policy mentioned in the manifestos of the political parties.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of two characters and a big bottle with brown colour liquid in it. The lid of the bottle is white in colour. In the first image a man is writing the letter ‘X’ on the bottle using a black marker and in the second image another man is writing on the bottle. The second man writes the letter ‘X’ three times. The connotation level of the image The cartoon doesn’t use any kind of labelling. The cartoon does not have any outline like box shape as the cartoon comes along with the news article. The cartoon is based on the promises made by the two parties UDF and LDF during the campaigning. Both the parties have released their manifestos and had made many promises to the public. UDF manifesto deals with the completion of mega projects including Vizhinjam port, Kochi Metro and light metros. It mentions about promoting organic farming and lists various enhanced measures for the underprivileged sections in the society. It also promises to reduce unemployment. whereas the manifesto of LDF also mentions about the liquor policy. They consider that liquor abstinence is its major policy and the age limit of liquor consumption will be raised to twenty-three. The manifesto focused on social security, health, education and environment sectors.

149

The cartoonist exaggerates the manifestos released by the two parties. The big alcohol bottle used in the cartoon symbolizes the liquor policy of the two parties. Bar scam was one of the major scams against the congress party that tainted the image of the party and led to the resignation of its members. Thus, both the parties focused much on the liquor policy of the state. Here the cartoonist exaggerates it and portrays a big bottle. The ‘written in the bottle symbolizes that it contains moonshine (distilled liquors /spirits). The ‘XXX’ shows how many times the liquor has been distilled. Three ‘X’ indicates that it has been distilled three times and it is pure alcohol.

In first image Oommen Chandy draws One ‘X’ while in the second image Pinarayi Vijayan draws three ‘X’. Thus, it refers to the importance the parties gave to its liquor policy. UDF wants a total prohibition of liquor while LDF prefers for liquor abstinence.

34. A

B 3 1

2 4

th Fig 5.2.34 Malayala Manorama, 19 April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.34 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 19th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The three men standing on Human beings Resembles politicians of Left the left side of the house. Democratic Front, V.S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi

150

Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

2. The house A building for human Here it represents the general habitation. public (the voters). 3. Folded hands Showing gratitude, It refers to politicians spirituality or pleading for votes. hopefulness.it may be also representative of pleading, asking for something or desiring an outcome. 4. The three men standing on A human being Resembles the politicians of the right side of the house. United Democratic Front, Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and V.M Sudheeran. Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Next phase: Family meetings B. Next phase: Political Yatras or Rallies. The cartoon is based on the different campaign methods used by the political parties during the election campaign period. The phrase ‘A’ and ‘B’ deals with the most important phase of campaigning which include Family meetings or gatherings and the political rallies and yathras conducted in different parts of the state. The political rallies and the meetings of family units in various parts of the constituencies helps in creating a positive relationship with the people and to know about the major problems faced by the general public.

151

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of a house and six men stands on the two sides of the house. The people with folded hands stands on both side of the house as if they ask for help or pleading for something. The labelling of the cartoon is done on the top portion of the image and it is written political rallies and family meetings.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and symbolism in this cartoon. The icons of the cartoon are the caricatures of the politicians that belong to the two major parties of Kerala, United Democratic Front and Left Democratic Front. The politicians include V. S Achuthanandan, Oommen Chandy, Pinarayi Vijayan, V.M Sudheeran, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Ramesh Chennithala. The politicians of both left and right parties symbolically stands on the left and right side of the house. The house is a symbolic representation of the general public. The cartoonist sarcastically shows that how the politician folds their hands before the people during the campaign period and seeks votes. Campaigning period is the only time that politicians give importance to the people and their problems. Many campaign techniques are practiced to gain votes and the main techniques include those family meetings and rallies. Thus politicians get an opportunity to meet people personally and get to know their views, opinions and the problems they face which need an immediate solution.

35.

2 1

A 3

Fig 5.2.35 Malayala Manorama, 20th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.35 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 20th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

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1. The old man holding A human being It resembles M.A Baby, colours in hands and member of Communist painting party of India.

2. The painting It’s a painted picture It refers to the comment made by M.A Baby on art installation. 3. The paint palette and the It is used to mix colours It portrays M.A Baby as an paint brush and to paint. artist.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there is one phrase which has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Master of Art’s ‘Baby’ The cartoonist uses the techniques of humour and sarcasm in the labelling of the cartoon. The name of the Polit bureau member M.A Baby is expanded as Master of Arts Baby. The red colour is used to highlight the letters ‘M’ and ‘A’ in his name, the red colour refers to the communist party and the political violence. The cartoonist portrays him as an artist as he made a comment on the grave created by the students for their college principal. The polit bureau member explained the grave as an art installation and this is being sarcastically portrayed by the cartoonist. The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of one character, an old man. He holds a paint palette in one hand and a colour brush in other hand. The cartoon takes place in a room which has many easels with painted canvas on it. The man wears a red dress and has grey hairs with his face being happy. A table is placed on the side with a name plate on it in which it is written Master of Arts Baby and the letters ‘M’ and ‘A’ are highlighted. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on the controversial statement made by M.A Baby on the act done by the students of Victoria College. The college students mainly the members of the Students

153 federation of communist party made a symbolic grave as a farewell gift for their Principal during her retirement ceremony. The polit bureau member of the CPI (M) party M. A Baby commented that the grave made by the students was not a grave but just an artistic installation. He also alleged that the attitude of principal towards students was not proper. This statement made controversies and the cartoonist exaggerates this statement and portrays M.A Baby as an artist, who considers such violent activities as a part of art. The easels and the paintings are placed in his room as the cartoonist explains that he is font of such artistic works. The initials in his name ‘M’ and ‘A’ is expanded as Master of Arts as he is expert in explaining a symbolic grave as an artistic installation. The red colour is mainly used in this cartoon. It represents the communist party of India and the colour symbolizes danger and here it refers to the political violence and murders done by the political parties.

36.

A 1

Fig 5.2.36 Malayala Manorama, 21st April 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.36 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 21st April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The goal keeper that A human being stands in the goal post.

154

It resembles the former Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy. 2. The three players in red t- Human beings It resembles V.S shirt Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Sitaram Yechury. 3. The symbol of hammer Tools used for It represents the and sickle agricultural purposes. communist party. Hammer and sickle represent the industrial and the agricultural working class. 4. The hands and legs of the Human body parts It refers to the fight within men the communist party.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there is only one phrase which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Leg salute The cartoonist converts the term red salute to Leg salute and creates sarcasm out of it. A red salute is a salute often used by politicians or activist of a leftist orientation. Here the political situation within the communist party is compared with a football match. The leaders are fighting with each other and holds the legs so that they could not play. Thus, the cartoonist uses the term leg salute sarcastically to mention the fight within the party. The denotation level of the image The image takes place in a football ground. There are four characters in this cartoon. Three men wearing red t-shirts are playing football. One of the players holds the legs of the other two not allowing them to play further. The man wearing orange t-shirt and green trousers stands in the goal post enjoying the fight between the players. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on the fight within the communist party. The cartoonist uses the technique of Analogy and compare the fight with a football ground. The icons used in the cartoon are the caricatures of politicians such as Oommen Chandy, V.S Achuthanandan,

155

Pinarayi Vijayan and Sitaram Yechury. The three politicians of communist party are portrayed as football players and Oommen Chandy is portrayed as a goal keeper. The green and orange colour of his t-shirt represents the congress party while the red t-shirts others wear represents the communist party. The hammer and the sickle on the back of the t-shirt is the election symbol of the communist party. It is a common thing to have rivalry among people of same profession and that is a popular theme in Kerala politics. The rivalry between V. S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan was the most discussed topic. The two leaders that belongs to the communist party differs in their ideology. V.S Achuthanandan is a traditional communist who always stick to certain ideologies. While Vijayan is considered to be corporate leader or an organizational man who focuses more on economic matters. For Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of communist party the election was a crucial thing as they are losing its powers in other state and Kerala is the only state that have a lean towards communist party. The cartoonist portrays the fight within the communist leaders. They are shown as football players. Pinarayi Vijayan holds on V. S Achuthanandan’s leg and with his leg he block Yechury thus no one is able to move. This shows that both Pinarayi and V.S Achuthanandan wants to be the next Chief Minister and no one is ready to give up. Pinarayi Vijayan and Achuthanandan had many verbal conflicts and fights regarding several issues. Pinarayi Vijayan was also against the party general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s stand on prohibition of liquor from the state. Oommen Chandy stands in the goal post and enjoys the fight between them as it will favour him in the election. He stands in a casual way with a vicious smile on his face as he doesn’t want to put any effort to create a fight, for the fight is already within the party. The fight in the communist party is a ‘goal’ for the Congress. 37.

A B

1 4 2 5 3

Fig 5.2.37 Malayala Manorama,22nd April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

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Table 5.2.37 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 22nd April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The man in white dress A human being Resembles Pinarayi Vijayan, slapping the man standing the current Chief Minister of near him. Kerala. 2. The hands that slaps the man Human body part The statement made by Mr. Vijayan against V.S Achuthanandan. 3. The old man in white jubba A human being Resembles V.S Achuthanandan

4. The mark of the hand in his A feature on the social Reaction of Pinarayi Vijayan face which looks like a “like networking website against the statements made button” by V.S Achuthanandan on facebook.

5. The mikes in different color Microphone It represents the media coverage of the issue.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Face…...Book B. Its Pinarayi’s ‘Like’…. The cartoon is based on the use of social media by the Kerala politicians and especially the entry of V. S Achuthanandan into Facebook. What he says or doesn't say makes the headlines for the day. He made many controversial posts against the party and Pinarayi Vijayan, which

157 becomes the top news of the day. The phrase ‘A’ is about the use of social media, Facebook in particular. The cartoonist sarcastically frames the word ‘Facebook’ to FACE…BOOK and shows the image of Pinarayi slapping V.S and the image of his hands is marked on Achuthanandan’s face which looks like a ‘like button’ in Facebook and V.S comments in phrase ‘B’ that the image is a ‘like’ given by Pinarayi Vijayan for his statement. The denotation level of the image

The cartoon is divided into two segments and consists of two characters. In the first image it is labelled Face…. book and a man slaps on the face of an old man and the man stands perplexed. In the second image a mark which is similar to the like button in Facebook is visible in old man’s face and his face becomes red. The mikes of different channels are placed in front of him. He points his finger on his face and says this is a ‘like’ given by Pinarayi.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and symbolism in this cartoon. The icons in this cartoon are the caricatures of V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan. The image takes place in a press conference as mikes of different channels are placed in front of V.S Achuthanandan. Social media was one of the major campaign tools used by the politicians of Kerala during the Assembly election and most of the leaders expressed their views and opinions through social networking sites like facebook. Nearly every candidate was having facebook pages to connect with voters. Opposition leader V S Achuthanand Achuthanandan was the latest to join social media. The remarks and the post made by him was the major headlines of the newspaper and television.

V.S Achuthanandan who always express thing in a powerful way used facebook as a platform to make allegations against the leaders of the opposition party and those belonging to his own party. Strong ideological differences between Pinarayi Vijayan and V.S Achuthanandan had created a discord among them. Two leaders constantly engaged in war of words trying to assert their influence in the communist party. V.S has made many controversial statements against Pinarayi Vijayan explaining his involvement in Lavalin issues and T.P murder case which was one of the major political tools used by the opposition party against the communist party. Mr. Vijayan commented on V.S Achuthanandan’s remarks by mentioning him as a comrade with anti-party mindset. In this cartoon the cartoonist portrays this statement by Pinarayi Vijayan as a slap on Achuthanandan’s face. In the first image it is labelled face…book, the cartoonist sarcastically reframed the word ‘facebook’ and compared it with

158 the face of V.S Achuthanandan. In the second image Achuthanandan is sitting in a press conference and the mikes of different channels are placed in front of him to know his reaction on the comment made by Pinarayi Vijayan. He then points his fingers on his face and says that this is a ‘LIKE’ given by Pinarayi Vijayan. The black image of a palm is an indexical sign that shows somebody has slapped on his face and it is also a symbolic representation of a feature in the social networking site. So the cartoonist humorously recreates the facebook fight between the two popular figures of Kerala Politics.

38.

1 4

Fig 5.2.38 Malayala Manorama,23rd April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.38 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 23rd April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The electric post which English alphabet The letter ‘f’ stands for looks like letter ‘f’ facebook and the electric post is connected with Facebook post.

2. The two men in white Human beings The two men in the dress running in fear. cartoon resembles V.S

159

Achuthanandan, and Pinarayi Vijayan.

3. The lineman sitting on Human being The lineman resembles the post holding pliers in Oommen Chandy. hand and cutting the power lines. 4. The power lines of the Used for electric power The political statements electric post transmission an. made in facebook during election campaign. 5. Lineman’s pliers A tool Political attack during election campaign. 6. The eyes and lips of the Human body parts Tensed by the posts made man. by Oommen Chandy attacking V.S Achuthanandan. 7. The legs and hands of the Human body parts Running in fear of the old man facebook post against V.S Achuthanandan.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases are analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Facebook ‘post’ B. Oommen Chandy’s FB post against VS for not commenting anything on Lavalin case during his campaign in Dharmadem.

The cartoon deals with the news on the communist leader V.S Achuthanandan using social media. In this verbal analysis, words categorized as a sign, and the object of this analysis can be seen at visual. The Interpretant of phrases ‘A’ is that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in his post on facebook reminded Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan about the stand he took earlier against Pinarayi Vijayan in the Lavalin case. The Phrase ‘B’is the news based on which the cartoon is portrayed. In his facebook post, Mr. Chandy asked VS Achuthanandan to clarify whether he has backtracked on his stand in Lavalin case as he had visited Dharmadam to campaign for Pinarayi in the assembly elections. Addressing VS directly, Mr. Chandy asks

160

VS to clarify his present stand on the issue and does he think that Pinarayi Vijayan is innocent in the case (“Chandy slams VS,”2016)

The denotation level of the image

The image consists of three characters, two men dressed like politicians and a lineman. The lineman sits on the electric post with pliers in his hands. He cuts the first power line and again tries to cut the next. The electric post resembles the ‘f’ shape in the English alphabet. The two politicians are running away from the post as the lineman cuts the power line. The face of the politicians shows their fear of the lineman and the post. In the top of the image it is written Facebook ‘post’.

The connotation level of the image The cartoonist has used the technique of analogy by comparing the facebook post attack during the election campaign with an electric post. The image takes place in a public road. The background of the cartoon is that during the 2016 general election politicians started using social media and facebook post as a tool to fight against the opposition party. V.S Achuthanandan and Oommen Chandy posting against each other on facebook was a common practice during the campaigning period. The cartoonist has drawn this cartoon based on one of the Facebook post by Oommen Chandy on facebook. The representamen which are found in the cartoon includes qualisign, which is based on quality. Here the qualisign is colours used in the cartoon i.e. white, black and the khaki colour. Sinsign in this political cartoon is the expression of characters, which include happiness and fear. Legisign is the law or fact which is used, such as the application of colour. The white colour is used to show the politicians, the black colour is used in this cartoon to highlight the main elements in this cartoon i.e. the electric post which looks like the letter ’f’ in English. The Khaki is a colour, a light shade of greyish – brown with a yellow tinge, which is used by police officers, drivers, lineman etc. Here the Khaki colour is used to represent a lineman working on a post.

The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of V.S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Oommen Chandy. The symbol used in this cartoon includes the ‘f’ letter in English, the lineman, the lineman pliers and the power lines. The electric post in this cartoon is portrayed as ‘f’ letter in English language which symbolizes facebook. Facebook was used as one of the major communication tools in political campaigning of 2016 election. The lineman represents the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The lineman and the lineman pliers symbolize the posts shared by Oommen Chandy and how he attacked V.S by posting against him. The power

161 lines shown in this cartoon indicates the Facebook post made by different politician. The index is the written language that is used to inform the reader which is analyzed by the researcher in the verbal analysis. In his FB post, Chandy asked VS to clarify whether he has backtracked on his stand in Lavalin case as he had gone to Dharmadam to campaign for Pinarayi for the general elections. Oommen Chandy through his facebook post asks VS to clarify whether his present stand on Lavalin case and does he think that Pinarayi Vijayan is innocent in the case. Even though Pinarayi and VS belong to the communist party there are some ideological differences between the two and can be considered as a relevant factor for the discord.

Earlier V.S Achuthanandan had sent several letters to Politburo saying that Pinarayi Vijayan was an accused in the Lavalin case and hence the party should expel Mr. Vijayan from politburo and also from the party. V.S Achuthanandan neither withdrawn those letters, nor changed the stand. When CBI court temporarily discharged Pinarayi from the list of accused in the Lavalin case, VS did not say publicly that Pinarayi has been absolved in the case. Hence, Oommen Chandy attacked V.S through the facebook post mentioning all these things and saying that VS has shown disrespect to slain RMP leader TP Chandrasekharan by campaigning for Pinarayi who leads the party which is behind the death of the RMP leader (“Chandy slams VS,”2016).

Thus, the cartoonist has used sarcasm and humor in this cartoon to show the political fight in Social media between two prominent leaders in Kerala.

39.

A 1 3

Fig 5.2.39 Malayala Manorama, 24th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

162

Table 5.2.39 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 24th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The man in red dress A human being It resembles V.S Achuthanandan.

2. The laptop and the mobile Gadgets It refers to the use of social phone. media during campaign period. 3. The hands and legs of the Human body parts It shows that he is always man active. 4. The bed and the pillow It is used to settle down Even though he is aged he for sleep or taking rest. is active in political campaigns. Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there is one phrase which has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Entertainment The cartoonist has used rhyming words in order to bring out the humour in it. The ninety- four-year-old Communist leader V.S Achuthanandan was the face of the campaigning in 2016 Assembly election. When compared to other leaders who retired from their political life at his age, he was even more active than before. He started to make use of new forms of technologies such as facebook, twitter and WhatsApp to connect with his people. Here the word retirement and entertainment in Malayalam is used. The word retirement in Malayalam is written and it is strike out and some other Malayalam letters added to it. Thus, it is read as entertainment. The cartoonist makes a humorous statement out of it by saying that it is not time for him to retire but to experiment new strategies in politics.

163

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of one character. An old man dressed casually is lying down on a bed and works on a laptop. He wears a red dress and his legs are on a pillow. A phone is placed near to him. The laptop and phone displays show letter ‘f’ in blue colour. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on the news that a large number of politicians including the Marxist leader V.S Achuthanandan to the youngest candidates were actively using the social media sites to express their views and opinions. The icon used in the cartoon is the caricature of the communist leader V.S Achuthanandan and he was portrayed as a young boy. The symbols used in this cartoon are the laptop, mobile phones, and the letter ‘f’ which explains that he is very much active in social networking sites such as facebook. He used facebook as a platform to point out the flaws of the opposition party and the issues within the party was also discussed. The facebook posts by him was the major news of the newspapers and television. The red colour of his dress symbolizes the communist party. The bed and the pillow used in the cartoon represents that he is ninety-four-year-old politician and needs a retirement. but he is more active than other politicians and uses new ways of technologies to connect with people and becomes the face of the campaign. His entry into social media was welcomed by the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy by sarcastically mentioning that earlier V.S and the communist party was against the computer and they considered it as ‘devil’ which would reduce the job opportunities. 40.

1 3

4 2

A 5

Fig 5.2.40 Malayala Manorama, 25th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

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Table 5.2.40 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 25th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man holding A human being The old man resembles V.S letters in his hands. Achuthanandan.

2. The eyes and lips of the old Human body parts This indicates the change man. In the first image his in attitude of VS during the eyes are wide opened and election campaign period. have pursed lips. In the second image the corners of the mouth and eyebrows turned down. 3. The letters ‘T’ and ‘P’ English alphabets In the first image it signifies TP Chandrasekhar issue in which VS made a public statement against the party which later he denies. 4. The people standing Human beings It resembles Pinarayi opposite to the old man Vijayan, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Sitaram Yechury. 5. The lips and eyes of the Human body parts In the first image they are people standing opposite to surprised and perplexed the old man. seeing the old man. In the second image they look normal.

165

Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. T for ‘wrong’, P for ‘it happened……corrected

The cartoon is based on the political murder in Kerala. The interpretant of phrase ‘A’ is V.S Achuthanandan’s change in attitudes. Earlier he was of the opinion that T.P Chandrasekhar’s murder was executed with connivance of a section of the leaders in the party and hence the party cannot evade responsibility for it. V.S also compared Pinarayi Vijayan with Dange, a founding member of Communist party and warned him that if he is not ready to correct himself then he will have to face Dange’s fate. Dange was expelled from the party as the party members were against him. Later during the assembly election, he changed his attitude towards Mr. Vijayan and did campaign work for him. Here the cartoonist uses the letter ‘T’ and ‘P’ from the name T.P Chandrasekhar, a local leader of communist party who was hacked to death by the party. humour is developed in the labelling out of this letter, at first Achuthanandan stands firmly with the letters which shows his rebellious nature and his confidence to express his opinions. In the second image V.S is crawling on the floor holding those letters and the abbreviation ‘T P’ stands for his apology that it was his fault and he corrected it and supports Mr. Vijayan.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon is divided into two segments and consists of four characters. In the first image the man in white jubba and dhothi holds two alphabetic letters ‘T’ and ‘P’ in his hands. He holds it tightly in his hands and expresses his anger, while the other three stands perplexed. In the second image the man kneels and crawls on the floor and the characters that stand opposite to him smiles at him. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration to portray the change in attitude of V.S Achuthanandan during the assembly election campaign. Two English alphabetic letters are used to make a statement. The cartoon is divided into two segments and the icons used in this cartoon are the caricatures of V. S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Sitaram Yechury. In the first image V. S Achuthanandan is holding the letters and standing firmly. This shows his confidence and the courage that he shows every time to question others. The letters ‘T’ and ‘P’ refers to the T.P Chandrasekhar murder case. Achuthanandan had come out openly against the state party over the murder of Chandrasekharan, a CPI (M) rebel. A letter was sent by V.S to the former general secretary Prakash Karat and the former polit bureau

166 member Sitaram Yechury pointing out discrepancies in the party's stand on the politics of violence mentioning the T.P Chandrashekhar murder case. VS alleged that the murder was executed with the connivance of a section of the leaders in the party and hence the party cannot evade responsibility for it. The letter gave much pressure to the party as they were already facing pressure for the involvement of its leaders in the political violence.

The second image portrays the change in the character of V.S during the assembly elections. The cartoonist portrays V.S as crawling on the floor holding the letters in his hands. The cartoonist sarcastically expands the two letters. Here the cartoonist explains those letters as an apology by V.S Achuthanandan to the party leaders and specially to Pinarayi Vijayan. During the assembly election V.S Achuthanandan campaigned for Mr. Vijayan at Dharmadom without mentioning anything related to the murder. The former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy questioned VS Achuthanandan’s decision of not visiting T. P Chandrasekharan’s wife and son on his way to Dharmadom which is considered as disrespect towards T. P Chandrasekharan. During the campaigning period V.S campaigned for the LDF candidates and made speeches on alleged corruption cases against UDF ministries and kept silence on the statements and arguments that he made earlier.

41.

Fig 5.2.41 Malayala Manorama, 26th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.41 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 26th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

167

1. The man with a specs A human being It resembles V.S Achuthanandan 2. The tongue Human body part It refers to the controversial statement made by V.S Achuthanandan during the Assembly election.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon shows a pink colour circular shape with two heads swallowing each other. The head looks like that of a human being wearing specs. The connotation level of the image The cartoon was based on the controversial interview given by V.S Achuthanandan to The Indian Express Newspaper. In the interview he mentioned that people want him to be the next Chief Minister of Kerala. Later he denied his statement by saying that the party will decide whom to be the next Chief Minister and the media had twisted his words. When he was asked about the Lavalin case he replied that he supports the court order and later he removed this statement from his facebook post. He expressed his anger towards the media and said that they are trying to put words in his mouth and it is not a proper media practice but later he again apologized for this. The cartoonist in this cartoon exaggerate V.S Achuthanandan changing his statements. The cartoonist portrays a tongue swallowing another tongue which depicts V.S Achuthanandan swallowing his words and denying his statements depending on the situations. He makes statements and later he denies it.

168

42. A

1 5

2 3

Fig 5.2.42 Malayala Manorama, 27th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.42 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 27th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The man digging the grave A human being Resembles CPI(M) Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan 2. The grave with a wreath on A hole dug in the It refers to the grave it. ground to receive a prepared by the students of coffin or dead body Victoria college as a retirement gift for their principal. 3. The human skeleton The human skeleton is It refers to the political the internal framework murders done by the of the body political parties. 4. The man who stops the A human being It resembles M.A. Baby, person from digging the member of the Communist grave. Party .

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5. The brush in his pocket Used for painting It refers to the statement with red color paint. made by M.A Baby. He considered the grave as an art installation. 6. Digging the soil from the Searching for It refers to the controversial grave something statement made by P. Jayarajan on political murders.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. This is about art installation and not the art of murder.

The news on the grave gifted to the principal of a college in Kerala and the controversial statement made by P. Jayarajan is interlinked in this cartoon. The phrase ‘A’ is the response given by M. A Baby to both this news. He considers the grave made the SFI (Students Federation of India) as an art installation and at the same time criticize P. Jayarajan for his controversial statement on political murders. Here the cartoonist uses rhyming words to bring out the sarcasm and irony in the labelling. The words ‘art’ and ‘murder’ are used as the rhyming words that creates humour in the cartoon.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon takes place in a graveyard and consists of two characters. A man sits near to the grave and digs out the soil from the grave. He thinks about the human skeleton. A wreath is placed near to the grave. A man in white dress with painting brushes in his pocket stops the other man from digging the soil. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of analogy in this cartoon and combines two different news. The grave in this cartoon represents the grave prepared by the Left-leaning SFI students as a retirement gift to the principal. Later case was registered against the students under various sections of IPC. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M.A Baby reacted to it by saying that he doesn’t consider the grave as a grave rather it was an art installation. The cartoonist combines this news with the ‘debt repayment’ comment made by P. Jayarajan, who is an accused in Manoj murder case. His controversial comment explained the role played by political parties in political murders. He mentioned that communist party doesn’t initiate political violence but it repays

170 when it is repeatedly the recipient of debt. M.A Baby reacted to this controversial statement by commenting that the members of the party should be aware of the statements they make and are responsible for that. Here the cartoonist portrays M. A Baby as an artist and pointing to the grave he explains to Mr. Jayarajan that it is art installation not the art of murder. The comment made by Mr. Baby during two different situations are combined together and humour is made out of it. The icon used in this cartoon are the caricatures of the two politicians of communist party, M. A Baby and P. Jayarajan. Mr. Jayarajan digging the soil is a symbolic representation of revealing the direct involvement of political parties and their leaders in the political murders. 43.

3 1

Fig 5.2.43 Malayala Manorama, 28th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

This political cartoon was published in 28th April, 2016 by Malayala Manorama newspaper Table 5.2.43 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 28th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man hitting the A human being The old man resembles man that stands near him. V.S Achuthanandan.

171

2. The like button It is a feature in social It refers to the use of networking services. social media during campaign.

3. The man hitting the old A human being Resembles Oommen man on his head. Chandy.

4. The eyes and lips of both Human body parts It shows the fight between characters leaders of two parties.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of two characters and they are fighting with each other. Both characters in the cartoon hold a like button and they use it as a tool to hit the other person. Their body postures show that they are going to continue the fight and are not ready to give up. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist use exaggeration and analogy as a technique to portray the fight between the political leaders. The political fight is compared with boxing. The qualisign in the cartoon are white and red colour. The white colour represents politicians and the blue colour used represents Facebook. The sinsign is the expression of the characters and it portrays their anger. The icons used in this cartoon are the caricatures of the two powerful leaders of Kerala, V.S Achuthanandan and Oommen Chandy. The like button that they hold in their hands is similar to that of boxing gloves and it symbolizes the Facebook posts. The fight between the Congress leader Oommen Chandy and CPM veteran VS Achuthanandan on social media was the major topic of discussion during the campaign period. Facebook was a platform for both leaders to express their views and opinions and to make certain controversial statements. The verbal fight started on the statement made V.S that there are 131 cases pending against the UDF ministers. Being offended by the remarks made by the former leader of opposition Chandy filed a defamation case against him. Thus, the social media battle between the two veteran leaders has reached the court. The cartoonist doesn’t use any kind of labelling techniques as the picture explains the situation more clearly.

172

44. A

1 5

2 6

Fig 5.2.44 Malayala Manorama, 29th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.44 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 29th April ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man A human being The old man resembles Oommen holding a black Chandy. umbrella

2. A shirtless man A human being Represents the general public wearing lungi.

3. The man that holds A human being Resembles V.S Achuthanandan. a bottle of water.

4. The black colour Used for protection It shows how a politician tries to umbrella against rain. influence the general public.

173

5. The people walking Human beings Resembles the politicians belonging behind the shirtless to different political parties of Kerala. man.

A bottle of water Used for refreshment It portrays the nature of politicians 6. and a hand fan. during election campaign

Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Oh, my dear, please don’t be angry… The phrase ‘A’ is a Malayalam film song from the film ‘Action Hero Biju’. Here the cartoonist uses the film song to portray the importance of a common man or the general public during the election campaign. The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of number of characters and they are walking as a procession. In front of the procession there walks a man shirtless and all other men standing near and behind him wears white dress. They offer the man many things such as umbrellas, a bottle of water and hand fan. But the man goes forward without accepting it and he looks perplexed.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration to portray the election campaign scenario in the state. The icon used in this cartoon includes the caricature of almost every political leaders of Kerala. The man in lungi symbolizes the general public. Lungi is a traditional garment worn around the waist and here the cartoonist uses it to portray the common man. The politicians walks behind him as a procession and they offers umbrella, a bottle of water and hand fan to comfort him. These represent the manifestos of each party that offers certain promises to the voters so as to gain more votes. They follow him singing a Malayalam film and sings ‘don’t be angry with us’ for the things they have done to the public in past and they make new promises regarding the development of the state. Here the sinsign is the expression of the characters in the cartoon. The politicians are having smiling faces and the man that represents the general public walks perplexed not understanding the political strategies.

174

45.

B 4 1

2 = C 3

Fig 5.2.45 Malyala Manorama, 30th April, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.45 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 30th April ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The two men dressed in Human beings It resembles PC Joseph and white, standing with PC George, the candidates praying hands of Poonjar constituency of Kerala.

2. The old man in jubba A human being It resembles V.S Achuthanandan. 3. The folded hands Human body parts It refers that both the candidates are asking for the help from V.S Achuthanandan. 4. Hands of the man standing Human body part V.S Achuthanandan in middle campaigning for the LDF candidate of Poonjar constituency.

175

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are three phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. P.C JO B. P.C George C. P.C Joseph The cartoonist tries to make the humour out of the names of the candidates in Poonjar Constituency. The competition in this constituency was between independent P.C George and the candidates representing LDF, UDF and BJP. The name of the LDF candidate was P.C Joseph. The face of the campaign V.S Achuthanandan’s speech in Poonjar constituency was in favour of P.C George as he did mention anything against him. Thus, the cartoonist portrays both the LDF candidate and the independent candidate pleading V.S to campaign for them, whereas V.S just mentions P.C JO and doesn’t complete the name leaving a doubt among his audience whom does he really mention as both candidates have same initials. The phrases ‘B’ and ‘C’ mentions the name of the two candidates. The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of three characters in white dress. The two men standing on the either sides fold their hands and pleads to the man standing between them. The name of the two men are written on their dress. The man standing in the middle raises his hands and a dialogue box is there and its written PC JO and his hands hides other letters. The connotation level of the image In this cartoon the cartoonist has used the technique of exaggeration to explain V.S Achuthanandan’s campaign in Poonjar constituency which was one of the major attractions of 2016 Assembly election. It was the constituency with the highest number of candidates. There were 17 candidates altogether in this constituency alone. The fight was between the independent candidate P.C George and the candidates of the major parties Congress, communist and the bjp. It was a matter of success for each candidate in this constituency. The independent candidate PC George was rejected by Pinarayi Vijayan for contesting the election using LDF ticket. For Pinarayi Vijayan it was a battle of pride to defeat Kerala Congress and K.M Mani by defeating the congress candidate. It was the first time BDJS and so it matters to show their strength. Thus, winning the election was important for each candidate. Even though P.C George was denied by LDF he openly declared that he would support Communist party if V.S Achuthanandan becomes the Chief Minister.

176

V.S Achuthanandan who was the star campaigner did campaign in Poonjar and made a speech without mentioning PC George’s name or anything against him thus it was a blow to both the LDF and UDF and it became favourable for PC George. Here the cartoonist portrays V. S Achuthanandan campaigning in Poonjar Constituency. He is standing with his one hand raised facing the public. The LDF candidate PC Joseph and the independent candidate PC George stands both his sides folding their hands and pleading him to support them. A dialogue box is shown above his head and it is written PC JO and the name is not completed as his hands hides other letters. It’s not visible for the readers to identify whom does he mention as both the candidates have same initials ‘PC’. Thus, the campaigning for the LDF candidate becomes favourable for the independent candidate. The icon used in this cartoon are the caricatures of V.S Achuthanandan, PC George and PC joseph.

46 A

Fig 5.2.46 Malayala Manorama, 1st May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. This political cartoon was published in 1st May, 2016 by Malayala Manorama newspaper

177

Table 5.2.46 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 1st May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

Resembles CPM Kannur 1. The man in white dress A human being district Secretary P with mouth wide opened. Jayarajan. 2. The wide opened mouth Human body parts Refers to the controversial and eyes of the man statement made by him.

3. The bomb and the sharp The objects that is used Refers to the political weapon. to make injuries. murders.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases are analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Riddle B. There is no lid on the container in face.

The cartoon deals with the ‘debt repayment’ comment made by P. Jayarajan. The phrase ‘A’ is a Malayalam word used for riddle which is a rhyme with the term ‘debt’. Thus, the cartoonist sarcastically uses the word ‘Riddle’. The phrase ‘B’ is a riddle in Malayalam which is modified by the cartoonist based on the context of news.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of only one character. The mouth of the character is exaggerated and things come out of his mouth. He stands perplexed seeing the sharp weapons and bombs coming out of mouth.

The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration to exaggerate the face of the character. The icon used in this cartoon is the caricature of CPM Kannur district Secretary P

178

Jayarajan. Here the cartoonist uses a riddle in Malayalam to explain the controversial statement made by P. Jayarajan. The term ‘riddle’ is used by the cartoonist as in Malayalam the word rhymes with the word ‘debt’. The bomb and the sharp weapon are a symbolic representation of the political murders happened in the state and the involvement of political leaders in it. The riddle used here is that ‘the container in the yard doesn’t have a lid and the answer is ‘well’. So, here the cartoonists modified the riddle and compares the ‘well’ with the mouth of P. Jayarajan. His mouth is like a big container that doesn’t have a lid and he himself doesn’t know what comes out of it. Thus, the riddle and the exaggeration used in his face refer to the “debt repayment” comment, which became a controversial statement that justifies the involvement of political leaders in the political murders of the state. 47.

A B 2 4 3

Fig 5.2.47 Malyala Manorama, 3rd May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.47 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 3rd May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The sapling that the man A young tree The “Go Green” campaign holds in his hands. of LDF.

179

2. The man in white shirt and A human being It resembles the current dhoti Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan. 3. The hands and legs of the Human body parts It shows how active man leaders are during the election campaign. 4. The placard A sign or a notice that is Change in policies. displayed in public

Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are 2 phrases which have been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. G. Tree H. Strike The cartoonist in this cartoon uses rhyming Malayalam words of ‘tree’ and ‘strike’, thus humour is generated out of that. The phrase ‘A’ refers to the LDF party’s campaign technique of go green approach. The phrase ‘B’ refers to the earlier method of conducting strikes to fight against the parties. The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of one character. A man in white dress holds a sapling in one hand and throws a placard with the other hand and walks straight. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on the ‘go green ‘approach adopted by the communist party during the election campaign in 2016 Assembly election. The icon used in the cartoon is the caricature of the current Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The sapling that he holds in his hands shows that Pinarayi Vijayan stressed on green priorities during his campaign by planting a sapling at campaign centres after his speech. The placard he throws using his other hand represents that he gives more importance to the environment than to the frequent strikes and hartals in Kerala that affects the human life and economy of the state. Further, the flex banners used during the election campaigning was used to make grow bags and thus reduce the plastic waste.

180

48.

A B C

3 1

Fig 5.2.48 Malyala Manorama, 4th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.48 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 4th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

The man in white dress 1. A human being It represents the candidates posing for the photo. of the Kerala Assembly election. 2. The man taking the photo A human being It represents the election commission’s new rule. 3. The photograph A photograph is an Introduction of the image created by the photographs of candidates light falling on a along with their name in photosensitive surface. Electronic Voting Machine. Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Chin up …. Shoulder down… B. Eyes open C. Ready

181

The cartoon is based on the Election Commission’s new rule of using photographs of the candidates along with their name in the Electronic Voting Machine. The candidates have to give photos with neutral facial expression and eyes open. The cartoonist uses the dialogues from the film ‘Maheshinte Prathigaram’, a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film to explain the election commission’s new changes in the 2016 Assembly election. The phrases ‘A’,’B’, and ‘C’ are the usual instruction given by Photographers. The hero of the film is a photographer and he always uses this dialogue.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of two characters and the image takes place in a studio. The cartoon is divided into three segments and it shows the procedure of taking a photo. In the first image a man is sitting on the chair and the photographer asks him to sit with chins up and shoulders down. In the second image he asks to open his eyes and finally he gets a photo with neutral expression. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of analogy to explain the news. He interconnects the new changes introduced by the election commission with the film dialogue from the film “Maheshinte Pradigaram”. The film is about the life of a photographer and the strange incidents that happened in his life.

Campaigning is the period when the politician’s approaches voters with pleasant face and big smiles but the election commission sent a list of specification of photograph. According to the list the candidates are not allowed to smile, they should have a neutral expression in their face. The expression of the candidates sometimes influences the voting behaviour of the general public. The use of photographs of the candidates in electronic Voting Machine was a new change brought by the Election Commission during the 2016 election. The candidates had to present full face with neutral expression and eyes open. The candidates should wear normal clothing without any flags or such things in it. The cartoonist tried to bring humour out of those instruction given by the Election Commission.

182

49.

Fig 5.2.49 Malyala Manorama, 5th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.49 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 5th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The two men standing at the Human beings It resembles V.S highest point of the Snake- Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Boat Vijayan. 2. The man that stands on the A human being It resembles Sitaram other side of the boat Yechury. 3. Snake-Boat Traditional naval boats of It represents the communist Kerala. party in Kerala. 4. The water Water is a transparent It represents the state of substance. Kerala. The denotation level of the image The image consists of three characters. A snake boat is placed in water and the two of them stands on the extreme end of the boat holding the paddle. A man stands on the other of the boat trying to balance it and it seems like the boat will submerge in the water.

183

The Connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration, analogy and symbolism to portray the political scenario of the communist party during the Assembly election. The cartoonist compares the communist party in Kerala with a snake-boat in water. Kerala is famous for its ‘Vellam Kali’, a traditional boat race held in the state specially during the harvest season festivals like onam. The snake –boats were designed earlier during the reign of King Devanarayana of Chembakassery to use during war period. Even after the wars came to an end, the boats continued to play a major role in the lives of the people and were used for boat races. For boat races, two men stand in the central portion of the Chundan Vallam, which was once used to position the canon and beat the Odithatta (fire platforms) with poles and sing the Vanchippattu (songs of the boatmen) to maintain the rhythm of rowing. While the strongest oarsmen occupy the bow portion, the stern is manned by six well- built Amarackars (helmsmen) in standing position, who help to steer the boat. The person at the highest point of the boat is the chief oarsman. Today, every snake boat represents a village and the boat races have today become an integral part of the cultural identity of the land. The cartoon is based on the fight between the prominent leaders of the communist party, V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan. Even though the communist party was having all possibilities of winning the election the confusion of deciding the Chief Minister candidate was the most raised question during the election campaigning. Pinarayi Vijayan is considered to be a party’s man, while V. S the people’s man. The fight between the Chief Ministerial post among the leaders of the same party is an actual war between CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and his predecessor Prakash Karat. Mr. Vijayan and Karat had together tried hard to stop Yechury’s election as the general secretary as they wanted Ramachandran Pillai of Kerala for the post but was a failure. The cartoonist portrays the fight in the party and compare it with a boat race. In the boat both V. S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan wants to be the Chief oarsman of the boat and Yechury tries to balance the boat from submerging as it is important for him to win the Kerala Election as the communist party has a strong hold in Kerala compared to other states.

184

50.

A 3

1 4

2 B

Fig 5.2.50 Malyala Manorama, 6th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.50 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 6th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The blue coloured letter ‘f’ Symbols of social media The use of social media as and the green coloured a campaigning tool during symbol the election. 2. The police cap and the Used by police It refers to the campaign police lathi. method of Nikesh Kumar. 3. The man who sits on the A human being It resembles M.V Nikesh chair with hands folded Kumar,a journalist and a candidate from Azhikode constituency. 4. The sweat Production of fluids in criticism faced by him the body. during the 2016 election, Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. ‘Well’ checking case B. 57 cases on dishonoring the cheques

The cartoon is based on the political campaigning done by the television –anchor turned politician Nikesh Kumar in Azhikode constituency. He climbed down in the well of his

185 constituency and checked the quality of water to declare that it was salty and not hygenic. The phrase ‘A’ deals with this campaigning method adopted by Nikesh Kumar. The phrase ‘B’ deals with the 57 cases filed against him of which 54 are for dishonouring the cheques issued by the Indo-Asian News Channel Private Limited to Asianet Satellite Communications Pvt Ltd.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of a man sitting on a chair folding his hands. He is sweating and he holds a paper in one hand in which it is written 57 check cases. The other two characters in this cartoon are the symbols of social networking sites such as facebook and WhatsApp which is portrayed as police officers. They have a police cap and lathi. They hold a paper in which it is written ‘well’ checking case. The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration in this cartoon and portrays Facebook and WhatsApp as characters of the cartoon. The icon in this cartoon is the caricature of the journalist turned politician Mr. Nikesh Kumar. The cartoonist portrays the social networking sites as police officers as they play a role of investigators. Nikesh Kumar, famous for dramatizing things in television tried to bring into light the degrading water levels in residential wells in Azhikode constituency as a part of his campaigning. In a video posted on Facebook Mr. Kumar, climbed down into a well and commented about how dirty and yellow the water is. He explains in a piece-to-camera style that nearly 3,000 families in Azhikode are forced to consume salt water and how the incumbent MLA was nowhere to be seen. Later he promised his voters to provide with pure, potable water if elected to power. Trolls and memes slammed him saying that he should be the first man to get into the well to find out whether the water was salty when a bucket and rope was available. His act is exaggerated by the cartoonist and connects it with the record number of cases pending against him. While he tries to check the quality of water, there are around 57 cases charged against him of which 54 are for dishonoring the cheques issued by the Indo-Asian News Channel Private Limited to Asianet Satellite Communications Pvt Ltd. The words ‘check’ and ‘Cheque’ are used as rhyming words and thus the cartoonist creates humour and sarcasm out of it.

186

51.

Fig 5.2.51 Malyala Manorama,7th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.51 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 7th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

The man sitting on an arrow 1. A human being It resembles Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar 2. The arrow A sharp-edged weapon It represents the party symbol Of Janata Dal (U). 3. The building A Structure with walls It represents Indian and roofs. Parliament house. The denotation level of the image The image consists of a man that sits on the arrow. The man uses the arrow as a vehicle and he flies in the air. A circular building is situated in front of him and he travels to reach that place. The Connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and symbolism in this cartoon. The icon used in this cartoon is the caricature of the Chief Minister of Bihar Mr. Nikesh Kumar. Bihar assembly Election was held in 2015 and the grand alliance (Mahagathbandan) comprising of Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJP, Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and Congress won a 2/3 majority and had 180 seats out of 243. Bihar’s victory strengthened Nitish to set his sights on achieving the position of Indian Prime Minister in 2019 general election. The arrow used in

187 this cartoon is a symbolic representation of the party symbol of Janata Dal (U). The circular building represents the Indian Parliament House. The cartoonist portrays him as flying on the arrow with the circular building as his destination. Thus, the party’s strength makes Nitish Kumar to focus on Prime Ministerial post. 52.

1 4

Fig 5.2.52 Malyala Manorama, 8th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.52 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 8th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. A shirtless man with raised A human being Represents the general hands. public. 2. The index finger with a Human body part It represents votes. ribbon over it. 3. The gift boxes A present given without It refers to bribing voters payment. 4. The woman and the man that Human beings It resembles Jayalalitha and holds the gift boxes. M. Karunanidhi, the former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu.

188

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of many characters and they come in a procession. A shirtless man stands in front of the procession with a raised hand and his finger pointed upward. A ribbon is tied around the finger and the man is smiling with happiness. The people behind him hold gift boxes in their hands to give him. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and symbolism in this cartoon. The icons used in this cartoon are the caricature of the prominent political leaders of Tamil Nadu.The index finger represents the vote casted by the public. The electronic stain that marks the votes is normally applied in the left-hand index finger. The finger tied with a ribbon indicates that the votes are gifts from the voters to the politicians. For the first time in Indian history Election Commission decided to cancel the polls of Aravakurichi and Thanjavur constituencies of Tamil Nadu, following reports of large scale distribution of money and gifts to voters by candidates and political parties. The polls to these constituencies were postponed twice and then subsequently cancelled, before being held in November 2016.More than Rs100 crore was seized by the election monitoring officials in Tamil Nadu in May 2016. This was much higher than the Rs 25 crore seized from the state during 2014 parliamentary elections and Rs35.53 crore in the 2011 assembly elections, according to the EC (Thangavelu, 2017).The politician standing in a line like a procession holding gifts indicates the political parties trying to influence and bribe the voters, thus they could gain more votes.

53.

4 1

A 5

2 B Fig .5.2.53 Malyala Manorama, 9th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

189

Table 5.2.53 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 9th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The paddy field Place were rice is It represents the voters of produced. Kerala. 2. The photographs A photograph is an image It resembles Oommen created by the light falling Chandy and V.S on a photosensitive Achuthanandan. surface. 3. The hand Human body part It refers to the party symbol of the congress party. 4. The sickle It is an agricultural tool The sickle represents the communist party. 5. The lotus flower An aquatic plant The lotus flower symbolizes the BJP party.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Look, it’s the hand that reaps! B. No, it is the sickle.

The cartoon is about the political campaigning period. In the 2016 Assembly election three major parties tried to impress its voters and gain votes. The label in this cartoon is a conversation between the major political leaders of Kerala, Oommen Chandy and V.S Achuthanandan. The phrase ‘A’ and ‘B’ are in a dialogue form and it shows the fight between the political parties. In phrase ‘A’ Oommen Chandy says that it is congress that gains more

190 votes and in phrase ‘B’ V.S Achuthanandan argues and says it is the communist party that is going to win the election.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of a paddy field and a hand that holds sickle. Along with the paddy there is a lotus flower and the sickle are placed on it two cut it down. The labels are used in a dialogue form with the photographs of two politicians. The label tries to explain the image given above. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of symbolism to explain the election campaigning period and the fight between the political parties. The image consists of a paddy filed, a hand that holds a sickle and a lotus flower. The cartoonist mainly focuses on those symbols and explains the political scenario. The hand represents the congress party, which became the party symbol in the late 1970s (Lahiri, 2012).The sickle stands for the communist party and it represent the tool of workers and peasants. The lotus flower symbolically represents the Bharatiya Jantha Party. The paddy field refers to the voters of Kerala, as the state has a good percentage of farmers. Thus, the cartoonist symbolically shows how the hand and the sickle try to reap the grain i.e. the votes using various campaigning techniques. The cartoonist uses labelling in the form of dialogues between the two political leaders, Oommen Chandy and V.S Achuthanandan that represents the two major political party in Kerala. The lotus flower that is found in between the paddy represents BJP trying to open their vote account in Kerala and to emerge as a third front. The hand and the sickle together try to stop the lotus blooming in paddy. The two political parties fight to regain their power. Thus, it portrays the communist and congress party’s effort to stop BJP emerging in Kerala. 54.

A 2 1 3

5 Fig 5.2.54 Malayala Manorama, 10th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

191

Table 5.2.54 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon:10th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. Yellow colored map. Geographical It resembles the map of representation of a Somalia, a sovereign state country. with its territory located in Africa. 2. The old man in white A human being It resembles Narendra colour Kurtha and blue Modi, the Prime Minister colour jacket. of India. 3. A boomerang that hits on A boomerang is a thrown It refers to the comment the man’s face. tool. made by Modi by comparing Kerala with Somalia. 4. The nose and lips of the Human body parts The impact of the man controversial comment. 5. The tears Strong emotion It shows that the statement negatively affected the party’s image. Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Somalia……Boomerang!

The labelling used in this cartoon is on the controversial comment made by Narendra Modi. Modi compared the state of Kerala with Somalia. The statement acted as a boomerang and had negative effect on the party’s image.

The denotation level of the image

The cartoon is divided into two and in the first image a yellow coloured map is shown. In the second image the yellow coloured thing hits on the face of a man and his face becomes red. He is wearing a white kurta and blue coloured jacket. His specs are broken and he is crying.

192

The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and symbolism in this cartoon. The yellow coloured map like structure is a symbolic representation of Somalia, a country in Africa. The yellow colour represents the African country as it is the most used colour in their flags. Here the comment made by Narendra Modi during the campaign period in Kerala by comparing Kerala with Somalia is portrayed using the map of the country. In the second image the map is converted into a boomerang and hits at the face of the Prime Minister. The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and portrays how the statement made by him negatively impacted the political party and thus the Somalia remark was a boomerang for the party. Therefore, it affected the polling and the party’s vote percentage as the remark was an insult for the people in Kerala. 55.

2 4

Fig 5.2.55 Malyala Manorama, 11th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. This political cartoon was published on 11th May, 2016 by Malayala Manorama newspaper. Based on the analysis of the data, the researcher found three signs; the representamen, object, and Interpretant. The data is analysed using Peirce semiotics followed by two level of signification using Barthes theory.

193

Table 5.2.55 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 11th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man holding a A human being The old man resembles hammer in hands. Narendra Modi.

2. The woman in saree A human being The woman resembles holding the hammer. Sonia Gandhi. 3. The hammer A tool that has a It refers to the campaign weighted head fixed to a strategy adopted by the long handle political parties during campaign period. 4. The eyes and nose of the Human body parts The fight between Modi characters. and Sonia Gandhi during the election campaigning in Kerala.

The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of two characters, a man and a woman. The two characters holds hammers in their hands and they are fighting with each other. Their face expression shows their anger and rage towards each other. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist used the technique of exaggeration and symbolism in this cartoon. The icons used in this cartoon are the caricatures of Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi. The sinsign of the cartoon includes the expression of the characters. The anger and the effect of the fight are clearly shown in the face of both the characters. The hammer is the symbol used in the cartoon. Dialogue balloons are portrayed in the form of a hammer to show the word fight between the two leaders as a sharp weapon used during the assembly election in Kerala. The cartoon is

194 based on the news that the national leaders such as Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi addressed the campaign programmes at different districts of Kerala. During the campaign Modi attacked Sonia focussing on her Italian origin and over the AgustaWestland chopper scam raised against her. Later in a speech made by Sonia Gandhi, she reacts on Prime Minister Narendra Modi statement and explains it as an “underhand tricks” to link Italian origin to the controversial AgustaWestland chopper deal. She explained that BJP’S dream of opening an account will remain a mirage as It can’t breach the strong secular fabric of the state. She ridiculed the Prime Minister by saying that he is busy with foreign trips and doesn’t have time for dying farmers. She criticised Modi for neglecting the plight of rubber and coconut farmers of Kerala. Thus, the fight between the two national leaders during the campaign became the central attention of the election in Kerala. 56.

B C

D 2 1

E 3

Fig 5.2.56 Malayala Manorama, 12th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala. Table 5.2.56 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 12th May ,2016

NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The old man in white shirt A human being Resembles Kummanam and dhoti. Rajashegaran, the current governor of Mizoram.

195

2. The old man in white dress A human being Resembles Narendra Modi, and green jacket the prime Minister of India. 3. The man in white kurta and A human being Resembles Amit Shah, blue jacket. President of the Bharatiya Janata Party Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. BJP is not growing at others expense. B. Growth Rate C. Somalia D. BJP in Gujarat E. BJP in Kerala The cartoon is based on the controversial statement made by Mr. Modi comparing Kerala with Somalia. The phrase ‘A’ is a statement by Kummanam Rajashegaran the former BJP State president mentioning that the growth of BJP in Kerala is not based on help offered by other parties. The phrase ‘B’ refers to the growth rate of Kerala and that of Somalia. The phrase ‘C’ refers to the controversial statement by Mr. Modi. The phrase ‘D’ and ‘E’ are the comparison made by the cartoonist on BJP in Kerala and that of Gujarat. The denotation level of the image

The cartoon consists of three characters. A skinny man in white shirt and dhoti, stands on one side and opposite to him stands two other men. They both look healthy and big. They both stares at the skinny man and make fun of him while he stands perplexed.

The connotation level of the image

The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration in this cartoon. The cartoon consists of three characters and the body of the characters is exaggerated. The icons in this carton are the caricatures of the politicians such as Kummanam Rajashegaran, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The cartoon is based on the statement made by Mr. Modi by comparing Somalia with Kerala and the statement by Kummanam Rajashegaran expressing his point that BJP in Kerala is growing by itself and no one contributes to its growth. Here the cartoonist sarcastically portrays the growth rate of Kerala and Gujarat. Kummanam Rajashegaran is portrayed as a skinny man in white dress and it is labelled BJP in Kerala. This shows the growth rate of the party in Kerala. BJP is not considered as a powerful political party or as a competitor with LDF

196 or UDF. So, the cartoonist tries to put humour into it by saying that seeing the growth of BJP in Kerala Modi mentioned or compared Kerala with Somalia. Amit Shah is portrayed as a healthy man which symbolizes the BJP party in Gujarat. Mr. Modi was the former Chief Minister of Gujarat and the Gujarat model is considered as a popular model of development and it is praised for its GDP growth, exports, infrastructure and all the visible signs of economic growth, but it also highlights the fact that when it comes to reducing poverty, it fared worse than states of similar ranking. Here the cartoonist sarcastically explains that Mr. Modi made such a statement not based on facts or the development in health sector but based on his own personal interest.

57. A

3 B

4 C Fig 5.2.57 Malayala Manorama, 13th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.57 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 13th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The cat with human face. A small, typically furry, Resembles Oommen Chandy. carnivorous mammal.

197

2. The eyes and lips of the cat. Body parts It refers to the healthy children in Kerala. 3. The yellow tiger with a Animal Resembles Narendra Modi. human face.

4, The lips and eyes of the tiger Body parts It shows the malnourished children in Gujarat.

Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. A cat from Kerala B. A tiger from Gujarat C. Gujarat, have higher proportions of underweight children than Kerala. In this cartoon the cartoonist uses labelling to explain and explains the context.The phrase ‘A’ is a cat and the healthy cat is compared to the healthy children in Kerala. The phrase ‘B’ is about an unhealthy tiger which refers to the malnourished children in Gujarat. The phrase ‘C’ is the news based on which the cartoon is drawn which says that the children in Gujarat is more malnourished compared to that in Kerala. The denotation level of the image

The cartoon is divided into two segments and consists of two characters. A cat and a tiger with human faces are portrayed in this cartoon. In the first image a healthy grey coloured cat is shown and, on its body, it is written cat from Kerala. In the second image both the cat and a yellow coloured tiger is shown and it is written ‘a tiger from Gujarat’. The cat looks fat and big while the tiger is comparatively small in size.

The Connotation level of the image

The cartoon is based on the controversial comment made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi’s remark comparing Kerala with east African country Somalia was a major discussion during the campaign period and it affected the BJP party’s image. Here the cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration to explain the situation. The characters used are a cat and a tiger with human faces. The icons used in this cartoon are the caricatures of the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM while addressing a rally in Thiruvananthapuram during the campaign period compared the state with Somalia citing a photo appeared in a leading Malayalam daily in which two tribal boys of north

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Kerala were seen rummaging for food in a garbage yard. He drew the comparison when referring to “poor living condition” of tribal children in Kerala. Many protests were held in social media regarding this statement and he was trolled badly and some responded with hashtag #PoMoneModi (Go off Modi).

In the first image a healthy grey cat with Oommen chandy’s face is shown which represents the state of Kerala and the healthy children in Kerala. Malnutrition is usually not a subject that grabs the attention of politicians. But here malnutrition was used as an electoral weapon by the parties in Kerala after the controversial statement by Mr. Modi. Many statistics and survey reports were published stating the Infant Mortality Rate of Kerala is lowest in India compared to that of Gujarat whose Infant Mortality Rate is higher. Modi government’s vision of economic development modelled on Gujarat notwithstanding the evidence that the Gujarat model, despite bringing prosperity to the state, did not sufficiently improve the quality of lives of those at the margins.

The cartoonist shows the difference in health sector of two states by comparing it to a cat and a tiger. Even though Kerala is considered as not much developed according to Modi government, they are much healthier than the tigers in Gujarat as the Modi government always praise the state of Gujarat for its development.

The state of Gujarat despite being a wealthy state doesn’t give much importance to immunizing children. Data showed that while around 56 percent of Gujaratis have access to immunisation, the figure in neighbouring Maharashtra stood at a much higher 80 percent. In Maharashtra, over 66 percent of the Adivasi population gets full immunisation. In Gujarat, only 44 percent of the tribal population is covered (Gupta, 2016)

As per the data available from the Ministry of tribal affairs, the 2015-16 Economic Survey pegged Kerala’s IMR at 12 deaths per 1,000 — the lowest in India. It's not just that: Kerala’s IMR of 60 deaths per 1,000 among Scheduled Tribes was way lower than Somalia’s IMR of 85 deaths among 1,000(Venkateshwaran, 2016).

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58.

A B

5 1 6 2

3 7

4 Fig 5.2.58 Malayala Manorama, 14th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.58 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 14th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The person sitting on the A human being It resembles the former Chief chair. Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy. 2. The nose and lips of the Human body parts Tensed of exit poll results man sitting on the chair 3. Chair A piece of furniture to The power-Holding the seat a single person position of Chief Minister 4. Sweat Moisture produced from Fear of losing power the skin 5. The man standing with a A human being Resembles LDF leader V. S broom. Achuthanandan. Shows that LDF is ready to get into power. 6. The lips of the standing Human body part Happiness of winning the man election. 7. Broom A cleaning tool Ready to bag maximum votes.

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Verbal analysis of political cartoons In this cartoon there are two phrase which is been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. LDF set for sweeping victory in Kerala-exit poll B. Can you please come out…let me clean the room? The cartoon is based on the exit poll result before the election and which was in favour of communist part. The cartoonist exaggerates the result and the phrase ‘A’ is the news based on the exit poll which declares that LDF will win the election. Phrase ‘B’ is a dialogue by V. S Achuthanandan. He asks the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to get down from the power so that they can be the next government.

Denotation level of image The image portrays a room with an open door. It shows two characters in the room. A first character is a man sitting in a chair, he is holding the arms of the chair and is sweating. The chair is surrounded by water. The man who is sitting looks so miserable, he has a long nose, down directed lips and perplexed eyes which indicates his nervousness. The other man is holding a broom and his face looks happy with a wide opened mouth. He holds a broom in his hand and is ready to enter the room. Connotation level of image Exit Poll predictions for the Kerala Assembly elections were in largely in line with the history of voting out the incumbent party for four decades. One of the critical components contributing to the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling UDF was that of the UDF faced many corruption cases, ranging from controversial land deals to ministers quitting over allegations of bribery. The CM, Oommen Chandy was accused of having connections with a fake solar energy company; the opposition had urged him many times to resign from CM post taking the moral responsibility of the charges raised against him and his ministerial colleagues. The man sitting in the chair resembles Oommen Chandy the chief minister of Kerala. Sweating is an indexical symbol of being nervous, which is understood in relation to his fear of losing the election. He sits in a chair and that chair indicates the power and he doesn’t want to move from his position as chief minister. The man standing at the door resembles VS Achuthanandan, the veteran Communist leader who was the face of the 2016 Assembly election campaign in Kerala which gave Left Democratic Front (LDF) a big victory seems to have broken every perception as far as age is concerned. He holds a broom in his hand and he is ready to enter the room which means that LDF is ready to take over the power and the broom

201 is a symbolic sign which can be interpreted in two ways. Broom is usually used for cleaning purpose and here it shows that LDF wants to remove the UDF from power and the broom can also be interpreted as the party is ready to bag maximum votes. 59.

B 3

1 4

2 5 Fig 5.2.59 Malayala Manorama, 15th May, 2016.State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.59 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 15th May ,2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. The people sitting in white Human beings It resembles the politicians dress. of Kerala. 2. The hands that covers the Human body part It refers to the silent mouth of the people. campaign. 3. A shirtless man sitting in a A human being It represents the general chair wearing a ‘lungi’ and public. farmers cap. 4. The fingers of the man Human body part It shows that it is the time for silent campaigning. 5. The forefinger with used as a security check The people have already election ink on it. to make sure that double decided whom to vote. voting doesn’t take place.

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Verbal analysis of political cartoons The phrase used in this cartoon has been analysed using Charles Sanders Peirce theory. A. Campaigning of the candidates ends…. B. And it’s time for silent campaigning….

The phrase ‘A’ and ‘B’ is about the end of fierce two-month long electioneering for the May 16 Assembly polls. Congress led UDF and CPI-M head LDF were engaged in a neck and neck race, with BJP-NDA was trying to break the bi-polar politics.

The denotation level of the image The image takes place in front of a house. It is a small single-storey house made up of palm leaves and wood. A shirtless man wearing lungi and a farmer’s cap sits in a chair. His facial expression says that he is angry and he places his finger on his mouth and asks others not to talk anymore. A group of people in white dress sits in the floor in front of his house with discipline as they are afraid of the man. The connotation level of the image The cartoonist uses the technique of exaggeration and exaggerates the situation to make a stand. In this cartoon the cartoonist tries to portray the relationship between the politicians and general public. The man sitting on a chair represent the general public. It is a single storeyed house made of palm leaves which depicts that the character is a representative of a common man who votes for the parties and give power to those politicians. The cartoon is based on the last stage of campaigning i.e. election silence. An election silence is a period for voters to reflect on events before casting their votes. During this period no active campaigning by the candidates is allowed. Thus, the candidates stay silent in front of the house waiting for his response i.e. to gain his vote. The forefinger of the man is already inked which shows that people have made their mind for which candidate they should vote for. The icons used in this cartoon are the caricatures of the politicians of three major parties in Kerala. The politicians sitting on the floor depicts that one’s they get the power they will be sitting on the chair and the man will have to wait for them in their place. Thus, the element of irony is also included in this cartoon. The man is exaggerated and portrayed as big to show the importance of the general public during the election. As for UDF, the poll is crucial not only to retain power in the state but it will be a comeback at the national level after its loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.For LDF they have to show their power by winning this election especially at a time when they are trying hard for a

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comeback in West Bengal.For BJP this is an opportunity to open their account in the State(Kerala: Last day of campaigning tomorrow, 2016). 60.

Fig 5.2.60 Malyala Manorama, 16th May 2016 .State Archives,Kerala.

Table 5.2.60 Visual analysis of Malayala Manorama Cartoon: 16th May , 2016 NO. Representamen Object Interpretant

1. It resembles Pinarayi The three men sitting on Human beings the riverside. Vijayan, Oommen Chandy and Kummanam Rajashegaran. 2. The angle or the fish hook It is used for fishing Here the election day is compared to fishing and the leaders are waiting for the results.

3. The fish Aquatic beings It refers to the winning the election and holding the power.

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The denotation level of the image The cartoon consists of three characters. They sit on the river side and holds a fishing rod which is attached to a fishing line and that has an angle or fish hook. Three of them tries to hook the fish down in the water and is eagerly waiting for it to happen. The connotation level of the image The cartoon is based on the election day. May 16,2016 was the Assembly election and the three major political parties of Kerala including UDF, LDF and BJP were eagerly waiting for the results as it was crucial for three parties. For UDF it was a matter of their pride as they have faced numerous allegation and scams during their governing period and it was an opportunity to prove that they were not corrupted, and people supported them. For the communist party, Kerala is an important place to win as it is one of the places which have a strong hold for communism. BJP is hoping for its entrance to the state of Kerala by opening its vote bank. The cartoonist has used the technique of analogy and compared to different events such as the polling day and fishing. The icon used in this cartoon are the caricatures of three political leaders belonging to three different parties such as, Pinarayi Vijayan, Oommen Chandy and Kummanam Rajashegaran. The three leaders hold a fish rod attached to a fish line that has a hook at its end to catch the fish. The fish symbolizes the political power or winning the election. The three leaders are waiting to hook the fish. The cartoon was published on the polling day thus the political leaders are eagerly waiting for the election results. The cartoon is not drawn inside a box, but it is portrayed along with the news of polling day. The fish is portrayed in between the written words of the news thus the cartoon and news article are shown as inseparable, which makes it more appealing to the readers.

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5.3 Findings and Discussions

The findings of the study was mainly done by doing a pattern analysis and a comparative analysis of the political cartoons in the two newspapers.

5.3.1 Pattern Analysis

Mathrubhumi Newspaper

Cartooning is a unique way of narrating a story using certain signs and symbols. The size of the cartoons, the drawing styles, the techniques used in labelling and the colours used differ depending on each newspaper. The proper mix of fine drawing and innovative ideas together makes a perfect cartoon. The cartoons in Mathrubhumi newspaper was mainly box cartoons that portray a political issue or club together different issues of past and present. Multiple –panels are also used by the newspaper that narrates a situation and visualize change in expressions of the politician. The images are arranged in a way that each of them is related to one another. Among the thirty cartoons being analysed, thirteen cartoons were of multiple panels that explained the varying expressions and attitudes of the politicians. The Z-path of left to right and top to bottom strategy is used in reading cartoons (Cohn & Campbell, 2015). All of the cartoons being analysed were related to the main news of the day.

The techniques used by the cartoonist such as exaggeration, irony, analogy and symbolism were given much importance by the cartoonist of Mathrubhumi. The cartoonist exaggerated the physical features of the politician and the political issue. In a cartoon (Fig 5.21), the cartoonist portrays the former Chief Minister of Kerala as a patient staying in hospital with body casts. This exaggerates the allegations he faced during the campaign period. In another cartoon (Fig 5.26), a coffin is portrayed as an ATM machine and considers it as a vote bank. Thus, the cartoonist gives a clear insight to its viewers on the political situations of Kerala. The cartoonist uses analogy to compare two different things to make a stand on a particular issue. In a cartoon (Fig 5.18), the candidates competing for Chief Ministers post is compared with the Akshaya Tritiya festival and portrays the male candidates as female and shows how they are getting ready for the election day. Irony is another technique used by the cartoonist to point out the promises that politicians used to make during the campaign period and how they try to gain vote from the general public.

Symbolism is another technique used by the cartoonist to explain a particular issue. In a cartoon (Fig 5.15), the bump on the head of Sonia Gandhi portrays the AgustaWestland scam

206 and its impact on the congress party. The use of social media was one of the major changes that happened during the 2016 Assembly election. Politicians of Kerala were very active in using social media network and connecting with the general public. Thus, the symbols used in the cartoons (Fig 5.3, Fig 5.10, Fig 5.11, Fig 5.21) were mainly related to facebook, whatsapp, tablet computer, mobile phones. This shows an active shift from traditional form of communication to use of modern technologies.

Portraying a politician regularly in a cartoon shows how active the politician is. The Communist party leader, V. S Achuthanandan was one among them. Among the thirty cartoons of one-month time period V.S Achuthanandan was shown in the cartoon for twenty times and this shows the involvement of V.S Achuthanandan in 2016 Assembly election campaign. He was considered as the star campaigner and the torch bearer of the communist party and he was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate during the election campaign. He was best known as the man of people and adopted new ways of campaigning by experimenting social media platform. This marked the shift of a ninety-four-year-old revolutionary leader to a digital revolutionary. V.S being active in social media was given much importance by the media and it was the front-page news of most of the newspapers including Mathrubhumi. The posts and comments he made in the social networking sites were covered with much importance in the newspapers and debates and discussions were done on that. The cartoons of Mathrubhumi projected V.S as the game changer of the election campaign. He being a rebel pointed out the flaws of the ruling government and made statements against his own party. Thus, controversies and V.S goes together and for cartoonists he was a favourite subject to draw. In one of the cartoons (Fig 5.3), he is portrayed as a young man wearing casual dress to show his entry into social media platform and in another cartoon (Fig 5.14), he is doing yoga to show that he is flexible in making controversies and changing his statements according to situations.

Earlier the cartoons were mainly black and white, the introduction of new technologies in the printing press led to the change of newspapers to use colourful pictures in pages and along with which cartoons also became colourful in order to match with the layout of the paper. Mathrubhumi used bright colours in their cartoons. The cartoonist uses colours like white, blue, red and yellow to make their cartoon more attractive. The sarcastic programmes on politics in television and the emergence of trolls and memes in the social media makes cartooning challenging. Thus, in order to make cartoons more appealing and attractive cartoonist uses bright colours in their cartoons.

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The cartoons of Mathrubhumi concentrated more on certain scams and allegations raised against the political leaders. The scams such as Lavalin case, Bar scam, Solar scam, Text book printing scam, Land scams such as Paatoor land scam, Methran Kayal controversy, Sandosh Madhavan issue and the Augustwestland scam that includes Sonia Gandhi were the major themes covered by the cartoons. The UDF government was facing many allegations and it affected the voting percentage of the party. The scams were exaggerated and were portrayed by the cartoonist. Thus, Oommen Chandy the former Chief Minister of Kerala was the second most frequently portrayed in Mathrubhumi cartoons. Among the thirty cartoons Oommen Chandy was shown nineteen times and all were related to certain scams and allegations against him. Oommen Chandy was shown as humiliated, sad, worried and tensed by some scams in cartoons and in other cartoons he was portrayed as a patient with body casts exaggerating the allegations against him.

Political violence was another major theme during the one-month cartoons of Mathrubhumi. T. P Chandrasekharan murder case and the controversial speech made by the Minister of Electricity M.M. Mani on the political killings done by the communist party were the major topics of discussion during the campaign period. Political murders often happen between RSS, BJP and the communist party. According to the RTI information around 172 murders have occurred from 2000.From the year of 2016-2017, 10 RSS /BJP workers and 4 CPI (M) workers have been killed for their political affiliation. Thus, the symbols of sharp weapons are frequently used in the cartoon (Fig 5.9, Fig 5.11, Fig 5.14), to portray the violence in politics

Emergence of BJP as a third alternative in Kerala was discussed in the cartoons. The political power was altering between the two major political parties of Kerala from 1977 and the rise of BJP was a major change in 2016 Assembly election. The BJP state president Kummanam Rajashegaran was portrayed five times in cartoons and Prime Minister was also an active part in Kerala election campaign and there were cartoons (Fig 5.21), on Modi’s election campaigning in Kerala. In most of the cartoons (Fig 5.22, Fig 5.30), that deals with election results Kummanam Rajashegaran was shown along with the leaders of Congress and Communist party.

Kerala politics is famous for its high polarization on caste -religious lines. Each religious group lean towards a party and thus it decides the success of a political party. The political cartoons portrayed BJP trying to make alliance with the Nair Service Society.14% of

208 the population in Kerala constitutes Nair and they have a leaning towards the Congress party and thus BJP was trying to make an alliance with them. A cartoon (Fig 5.16), was drawn portraying the president of Nair Service Society as a Hindu woman and the BJP leaders trying to persuade him to join their party. BJP had already made alliance with BDJS –Bharath Dharma Jana Sena, a newly formed political party of SNDP (Sree Narayan Dharma Paripalana Yogam) an ezhava community. The president of SNDP is portrayed three times in the political cartoons of Mathrubhumi. This shows the changes in the followed tradition of Kerala politics.

Cartoonist portrays Mahathma Gandi as it symbolizes truth, justice and non- violence.the symbols like the photographs of Gandhi, the specs he wears, the chapels, the spinning wheel (charka) and the devotional hymns such as “Raghupati Ragava Raja Ram” popularized by him is frequently used in the cartoons of this month. The change in the character of a politician and the statements they made are explained by the cartoonist by using Gandhi as a symbol to remind them about the freedom movement, the struggles and the real character of politician. Thus, it reveals and compares the true character of a politician of the present day (Fig 5.4, 5.13, 5.17).

Feminizing men and dressing them like women is another peculiarity of the cartoons of Mathrubhumi. The politicians including V.S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan, Oommen Chandy, V.M Sudheeran, Sitharam Yechuri and Sugumaran Nair, the president of Nair Service Society is portrayed as female character. At the same time very, less representation of female characters is seen in those cartoons. Sonia Gandhi, the former president of Indian National Congress, Saritha Nair, the main accused in the Solar scam and a common woman are the three characters that is being portrayed among the thirty cartoons of the newspaper (Fig 5.15, Fig 5.22, Fig 5.27).

The cartoonist tried to link the political issues with certain cultural events and traditions. The campaigning strategies adopted by different parties are compared with Akshaya Tritiya, Nair traditions of Kerala in which Oommen Chandy is portrayed as a landlord and Hindu traditions in which Sugumaran Nair is portrayed as a traditional Hindu girl going to the temple for her daily prayers. Thus, it is easy for the viewers to link with the events and create meaning out of it (Fig 5.6, Fig 5.16, Fig 5. 18). Other events such as Earth day, Mother’s Day, Yoga are also used by the cartoonist to explain certain political situations in Kerala (Fig5.8, Fig 5.14, Fig 5.22).

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The situational themes such as those issues that aroused during the campaign period and had a great impact on the elections were portrayed in the cartoons of Mathrubhumi. The use of social media was one of the major trend of 2016 Assembly elections and the cartoons gave prior importance to this. The symbols used and the labelling in the cartoon were related to the social media. Symbols such as phone and laptop are frequently seen with the politicians to show that they socially and technologically connected to the general public. Jisha murder case during the campaign period was considered as a major political tool and was used by the political parties. Portraying Coffin as an ATM machine sarcastically explains the vote bank politics. The controversial statements made by the politicians during the campaigning was celebrated by the political parties and was shown in those cartoons. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comparison of Kerala with Somalia drastically impacted on the campaign for BJP. Somalia was mentioned three times in the cartoon (Fig 5.27, Fig 5.28, Fig 5.29). The defamation case filed by the former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy against V.S Achuthanandan was also discussed and was an important theme of the cartoons. Thus, the situational themes had a major impact on the voting behaviour and decided the future of each political party.

The cartoonist should observe very keenly and should try to portray the mannerisms and characteristics traits of each politician as they are familiar figures in the society. The icons used in the cartoons are the caricatures of politicians and other famous personalities. The cartoonist of Mathrubhumi mainly focuses on the dressing style of each politician and their physical features, colour and hair style. The white colour shirt that Oommen Chandy wears is different from the long Jubba of V. S Achuthanandan. His jubba’s hands are folded neatly and he have a rigid body structure. Oommen Chandy’s shirts are usually torn and that patches are visible in every cartoon. The hairstyle of Pinarayi Vijayan is different from that of Oommen Chandy.

During the election campaign Oommen Chandy attended a meeting and people rushed towards him for selfie. A glass door was broken and it fell down on his legs and was injured, the next day’s cartoon in Mathrubhumi covered some political issues but while portraying Oommen Chandy his injury was shown very clearly (Fig 5.10). Thus, the cartoonist should have an eye to observe very carefully on the changes that happens daily. Mathrubhumi cartoons uses grawlixes, a string of typographical symbols to represent swearwords and obscenity (Fig 5.28). These are mainly used to portray the fight between the politicians. The politicians are also portrayed as animals in order to mention their character. In the given cartoons V.S

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Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan is shown as bull that express their rough character and the fight between them (Fig 5.7).

Common man was portrayed as one of the major characters in the given cartoons. Among the thirty cartoons a common man that represents the general public is shown four times (Fig 5.10, Fig 5.20, Fig 5.22, Fig 5.25). A shirtless poor man, perplexed with the ideologies and strategies of the politician is portrayed as a helpless weak human. A woman is also portrayed representing the general public (Fig 5.22).

Labelling is one of the major components of the Mathrubhumi cartoons. The signs of arguments are used in it. Labelling is given equal importance with the drawing. In some cartoons the labelling is given prior importance as it has all the sarcasm, irony and wit in it. The cartoonist of Mathrubhumi mainly uses film dialogues, film names, film songs, advertisement tag lines, proverbs, common usages in Malayalam, poems and so on. They connect it with the daily news and makes humour out of it. People are familiar with such labelling as it is already registered in their brains. Thus, it is easy for them to connect it with present political situations. The cartoonist plays with the words by using rhyming words and imitating the talking styles of the politicians. They also give a short description of the news along with the image. The words that related to social media such as facebook post, unfriend, tags are also used in the labelling and it shows the impact of social media even in our day to day conversations.

The old film scenes are recreated using the current political situations (Fig 5.23). The use of colours of the major political parties are considered as one of the peculiarities of Mathrubhumi. The red colour of the communist party, the saffron colour of BJP and the yellow colour that represents the SNDP an ezhava community are used in the cartoons. Thus, the thirty cartoons covered almost all the major factors of the politics in state of Kerala. The cartoons helped the viewers to shape their opinion and most of the cartoons are linked with history and popular culture with reference to religion and politics.

Malayala Manorama

The cartoons in Malayala Manorama focused mainly on campaigning news related to Kerala Assembly Election and at the same time political situations of other states were also given importance. Cartoons were either portrayed in box or it was drawn along with the news and was not having a proper box like structure. The caricatures of the politicians are the icons and are drawn imitating their style of dressing, hair and the body structure. Politicians were in

211 white dress which is a traditional form of politicians and followed by most of the old school leaders in Indian politics. The new trends and the involvement of more youth in politics have brought certain changes to this scenario. Thus, in most of the cartoon’s politicians are wearing colourful dresses (Fig 5.31).

The symbols used in the cartoons are related to the modern technologies such as the use of social networking sites. The letter ‘f’ and the blue colour symbols of facebook and green colour symbol of WhatsApp are seen in these cartoons. The like buttons and speech bubbles are also used in most of the cartoons (Fig 5.37, Fig 5.38). This shows change in campaigning techniques from traditional rallies and conventions to the social media platform. The T. P Chandrasekharan murder case was portrayed in Manorama by showing the letters ‘T’ and ‘P’ (Fig 5.40). Thus, the cartoons play with letters and make people understand the whole political context. In another cartoon the initials of M.A Baby, a polit bureau member of CPI (M) was expanded as ‘Master of Arts’ (Fig 5.35). The Lavalin case of Pinarayi Vijayan that deals with the hydroelectric infrastructure contract between the Indian government and Canadian company SNC Lavalin, is always portrayed by drawing an electric post and the cartoon in Manorama portrayed letter ‘f’ as an electric post thus it shows the fight between the leaders over the scam in facebook platform (Fig 5.38).

The major themes of the cartoons include the scams and allegations against the politicians such as Lavalin case, political murders and bar scam. The statements made by the politician during the campaigning were a major discussion during this period. The Somalia statement made by Narendra Modi was mentioned three times in the cartoons and he was mocked by portraying him as an unhealthy tiger, while Oommen Chandy was portrayed as a healthy cat with a double size of the tiger (Fig 5.54,Fig 5.56,Fig 5.57).The impact of the ‘Somalia’ statement was portrayed by drawing a map of Somalia and converting it into a boomerang that hits Modi back .The debt repayment statement made by P.Jayarajan, a member of communist party also led to major controversy and was one of the topics of the cartoon.

The cartoons of Manorama covered the innovative techniques used by the politicians such as use of social media, politicians cleaning roads, the go green approach of the communist party, live videos posted by the politicians in order to interact with their voters and taking classes to the students and clarifying their doubts as a part of election campaigning (Fig 5.31).

The cartoons gave more emphasize to politicians such as V.S Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Oommen Chandy. Among the thirty cartoons V.S was shown thirteen times,

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Pinarayi eleven times and Oommen Chandy for nine times. At the same time most of the politicians of Kerala was included in most of the cartoons. Some cartoons were having more than six or seven characters in it (Fig 5.44, Fig 5.59). Thus, the cartoons tried to portray the complete campaigning scene of the Kerala politics.

The female representation in the cartoons was very less and the technique of feminizing politicians was not used in those cartoons. K. R Gauriyamma, one of the most powerful female politicians in Kerala and Jayalalitha, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Sonia Gandhi was portrayed in one cartoon each (Fig 5.32, Fig 5.52, Fig 5.55). The male politicians were given more importance in the thirty cartoons of this one-month period.

The party symbols were given prior importance in most of the cartoons. The lotus flower of BJP, the hand of Congress party and the sickle, hammer and star of the communist party is frequently used in those cartoons. One cartoon was solely on the party symbols and no such icons or caricatures of politicians were used in it (Fig 5.53). Thus, the symbols alone narrated the political strategy of Kerala politics. Along with that the symbol of arrow representing the Janat Dal (U) and the parliament is used in one cartoon, which shows that not only Kerala politics but also the political situations of other states were also mentioned in the cartoons. The Tamilnadu politics and their election strategies, the Bihar politics and the fight between the national leaders, Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi are being portrayed in the cartoons of Manorama (Fig 5.51, Fig 5.2).

The labelling techniques are used in cartoons. The cartoonist usually play with words and makes humour out of it. Film songs, film dialogues, the talking styles of politicians and rhyming words were used in it. Most of the cartoons are published without any labels as their drawings are more powerful and doesn’t need any labelling to understand the context. In most cases the cartoon comes along with the news item thus it is easy for the readers to connect the drawings with the news articles.

The cartoonist has also tried to link the politics with the cultural context. The technique of analogy is used to compare two different situations and to make a political stand out of it. The famous Thrissur Pooram of Kerala is compared with parties trying to make alliance is an interesting topic. Changing Umbrellas is one of the interesting rituals in Thrissur Pooram were two groups changes their colourful umbrellas. Here the changing umbrellas is connected with changing political parties (Fig 5.32). Thus, people could easily connect and understand the

213 context. In another cartoon the fight within the communist party is connected to the boat race in Kerala and a football match (Fig 5.49, Fig 5.36).

The representative of general public, a ‘common man’ is portrayed in Manorama cartoons mainly three times. The common man is drawn as a shirtless man with the traditional attire ‘lungi’ and he is portrayed as a farmer. The cartoonist portrays him as a powerful person as the politicians tries to influence and persuade him to gain more votes. This creates the image that the campaign period is the only times were politicians talks and listen to his/her voters (Fig 5.44, Fig 5.59).

The political manifestos and other strategies used by the political parties are also mentioned in cartoons published in this one month. The changes in the rules and regulation of the Election Commission such as the use of photographs in Electronic Voting Machine was humorously portrayed in one of the cartoons (Fig 5.48). The Election Commission asked the candidates to give photos with neutral expression and it was mocked by the cartoonist. During the election campaigning period Politicians uses all possible ways to gain votes. Thus, an expressionless photograph in Voting Machine was an interesting thing during election.

V.S Achuthanandan was the star campaigner and he was one of the major topics in most of the cartoons. The statements he made usually become controversial and it becomes a subject for a cartoonist to draw. The posts and speeches against governing party were often seen during the campaign period, while the cartoonist of Manorama mainly focused on the fight within the political party.

Most of the cartoons were portrayed by clubbing two or more incidents and the techniques of exaggeration and symbolism was used in most of the cartoons. The political cartoons published in Manorama Newspapers helped people to develop a perspective on the current political scenario of Kerala and make a decision out of it.

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5.3.2 Comparative Analysis

Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi are two prominent newspapers of Kerala with a large circulation and readership. The two newspapers have their own style of writing news and other articles. During the 2016 Assembly election both the newspaper designed a special page for covering election news and the political cartoons in it was the highlight. The political cartoons portrayed the political campaigning period in Kerala and the different strategies adopted by the political parties. Political cartooning is a relief for the voters as during the campaign period they collect information from almost all forms of media (Conners,2005). Both the newspapers have a unique style of cartooning. Comparison of the cartoons in both the newspaper will give an insight into the forms and features of political cartoons and the tools and techniques used by the cartoonist in order portray such cartoons.

The two newspapers use the technique of exaggeration, analogy, symbolism and irony in their newspapers. The cartoons of Mathrubhumi gives equal importance to the drawing and the concept while Manorama focusses mainly on the concept of cartooning and not much on its drawing part. The iconic symbols used in the cartoons such as the caricatures of the politicians are portrayed with fine details such as the hairstyle, dressing style and so on. While caricaturing the former Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy the cartoonist mainly focuses on his hairstyle and his nose is exaggerated Achuthanandan is portrayed by the cartoonist by focusing on his rigid body structure. Each politician has their own peculiarities or characteristics features which is imitated and exaggerated by the cartoonist. The viewers have great exposure to all forms of media. They notice even a slightest change that happens to the politician thus it becomes challenging for the cartoonist to update daily on such changes.

Labelling is one of the major techniques used by most of the cartoonist to help readers clearly understand the political context on which the cartoon is portrayed. Both the newspapers use labelling such as film dialogues, film songs, poems, proverbs, advertisement taglines, punchy and crispy dialogues that is already registered in the mind of the people thus it is easy for the viewers to relate it with the news. In Mathrubhumi newspapers labelling is given much priority and in some cartoons the labelling alone has all the sarcasm and humour in it were the drawings act as aa supporting factor. In Manorama newspaper the labelling part is sometimes avoided, and the images alone tells the story which improves the creativity of its readers as they try to figure out the political context just using some drawings. Cartoons in Manorama was labelled with some letters which has a greater meaning in large context. In a cartoon the

215 letter ‘T’ and ‘p’ was used which explains the T.P Chandrasekaran murder and the political violence rising in Kerala. Thus, even with one or two letters a large political context was explained.

Mathrubhumi cartoons are mainly box cartoons and the images and the political context is explained within that box and sometimes in panels, whereas in Manorama the cartoons are published along with the news article and sometimes both the news and cartoons may have a single outline within which the news and cartoons are combined together. This make cartooning an interesting factor for its viewers.

The 2016 Assembly election in Kerala was different from previous year’s elections. Earlier the politicians used to focus on any particular issue and it becomes the major theme for all their discussions and debates during the campaign period. But 2016 witnessed numerous scams and allegations raised against the politicians thus the topics for discussion was changing in every week. These changes were visible in the political cartoons published during the campaign period. Mathrubhumi cartoons concentrated more on the scams such as Lavalin case, Bar scam, Solar scam, land scams and text book printing allegations. They tried to bring into light the wrong doings of the government and that of the opposition party, whereas cartoons in Manorama portrayed those scams along with that the innovative campaigning techniques adopted by the politicians was also include in their cartoons. Innovative campaigning includes the use of social media such as facebook, twitter and WhatsApp. Live videos, photographs, direct letters to the public, the go green approach of the LDF party to protect the environment, direct phone calls with the voters, selfie campaigns, taking out waste and cleaning roads, playing football and cricket and so on. These were some of the innovative methods adopted by the political party to connect with their voters and to gain more votes.

The use of social media was one of the game changers in the 2016 election. The politicians of Kerala were very active in using this platform to connect with their voters especially youth. The ninety-four-year-old Communist leader V. S Achuthanandan’s transition from the old school of politics to the digital world was celebrated by all the media. Both the cartoonist of Mathrubhumi and Manorama portrayed V.S Achuthanandan as a young boy in casual dress using facebook to interact with his people. He was the star campaigner of 2016 election and he was considered as the face of the campaigning by both the newspapers. Achuthanandan was portrayed twenty times in Mathrubhumi and thirteen times in Manorama. Character, viability, competency, charisma and independence are considered to be the most

216 important dimensions for holding the power and being a people’s leader (Edwards,2001). V.S Achuthanandan was a leader with all these characteristics and was a favourite subject for the cartoonist as he is people’s leader and his image were registered in the mind of the public. His entry in to social media was one of the major topics of both newspapers cartoons. Thus, cartoonist contribute to a candidate’s image development by creating simplified and condensed metaphoric portrayals.

The shift from traditional form of campaigning to the use of modern technologies are visible in the labelling and the symbols used in both the cartoons. Among the 33 million population of Kerala, around thirty million mobile connections are taken. Thus, the new forms of campaigning are an unavoidable factor in the coming elections. The symbols such as facebook, WhatsApp, mobile phones, tablet computer, emojis, like buttons are frequently used in the cartoons and the language used in labelling has also the influence of the use of technologies. Cartoonist uses a variety of signs and symbols to convey a message in concise manner so that the viewers could interpret it properly. The viewers should identify those symbols and understand it in order to get the humour out of it (Morris,1993). The style of talking has a great change over the past years and that is depicted in those labelling.

The number of characters portrayed varies in both the newspaper. Mathrubhumi mainly consist of three to four characters in their cartoon and in most of the cartoon a single character is being focused. In Manorama the cartoonist tries to include more than five politicians or such famous persons. Most of the politicians of Kerala are portrayed in Manorama cartoons. Mathrubhumi cartoons give much importance to the prominent four leaders of Kerala such as V.S Achuthanandan, Oommen Chandy, Pinarayi Vijayan and V.M Sudheeran. Political news related to them was seen more in those cartoons. While in Manorama the well-known characters such as V.S Achuthanandan and Oommen Chandy along with them even the newcomers of Kerala politics such as Nikesh Kumar and Jagadeesh were portrayed.

The female representation in both the newspaper is an important factor to analyse. Both the newspapers have a very less female characters in their cartoons. People becomes characters in cartoons based on their active participation in politics. Analysing the Kerala politics, we can come into a conclusion that the male dominated political parties are deliberately trying to keep the woman away from power. Though the number of women is high compared to that of men in Kerala still their representation in assembly is below six percent. Kerala is known for its literacy and Kerala is one of the state with highest female literacy rate in India, whereas it hold

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25th position in the country in terms of female work participation. In Kerala the last five years saw woman taking lead in all major struggles in the state such as the “Munnar struggle”- “Pengal Orumai”,which was a strike initiated by the woman workers demanding for better wage and rest hour by sales girls .Nilpu Samaram was another major fight demanding for social justice for the scheduled tribes. When most of its neighbouring states were governed by powerful women, the state never had its own female Chief Minister in office. The sole reason is the neglection of female in politics even when 78 % of women cast their votes compared to the 76% of male voters. Both the newspapers had portrayed very few female characters in it. Mathrubhumi portrayed female national leader Sonia Gandhi, an accused of Solar scam, Saritha Nair and a female that represents the general public whereas Manorama among its thirty cartoons portrayed Gauriyamma, a former minister as the only female character.

While female representation was very less in the cartoons, the Jisha murder and rape case was one of the most discussed topics during the political campaigning and was considered as a political tool used by the political parties to fight against each other and gain more votes. Many rape cases were filed after the issue, but no media coverage was given for that and no such steps for the security of woman was mentioned in the manifestos of the political parties.

Feminizing of men was another major technique used by the cartoonist. The tradition of insulting or making fun of men by feminizing them and portraying them in woman’s clothes is still a common rhetorical tactic found in political caricatures. A cartoon “forbidding the banns”, by Joseph Keppler was the first cartoon that portrayed the president Garfield in a bridal gown and then started the feminizing of men. By portraying men as women which is odd with their biological sex makes the image stand out of other news. In a way it tarnish the image of woman in the society or present them in a wrong way.

The political campaigning involves the interactions and communication of the political leaders with their voters and media act as bridge between them. Voters or the public holds a prominent position during the election and are central to the performance of democracy. Cartoonist have always included voters or the public in political context either to help in advancing the political cartoon or they act as a surrogate for the cartoonist’s voice (Edwards & Ware,2005). The voice of the public is usually portrayed with despair and conflict. The cartoons of Mathrubhumi has portrayed common man four times among those thirty cartoons. The general public is represented in these cartoons as a shirtless man wearing an old dhoti with all dirt’s in it. He has a perplexed expression in his face as he feels despair and hopeless of the

218 political parties in Kerala. In one cartoon the common man explains his plight to the leaders of both the parties but they are busy in social media with their usual fights and they are not ready to listen to his problems. In another cartoon the common man portrayed as a beggar and the politician tries to take money even from him. The public or the voters are also portrayed as a common woman or a mother and those politicians as her children who cries hard to get votes. This shows how the politicians tries to influence and persuade the people during the campaign and take benefits from them. Whereas the cartoons in Manorama portrays common man as a powerful person. he is a farmer wearing those traditional lungis and the politicians tries to influence him. His votes are portrayed as very powerful and he stands superior to the politicians during the campaign period where they have the voice to silence the politicians.

The common themes that the newspaper focused on was that of the entry of V.S Achuthanandan to the social media. The controversial political statements made by the politicians such as V. S Achuthanandan, Oommen Chandy and P. Jayarajan. The controversial comparison made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Kerala and Somalia led to major conflicts within the people and had a negative impact on the voting behaviour of the public. Among the thirty cartoons each the two newspapers made Somalia as their subject for more than three times. While Mathrubhumi concentrated more on the verbal fight between V.S Achuthanandan and Oommen Chandy and the facebook posts against each other, Manorama concentrated much on the fight within the communist party. The change in ideologies of V.S and Pinarayi and their fight for the Chief Ministerial post was the major topic of cartoons in Manorama.

The colours play an important role in cartooning as each colour have their meaning such as the red colour describes the struggles of communist party and white colour explains the Indian freedom struggle. The yellow colour represents the ezhava community in Kerala and the saffron colour stands for the BJP. Cartoons was mainly black and white but with the influence of new technology newspapers started publishing colour photographs and thus cartoons changed their colour from black and white to colourful images. The colourful cartoons attract people to view the images and could easily relate it with the day today events.

The election symbols of different parties are used frequently by both the newspapers. The symbols such as the lotus of BJP, sickle and hammer of communist party and hands of Congress are often seen in cartoons. One of the cartoons in Manorama was portrayed with the party symbols alone. Thus, such symbols are very important for a cartoonist. In order to portray

219 the political murders happening in Kerala cartoonist uses sharp weapons. Depending on the situation the cartoonist selects symbols which is familiar to the public.

The emergence of BJP as a third alternative in Kerala was one of the remarkable changes in Kerala politics. Since 1982 both congress and communist were alternatively in power, But the 2016 election marked a slight change in these patterns by the active participation of BJP during election campaign. BJP trying to make alliances with various religious communities was portrayed in those political cartoons. The BJP state president Kummanam Rajashegaran was portrayed along with the leaders of other two parties explain the changing political scenes in Kerala. Modi factor was another important reason for this. The image of Narendra Modi as a political leader was already registered in the mind of the public but in later phase of the campaigning the comparison of Kerala with Somalia had a negative impact on the voting share. The Lotus flowers of the BJP was frequently seen in most of the cartoons and the caricatures of Kummanam Rajasegharan, Velllappally Nadeshan was seen in most of the cartoons that portrays the prominence of BJP in Kerala.

The cartoons published in Mathrubhumi mainly portrayed the political scene of Kerala including the scams and other controversies made by Kerala politicians, while the cartoons of Manorama covered those scams along with that the political scenario of other states such as Tamil Nadu and Bihar was also portrayed in certain cartoons thus, it gives its readers a large perspective of Indian politics and that of Kerala.

Political cartoons are considered to be a negative art and it always questions the flaws and wrongdoings of the ruling government and in some cases the cartoonist takes the role of an unbiased opposition. Thus, in both the newspapers the governance of ruling government is questioned and criticized. The former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is portrayed as a person facing all the allegations and scams. One of the major factors that leads to this criticism was that the UDF government faced large numbers of scams and corruptions ranging from the land scams such as Methran Kayal, Pattoor to the allegations raised against the ministers on bribery. The former Chief Minister was the main accused of the Solar scam that tarnished his reputation and created an image of corrupted politician. This is visible in the cartoons of both the newspaper. Expressions such as being sad, humiliated, perplexed are mainly used to portray him. He was compared to a patient being hospitalized with all body casts that represents the allegations he faces. Thus, a negative image of him was imprinted in the minds of people.

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Hence the cartoonist through their drawings and labels tries to explain the ground realities of the political world. By exaggerating certain situations and caricaturing real people the cartoonist acts as a commentator and makes its viewers and readers to actively participate in the process of thinking and decoding the meanings out of it.

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5.4Expert Interviews The study involved interviewing prominent cartoonists of mainstream newspapers, who have carved their own niche in the field of cartooning. Five cartoonists including the two from Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi was interviewed. The expert interview was conducted to validate the researcher’s interpretations and findings and to add more insight into the form and content of the cartoons.

Questions for the five experts were formulated together. The interview focussed more at the creative process of cartoons and how it acts as a form of political communication. The duration of interviews in each case depended on the time taken by the interviewees to give their expert responses. After interviewing the political cartoonists, the researcher developed themes based on the theoretical framework of semiotics, intertextuality, enthymeme and the theory of incomgruity. Hence, the themes justify the analysis and interpretation made by the researcher.

The major themes derived from the interview with the experts in the field of cartooning were divided into:

1. Kerala’s Cartoon tradition

2. Historical document

3. Image building

4. Negative art

5. Readers involvement

6. Creative Process

7. Voice of the people

5.5 Findings

Kerala’s Cartoon Tradition

Kerala marked its presence in the early history of Indian cartooning by exporting the cartoonist from Kerala to different parts of the world. Eventually, the state has carved its own cartoon legacy inside the state. By the first half of the 1960’s Political Cartoon became a part of Kerala’s Media culture (Sukumar,2018). The cartoonists in Kerala was having their own trait or style both in their drawing and that in the use of sarcasm and humour. The prominent

222 cartoonist Yesudasan of Kerala alone have created around thirty cartoon characters which became the part of Malayali’s newspaper reading. Sukumar (2018) explains that the political cartoons became a part of newspaper in 1919 with the first cartoon “Great Famine Goddess” that portrayed the first world war and how it affected the people. As the cartooning culture completes its hundredth year, the political cartoons receive more prominence in today’s newspaper. Most of the cartoonist is of the opinion that the Kerala has its own traditional art form such as ‘Ottamthullal’ which has an influence on the cartoonist to criticize the wrongdoings of the political leaders and other prominent personalities (Ragesh, Sujith,2018). Kunchan Nambiar who lived in the eighteenth century (1705-1770) was Kerala's most noted satirical writer and his satirical verse has been recited over the years in various dance forms called thullal (Abraham, 1995). Nambiar was a true secularist as he ridiculed all communities and all classes, from kings and high priests, to the lowly common citizen. Hence the cartoonists are of the opinion that if he could draw, he would have made an excellent cartoonist. The influence of such art forms had a great impact on the people. Hence sarcasm is well known trait of a Malayali (Sujith,2018). Compared to other newspapers more space is allotted for cartoons in Malayalam newspapers (Ragesh,2018). This shows the interest of the readers in political cartoons. Cartooning is considered to be an art form imported from Britain and most of the cartoonist tried to adapt the western style of drawing, but now we have a unique style of our own (Acharya,2018). ‘Kittumavan’ was one of the pocket cartoon that was published in the newspaper ‘Janayugam’ in 1959.The cartoon used humour as a technique to communicate the political ideologies and it had a great impact on the public as they started to dress like the characters in the cartoon and participated in the campaign programmes which explains the influence that cartoons had on the public (Unnikrishnan, 2018). Paulose (2018), explains that one of the reasons for the increase in number of cartoonists from Kerala is due to the increased interest shown by the mainstream newspapers in upbringing this form of criticism to the mainstream. In 1933 Malayala Manorama wrote an editorial that promotes cartoon by conducting a competition on cartoon and they published selected cartoons with a note that explains the true functions of a cartoon. According to this, a cartoon should contain the element of humour in it, it should not spread hatred and should not exaggerate and ridicule the physical weakness of a person and should not mix vulgarity in it and till date the cartoonists of the mainstream newspapers of Kerala try to follow these principles (Paulose,2018). The new technologies including the Social media gives cartoonist a platform to publish their works and to reach a large number of audience (Sujith,2018). Hence, there are more than hundred cartoon

223 blogs in Malayalam and this shows the acceptance of this form of political communication among the general public.

The main character of cartoons is usually politician and in Kerala there are so many politicians who are interested in cartooning. M.M Menon was a member of legislative assembly and his cartoons were published in mainstream newspapers. The former ministers M.K Muneer, Kadannappalli Ramachandran, Member of Legislative Assembly Pradeep Kumar, V.T Balram are some other politicians who showed their interest in cartooning. Kerala have more cartoonists than any other states in India (Sudheernath,2017). People of Kerala are more literate and they are well aware of the political situations of Kerala. They show greater interest in the political activity and they discuss politics in their day to day life (Paulose,2018). Political cartoons are a yardstick of past and present of the Kerala’s history (Sujith,2018).

Historical Document

The political cartoons are not just based on the present political situations but it also connects with the past thus it acts as historical document for the public, by seeing those cartoons we could understand the historical background of our state during that period (Unnikrishnan, 2018). Khanduri (2014) in her book ‘Caricaturing the culture of India’ explains that cartoons and caricatures reinforce the aspect of visual sense; through the play of exaggeration and likeness, they simulate places and times and simulate people’s political knowledge. They render reality in a new form and it draws the social reality. It becomes an integral part of daily newspapers and act as a political commentary. By going through the cartoon of a particular period we could find out the political history of that place. For that the cartoonist should have in depth knowledge about the society and its different institutions (Paulose,2018).

Earlier people used to do cave paintings and rock paintings as a part of portraying their history. By analysing such art forms, we came to know more about our ancestors and there way of living. In the same way when our country was ruled by Kings, they used to appoint talented painters to make drawings and thus to portray their history through such paintings. Today cartoonists took over the role and they try to portray the ground reality of today’ life (Ragesh,2018). political cartoons identify the most important issues at the time and document how people interpret those issues, thus it provides a socio-historic frame (Sujith,2018). Since political cartoons provide a commentary on people and events cast in time, it is natural that they may be studied as a historical or sociological record of a public figure, political entity, or historical period (Acharya, 2018). Examining issues depicted in these political cartoons helps

224 to uncover the historical plot and give clear picture to its readers. Thus, the contemporary myth is explained through such political cartoons. A reader could understand the socio-political history of Kerala with more depth by going through the political cartoons published during that period. The active participation of political leaders was one of the major trends followed during the 2016 Assembly election. A new platform for campaigning was introduced with the emergence of technology. People could interact more with their leaders and politicians could easily connect with their voters. The political cartoons during this period used symbols such as facebook, WhatsApp, mobile phones, tablet computers in the cartoons to portray this change (Sugumar, 2018). This explains the influence of technologies and the active participation general public in social media which marked the rise of technology in the Kerala history

The emergence of Bahratiya Janatha Party as a third alternative was another major change in the political history of Kerala and this was portrayed by the cartoons during the campaign period by including the political leaders of BJP into the cartoons (Unnikrishnan, 2018).

Image building

Political cartoons develop an image of the political leaders and other prominent personalities in the mind of its readers. It is not done just by the drawings. People already have an image in their mind of their politicians. For example, the first thing that is noticed in former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is his hair and that of V. S Achuthanandan is his rigid body. Hence, with few lines the cartoonist exaggerates those features and it becomes easy for the reader to identify the character which is already registered in their minds (Paulose,2018). Cartoonist actively takes part in the image -making process as they always engage with those politicians. Cartoonists can contribute to the image development of a candidate during election time by offering simplified portrayals of those politicians (Ragesh,2018). Every politician has created a cartoon profile of there on by their character traits, dressing and talking styles, their political activities including the corruptions and scams related to them, thus a cartoonist tries to caricature from that already created profile (Sujith,2018).

The veteran communist leader of Kerala V.S Achuthanandan is considered to be a favourite topic of most of the cartoonists. The 2016 Assembly election in Kerala portrayed V.S Achuthanandan as the face of the election or as a star campaigner. He became the character of most of the cartoons during the election campaign period (Unnikrishnan,2018). This shows how actively he participate in the politics. In one of the cartoons by the prominent cartoonist

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O. V Vijayan, he portrays Morarji Desai the former Prime Minister of India as the central character and a dialogue was given to him that, ‘it is been so long being a character in a cartoon’. This shows the inactiveness of that political leader. The cartoon should be enjoyable to those who are being criticized in the cartoon. Earlier the politician considered it as to be a credit in being a character in the political cartoon. It shows how active a leader is in politics. But now a days some politicians are not ready to take criticisms (Sujith,2018).

Election campaigning is period when the political cartoonist gets wide variety of topics and themes that they could draw .All the political parties becomes active and this is the time when they comes down from their power and tries to be with their general public who once voted for them (Ragesh,2018).Political communication happens more during this period and all the political parties along with the general public starts scrutinizing the political events and becomes politically more active. Therefore, this is the time when a political cartoonist stays even more active and exposes the ground realities to the general public (Unnikrishnan, 2018).

Most of the cartoons during the election campaign period portrayed V. S Achuthanandan as a young man. This shows even in his ninety’s he is still very active in campaigning and that makes him the favourite subject of the cartoonists. His change from the old school of Marxism to the digital revolutionary was a major trend that was unavoidable during the 2016 Assembly election (Paulose, 2018). He is considered to be a rebel, who talks against his opposition party and against his own party. Thus, he always remains active in making news and controversial statements which becomes the leading news of the day. He is considered to be a people’s leader and the reason for this is his humorous talks and stern decision-making power. The political cartoons and other satirical programmes also play an important role in the image building of V.S Achuthanandan. Humour is something that people easily accepts and it is an easy way to reach the people. By portraying V.S Achuthanandan as a humorous person in satires and political cartoons it gets registered in the mind of the people. Thus, he becomes the people’s leader.

Most cartoonists are of the opinion that it is easy to portray a politician who are popular and have an influence on the general public (Sujith, 2018). Mahatma Gandhi has become the character or a symbol in cartoons of almost all the cartoonists. This is because he have influenced the public and had created a great impact on the public through his ideologies . Thus, even the specs that Gandhi wears, can be used in cartoons and the readers could easily

226 connect it with Gandhi and his ideologies. So, cartoonists usually use Gandhi in their cartoons for expressing non-violence, truth and justice.

The former Chief Minister Oomman Chandy was another prominent leader who was the second most portrayed leader in most of the political cartoons during the campaign period. Earlier during the campaigns politicians usually concentrate on a single issue and that becomes the discussion for the entire campaign period. But in 2016 Assembly election the topic being discussed got changed every week. Each day a new controversy was made by the politicians and the use social media as a platform for the campaigning was one reason for it (Sujith, 2018). The main topic of discussions and debated were the scams and allegations raised against the Congress government. Most of the cartoonist portrayed Oommen Chandy as a corrupted politician and he was given a humiliated, sad, despair expressions in most of the cartoons (Ragesh, 2018). Thus, it is always the duty of the cartoonist to portray the wrongdoings of the government and point out their faults and expose it to the public (Sujith,2018).

As mentioned earlier the active politicians where usually portrayed in the political cartoons and the Kerala politics is known for Congress and Communist party. A third alternative was not in the political scene of Kerala , but the 2016 election brought a change in this trend and the state secratry of Bharatiya Janata Party , Kummanam Rajashegaran was portrayed in political cartoons along with the other prominent leaders .He always shares a the cartoon frame with the leaders of both communist and congress party (Paulose, 2018).The “Modi effect “of 2014 general election was not have much impact on this election and this is because of the controversial statement made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi by comparing Kerala with Somalia ,which had a negative impact on the Bharatiya Janata Party. Modi was made fun of by the cartoonists in most of the cartoons and he was compared with unhealthy tiger and so on (Ragesh, 2018). Thus, the cartoonists played a major role in the image building process of the political leaders and this image gets registered in the mind of the readers (Sujith, 2018).

Negative art

A cartoonist is seen as a social critic by the general public. The role of today’s cartoonist is not unlike that of the court jester of yore. Their business in a democracy is to exercise the right to criticize, ridicule, find fault with and demolish the establishments and political leaders- through cartoons and caricatures” (Laxman,2000). Thus, it is an art of disapproval and complaint. It treats men and matters with certain healthy scepticism and good-humoured

227 ridicule, but never with malice. Cartoons and complaints of offense generate searching queries about how to interpret the cartoon’s unique visual form. The blurry boundary between offense and humour is at the heart of such cartoons (Sugumar, 2018). The cartoonist sees things more deeply, humour is just a covering that is used by the cartoonist to draw a serious issue as it is an easy way to reach the public (Sujith, 2018).

Most of the Cartoonists in Kerala are free to express their opinion on politics but when it comes to religion, they try to avoid controversies (Ragesh, 2018). There are many issues in Kerala where legal actions were taken against the cartoonist for portraying gods in their cartoons. Actions were taken against cartoonist Gopikrishnan of Mathrubhumi for portraying lord Ganapati in a cartoon and similar issues happened with the cartoonist Yesudasan for connecting political issue with the ‘Last Supper’ in one cartoon (Sudheernath, 2017).

As satire, the political cartoon offends at some level, as cartoons are not meant for pleasing the politicians but to criticize their wrongdoings (Paulose, 2018). Cartoonists usually take a critical stand on the government and who occupies the chair doesn’t matter for the cartoonists (Acharya, 2018). Thus, they act as an opposition that doesn’t have any inclination towards a particular political party. Most of the political cartoons during the 2016 election tried to bring forth almost all the scams and allegations raised against the political parties of Kerala. They were critical on the approaches of government and criticised political leaders for their change in statements and other controversial statements made by them (Paulose, 2018).

Readers involvement

It’s a point of entry for thinking about how the visual form that is at the boarder of news and art provides remarkable insight into key political themes. To read between the cartoons image and words is to engage in cultural politics. Humour and wit are a social glue that helps to look deeper into political happenings. The message is transmitted at a certain wavelength, but the findings can never be the same as it depends on many factors and mainly the readers understanding on an issue (Paulose, 2018). They should find meanings that a common man never expects of, then try to link it with the current issues and makes people to think differently (Acharya, 2018). Humour is a key used by the cartoonists that opens the closed door of events and topic and makes people to think in a new way (Sujith, 2017). Political cartoon should have suggestiveness that people should easily identify what exactly the cartoonist tried to convey. sometimes the cartoonist links a political happening with a story in bible, or other religious epics or myths, so the cartoonist should have a proper understanding on the texts and should

228 be able to relate it with the present political conditions (Ragesh, 2018). This shows that no texts are free from the influence of other literature. In political cartoons cartoonists use various elements such as film dialogues, songs, proverbs, advertisement taglines, idioms and so on. The readers who have proper understanding on such elements finds it easy to relate it with the politics and to take humour out of it (Sujith, 2018). sometimes the cartoonists connect more than one or two issues or happenings in the politics and if the readers failed to connect those issues then the cartoon itself will be a failure.

Political cartoon is not just a process of portraying a political issue, it is a process that starts from the cartoonists and ends in the readers were both the cartoonist and readers should be actively participating in it for the proper communication. For example, one of the prominent cartoonists of India E.P Unni once published a cartoon on the corruptions of petroleum ministry. He draws a door with a security sitting in front of it and a man asks him whether the ministry is not working and the security replies it is working and this is just the front door. The readers get a picture from it that all the corruption happens through the back door but here the cartoonist haven’t drawn a back door and haven’t mention anything on corruption. So, it is the imagination of the reader that makes them to visualize a backdoor and the corruption. Thus a cartoon gets completed within the reader on the basis of how they generated meaning out of it (Sujith, 2018).Thus both the cartoonists and the readers should be in the same page to get a fuller understanding of the text(Acharya,2018).Even though the cartoons are not moving pictures it gets developed in the human minds and make people to think more on it, which makes this medium different from the trolls and memes in social media. In trolls and memes, they use film dialogues and songs same as that of cartoons but once you get the humour out of it the communication process stops there whereas in political cartoons people start thinking more and tries to get new meaning out of it (Sujith,2018).

Every readers have a file within them on the things that happens around them including the films they have seen ,the songs in it, the dialogues, poems ,proverbs ,idioms, advertisement taglines and even the talking styles of politicians and other prominent personalities ,so when a cartoonist draws a cartoon including all such factors it is easy for the reader to relate with their knowledge and to interpret the meanings of the cartoons connecting it to the political context (Unnikrishnan, 2018).During the day before the Assembly election in Kerala the cartoon in Mathrubhumi was on the politicians of all the political parties staying awake in night dreaming about the result and a film songs was used to explain their situation. The film song was divided and given to each politician according to their political status at that time (Unnikrishnan, 2018).

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Thus, people are familiar with that film songs and it is easy for the readers to get the humour out of it.

A cartoonist is like a script writer or a director who places the characters according to appropriate situation and its success depends on how the readers understand the script (Sujith,2018). In a cartoon published in Mathrubhumi, a house is shown and the characters in it fights and a neighbour who stays opposite to them watch and enjoys it. This is a common scene that people could easily relate with. Here the characters are the political leaders of communist party and congress party and V.S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi’s fight is portrayed where Oomman Chandy is portrayed as their neighbour. When characters are properly placed in it people could relate the atmosphere and could visualise the two houses and compare it with the two political parties and the fight with the communist party in particular.

Enthymeme is an effective strategy used by the cartoonist to make offensive allegations against a politician, in which the logic gets completed within the readers. This provides a safety exit for the cartoonists after making certain criticisms (Paulose,2018). In a way cartoons also act as a relief mechanism for its readers from reading all the serious issues, scams and allegation in the politics. They offer readers the pleasure of superiority and a safe release of aggression (Ragesh, 2018). The incongruity between the concept and the real object also creates humour in the readers. For example, portraying the current Chief Minister as a flower pot or the former Chief Minister with full body cast creates laughter in readers (Unnikrishnan, 2018).

Creative Process

A cartoon attempts to preserve the sense of humour of the community which is so essential for survival in day to day existence. Newspaper cartoons are incomparable public texts that evoke a rich interpretative vocabulary that no other images can match. The symbolic languages used in the cartoons are changing because of the larger influence of technologies. The cartoonist should have a proper update on the new changes and observe more to adapt those changes. Earlier the symbols such as tiger was used to explain patriotism and so on but now the old symbols have lost their communicative edge (Khanduri, 2014). The symbols used are more connected to the modern world as the people could easily interpret such things. This bring visual relief and some fun, but this image is meant to do more (Sujith,2018). A cartoonist should be a journalist, artist and humourist. Expression of the eyes and the lips are most important thing in caricature as it describes the character of that person (Sudheernath, 2017).

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With the advent of new technologies there is shift from the traditional use of symbols to new scenes of using technologies, social networking sites etc (Ragesh, 2018).

The cartoon can be considered as a work of art but every artist cannot be a cartoonist as it has to communicate an idea with its readers. The success of such cartoon depends on how well that idea is executed (Paulose, 2018). They act as a political commentator and gives a strong comment that speaks loudly on an issue (Sugumar, 2018). Exaggeration is one of the major techniques used by the cartoonist to point their personality or their body features and so on, for that the characters in cartoons are compared to animals or birds. In a cartoon published in Malayala Manorama that talks about the ‘Somalia’ statement made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the cartoonist portrays Modi as an unhealthy tiger and Oommen Chandy as a healthy cat .This shows the strength of the Kerala Chief Minister Oomman Chandy .In another cartoons the current Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan is portrayed as a flower pot with a sapling that refers to the ‘go green campaign’ by the LDF governmet.Thus through exaggeration the cartoonists creates laughter and makes the public to think deep (Unnikrishnan,2018).Most of the cartoons tries to frame the political issues in a single frame and tries to simplify a complex issue in a most simple form .A good cartoon can be explained as how well the serious political issue is scrutinized and is bring forth to the public (Sujith,2018).

Cartoonists should have a keen observation. To observe changes that happens with the politician is a part of their day today work. With the advent of new technologies people are exposed to media and information is overloaded. They are well aware of the dressing style of a politician, the accessories they wear, changes in their face, their talking style and so on. Thus, the cartoonist should be more careful while portraying the politician. The cartoons in Mathrubhumi portrays Oommen Chandy with a ripped shirt. In Manorama Oommen Chandy is portrayed with long hair. As there is an assumption that the former Chief Minister never had time to comb his hair and he always wear a white torn dress. This is already registered in the mind of the people so the cartoonist should be able bring such minute details to their characters (Unnikrishnan, 2018).

The prominent cartoonist Kutty once said Drawing is free but ideas are sacred (Khanduri,2014). Thus, it is the idea that matters more. But imitation of certain ideas is also general in cartooning. For example, the Lavalin scam of the current Chief Minister of Kerala Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan was often drawn with an electric line. Most of the cartoonist used the

231 electric line to portray this scam. This is not done intentionally but it happens so. Even the former President of Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi was portrayed as ‘Monolisa’ in many cartoons this is because of her Italian origin and Monolisa is a famous painting done by an Italian painter Leonardo Da Vinci. This is the reason for the repetition of ideas. Thus, such kind of ideas comes under cliché ideas (Sudheernath,2017).

Earlier the cartoonists draw political cartoons one day before the newspaper get published but with the advent of the technology people get news at the very moment itself thus it is a challenging job for the cartoonists to do cartoons. Now a days they wait for the most relevant news till the first edition of the newspaper goes for the printing (Paulose,2018).

The themes or the labels used in the cartoons reflects the interest of the cartoonists. For example, if a cartoonist has more interest in film, his/her cartoon give more priority for the film dialogues or songs (Sugumar, 2018).

Cartoon doesn’t move but to make it as a live picture the cartoonists use some technique such as using English letter ‘Z’ to show someone is sleeping or the symbol of bulb is used to portray that the character is thinking something or grawlixes are used if the character is using abusive language thus it creates a feeling of live picture (Ragesh,2018)

Some cartoonists go to the place in the same way as a reporter goes and covers a news so that they will get more clarity about the situation and they could see those politicians who is going to be the characters in their cartoon (Sudheernath,2017).

Changes in the printing technologies led to the shift from black and white newspapers to colour papers and along with that cartoons became more colourful. Most of the senior cartoonists are of the opinion that cartoons are meant to be black and white and when it changes to the colour cartoons it loses its sharpness (Ragesh,2018).

Voice of the people

Cartoons are a source of news that gives a view of the underside of politics. It explores the things that a common man discusses about deeply held political convictions in their day to day life (Paulose,2018). Political cartoonist act as a voice for the voiceless, as the cartoon portrays the problems faced by the general public due to the irresponsible politicians. Most of the political cartoon are drawn as a spontaneous response of the general public towards an issue and it supports the majority of the public’s opinion (Sujith,2018). Political cartoons may not have a direct impact on the electoral decisions of the people, but a gradual change often takes

232 place and it shapes the opinion of people on a certain issue (Ragesh,2018). The cartoons are often drawn based on the lead news of the day and so it adds to the knowledge of its readers on the political scenario. Whenever an issue takes place a cartoonist takes the stand of the general public and tries to expose the ground reality to its readers (Unnikrishnan, 2018).

Most of the cartoonists have websites in internet thus it creates a good network within the people and people could interact with the cartoonists and give feedback on it and express their opinion on it (Sujith, 2018). Cartoon is something that comes out of a reaction. In a way it softens the harshness of the situation. It acts as a counter statement to the political changes or a controversial statement made by a politician or some corruption and scams. Thus, it gives voice to the people’s opinion on a particular issue (Ragesh,2018). It mainly Portrays identifiable issues and the public emotion of distrust. The cartoonists try to be unbiased and doesn’t supports a political party, they always take a stand with the general public and talks for them. Unlike other forms of media, political cartoons have the ability to display the public’s criticisms (Sugumar, 2018). In one of the cartoons published in Mathrubhumi, a character represented the common man and he explains the leaders of the leading political parties about his situations, but they are not ready to listen and they get involved in their verbal fight with each other. Thus, people are not interested in their verbal fight as they face many other serious problems in their day today life. This is what every common person living in the society wants to tell their leaders about (Unnikrishnan, 2018). The cartoons function not as a change agent but as a statement of consensus, an invitation to remember cultural values and beliefs, and, by implication, to participate in their maintenance.

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CHAPTER 6 Conclusion Political cartoons can be considered as a powerful commentary over the political happenings that goes beyond the written text at certain point. It gives us an evolutionary record of the social and political changes happening in the society. The semiotic analysis deconstructed the signs and symbols and throw more light into the basic structure along with the form and content of the political cartoon. The analysis was based on the researcher’s understanding on political cartoons. According to Wodak (1999), the process of analysis depends on the researcher’s attitudes and beliefs and an ultimate correct interpretation of a text is not possible. Thus, the researcher had tried to make an interpretation of the cartoon texts and tried to derive a proper conclusion out of it in an unbiased form.

This chapter is divided into three section. The first section summarizes the findings based on the semiotic analysis of the cartoon texts and tries to answer the research questions. The second section explains the conyribution of this work to the existing literature .Along with that the limitation of the study is also mentioned.The third section discusses the aspects of this work that deserve further research.

The first research question focused on the meaning generation process that takes place in political cartoons. In order to answer the question a semiotic analysis was used on the cartoon texts. The Peircean sign classification was used by the researcher to identify the signs and symbols in the text. Interconnecting the signs and symbols with the political context of Kerala meanings were generated and in the second level of analysis Barthes denotation and connotation theory gave much insight into the political context. An identifiable vocabulary of signs and symbols should develop between the cartoonist and its readers that helps in meaning generation in different levels. The readers participation and their knowledge of the political scenario plays a vital role in understanding the cartoon text. Thus, the meaning generation happens within the readers mind.

The enthymeme used in the political cartoons made it a complete text. The process of communication begins from the cartoonists and ends successfully in the reader when they are able to extract the meaning out of it and put it into a larger context. Thus, an active participation of readers makes it possible.

The second research question deals considering political cartoons as a form of political statement. By analysing the cartoons, the researcher reached a conclusion that the political

234 cartoons mirror the political climate of Kerala. The tone of the cartoon in a way expresses the sentiments of the public and the cartoonist becomes the voice of the people. The cartoonist focuses on the shortcomings and wrongdoing of the people and they are straight forward in criticising the political leaders thus it gives a clear picture on the political scenario. Using humour as a covering the political cartoons make a political point, and they offer daily evaluations of key events, people and issues. They give clear, concise, extreme interpretation and visually reinforced messages about the campaign. Thus, a gradual change happens within the readers as the cartoons gets imprinted in their mind and subconsciously it shapes the public opinion.

The third and fourth research question on the themes of the political cartoons during the campaign period and how it was depicted was analysed by the researcher. The major themes that was projected by the cartoonist was on Truth versus Lies. The real face of politicians and the irony behind their promises was portrayed in those cartoons. The cartoonists are free to judge a political leader according to their perception. Hence the cartoonist takes a role of a judge that evaluates and criticize the flaws of the political leaders. The transition from traditional to modern was another major theme and it was visible through the signs and symbols used in those cartoons. Situational themes were also a part of those political cartoons and the prominence of such themes depends on the impact it had on the election and vote percentage. By examining the major themes and the issue portrayed in the cartoons the readers could easily figure out a proper historical plot of Kerala politics as it connects politics with the society in a larger context.

The intertextual references also increased the intellectual level of the political cartoon; thus, it developed as a mental challenge within the reader. The readers who have a proper background and cultural knowledge could perceive many references and connect it to religion, culture, politics, history, and popular culture within the cartoons. Therefore, the cartoons can be read at any level but its complete meaning can be acquired when the reader recognize and understand the influences of other texts on those cartoons.

The study also analysed the political cartoons highlighting the incongruity theory of the humour in Kerala context. The depiction of incongruous relation between the characters, especially political leaders’ previous position and their current position being compared to something funny leads to arouse humour among the readers. Considering these functions humour serves as an influential communicative tool not only in political cartoons of Kerala,

235 but also in the whole cartooning art. The incongruity theory posits that people usually laugh at something they find surprising and unexpected involving noticeable deviation of an accepted social norm.

In conclusion this analysis discovers several key elements of political cartoons. Firstly, the cartoons are clearly oriented toward the structural elements: sign (denotative and connotative), intertextuality, enthymeme and the incongruity in cartoons. These were all found to be present in political cartoons. Secondly, these were the main strategies that helped build a clear understanding in political cartoons. Recognizing the depiction of issues and understanding the cartoons pre-supposes knowledge of the iconic, symbolic, and indexical referents used by the cartoonists.

The contemporary myths are expressed through political cartoons. They express a cultural reality which is assumed to be true. Both the cartoonist and the reader should possess a similar culture. Thus, culture plays an important role in understanding the political cartoons in its true essence.

The interview with the experts gave more insight into the field of cartooning. The information from them were appropriate to validate the interpretations of the researcher. The cartoonist provided a complete picture on the development of character, the image building process and the creative process in cartooning. This helps us to understand how meanings are generated from the political cartoons. They also explained the Kerala’s tradition on sarcasm and its influence on political cartoons, along with that the readers participation in those cartoons and how it acts as the voice of the public was discussed that satisfies the second research question of the thesis. The political cartoonist explained about how themes were exposed during that period and thus it explains how the cartoons act as a historical document of that place. Most of the cartoonists were of the opinion that they were free to express their opinion as there is nothing like edit in the political cartoons, either the cartoons should be accepted or gets denied. Nowadays the cartoonist gets different platforms such as the social media sites to publish their work and they are getting more acceptance. When people are there to see the cartoons more cartoons will be developed (Paulose,2018). Nowadays, People are not interested in reading the entire news articles thus they get an idea of news by reading just few lines and they get interested in such political cartoons as the visual communication usually takes place first.

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The advent of new technologies and the new form of communication such as trolls and memes put forth a competition for the cartoonists. The ideas get easily expressed in such trolls as they update faster but the political cartoons have its own place in the media that cannot be replaced with some other form of communication.

Limitations of the study

The study was mainly done focusing on the state of Kerala and the two mainstream newspapers of Kerala. Thus, it was limited to a particular geographical area. The research focussed on political cartoons as a text and the entire study was done by deconstructing the meanings out of it and putting it into larger context and the responses of readers was not taken into consideration. How the reader deconstructs a political cartoon and how they analyse it and whether they decode the meaning exactly as the cartoonist intended to express or in a different way are some of the questions that is needed to be studied in order to get a fuller understanding on political cartoons and its influence on the public. The present study has relied largely on qualitative methodology of data collection; therefore, more quantitative methodology of data collection should be undertaken in future to provide wider perspective to the present study. For instance, the research design can employ questionnaire method or survey to provide a holistic picture to the given subject. Linguistic barrier is also considered as a limitation for the research as the study can be replicated in another regional context.

The major difficulty that the researcher faced while doing the analysis was the translation of labelling in those cartoons. The labels of the cartoons were in Malayalam and it was challenging for the researcher to translate the labels and dialogues to English without losing its exact humour and satire.

Contribution of the study

The research on political cartoons gave more insight into the political communication, specially the political scenario of Kerala. The role of different political parties, the social activities of the political leaders and state of the general public portrayed a picture of the political scene of Kerala. The study shed some light on the use of humour, satire and wit in the political context. Thus, the research help to understand more on Political cartoons and the rapport it develops among its readers in analysing the politics. The research also pave way for the teachers in using wit and humour along with the political cartoons while dealing with serious topics. Hence it will increase the knowledge of students in political discourse, as it develops their creativity and gives an understanding of the socio-political situations.

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Future research

These findings in particular suggest some avenues for future researches. The focus of this study is narrow and it calls for future research that assesses a wider range of political cartoons over a broader span of time. The same framework using Barthes and Pierce along with the theoretical framework of humour and intertextuality can be applied in different geographical locations and could identify the common grounds of research in communication.

Researches can also be done on finding the response of the public towards a certain political cartoons and what impact it has on their voting behaviour. The effects of humour to audiences and their perceptions related to political humour can be analysed in a detailed study. The link between the issues depicted in the cartoon and that of the public opinion gives a scope for further studies.

Political cartoons on social media is getting more popularity and it is a platform for them to express all their ideas without any editorial restriction. Thus, research on the emerging trend of political cartoons can be taken into consideration. The new trends of trolls and memes and that of political cartoons can be compared and the influence it creates on the youth gives another scope for the research on political cartoons. The studies can also be done on focussing the coming general elections in India and the portrayal of political leaders especially Prime Ministerial candidates in it using framing theory.

“Political cartooning from its early days of obscure mythical symbols and weak imitation to the hard-hitting political satire that it has become today, freely flourishing as one of the several safeguards of democracy” (Laxman, 1989).

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Appendix I Expert Interview Schedule-Political Cartoonists

Semi-structured Interview

General questions

1. Why and when did you start making cartoons? 2. Kerala has a rich tradition of cartoons and social satire. Can you explain the history of this tradition and what role satire (cartoons) play in Kerala? 3. Is there a trait or style that is typical for cartoonists in Kerala? 4. What is the importance of cartoons during election period? 5. How was the 2016 election period depicted in political cartoons? 6. What are the major changes in cartoons of 2016 election from previous election cartoons? 7. Why are cartoons important in your opinion? Can cartoons contribute to a better future in Kerala? 8. Are there taboos in Kerala? And is there outright censorship on some topics? 9. What are the red lines (subjects) you cannot draw about? 10. What do you think of the cartooning and the media today? 11. Do you think political cartoons are actually growing in popularity?

Questions related to Semiotics

12. How you conceptualize a theme? 13. How is the creative process done? 14. How will you define the symbols used in your cartoon? 15. What are the techniques used in creating a cartoon? 16. How a character is portrayed in your cartoon? (Based on what features).

Appendix II Interviewee Bios

1.Sugumaran Potti, known as Sukumar is a popular satirist and cartoonist from Kerala. He started his literary life as a cartoonist in Kerala Kaumudi and later became a full-fledged writer and satirist. He received the Kerala Sahithya Academy Award in the year 1996.He was the former secretary of Kerala Cartoon Academy.

2.Baiju Paulose, known as ‘Baiju’ is the Chief staff cartoonist of Malayala Manorama newspaper, Kottayam. He won Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy State award in cartoon on the year 2007.

3.Unnikrishnan, who draws under the nom-de-plume ‘Unnikrishnan’ works as the Chief Sub Editor in Mathrubhumi and deals with the political cartoons in the newspaper. He has a cartoon column named Pravasi in gulf feature and Cinikumar in Chitrabhumi. He bagged the Trivandrum Press Club award in 2007 and 2009 and the Kerala Lalita Kala Academy Honourable Mention award in 2009 and 2010.

4. T.K Sujith-Kerala Kaumudi assistant editor and cartoonist T.K Sujith is one of the prominent cartoonists in Malayalam. He has bagged the State Media Award for the best cartoonist in the year 2016 and Press Club Awards and many other honours of cartoons including Maya Kamath national award, Kerala Lalithakala Academy award and Pampan Madhavan award.

5. V.R Ragesh, who signs as ‘VR Ragesh’ is the Staff cartoonist of Madhyamam Daily in Kerala. He had written a book on his cartoons known as ‘Cartoons of V.R Ragesh’.