Krokodil against Uncle Sam: the American Other in Soviet Cartoons at the Beginning of the Cold War (1947—1960)

Abstract

The main focus of this article is political cartoons from Krokodil — the Soviet flagship satirical magazine. The author uses social constructivism as a lens to analyze U.S.-Soviet relations through political cartoons which serve as a peculiar, but valuable primary source. The article focuses primarily on the works of prominent Soviet artists, i.e., the Kukryniksy, Boris Efimov, Yury Ganf, Boris Leo, Ivan Semyonov, Vitaly Goryaev, and Mark Abramov, all of whom were mobilized by the Soviet propaganda in the Cold War of images with the USA. The author traces the role of political cartoon as a litmus test of the changing bilateral relations from the early Cold War to the first international Thaw at the end of the 1950-s, dissects a repertoire of images of the US, and identifies the constant and the variable in the equation of Soviet perception. Among the “constant,” unchanging communicative strategies, were dichotomies “internationalism vs. racism and imperialism,” “disarmament vs. arms race,” “peaceful intentions vs. military propaganda,” “prosperity for all vs. wealth for the elites,” “social guaranties vs. poverty and unemployment.” The variables, meaning characteristics that served as an indicator of transformation in U.S.-Soviet relations, included expanding the repertoire of images and contexts, as well as the decreasing number of anti-American cartoons almost to the point of non-existence. The mutual interest of American and Soviet cartoonists toward each other was also notable as they aspired to understand satire produced “on the other side” and learn to mock mutual stereotypes. All these trends remained later and marked the beginning of the détente as well as new tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.