Picturing atrocity: visual representations of ISIS in Arabic political cartoons

Abstract

This study analyzes how political cartoons in the Arab world portray the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In particular, the study examines how the metaphoric messages in a selection of political cartoons portray and situate ISIS terrorism within the Islamic world and seek to distinguish ISIS victims from ISIS perpetrators of terror. I argue that these cartoons function as an ideological weapon to combat the domestic extremism and brutality of ISIS. Findings indicate that the visual representations in Arabic political cartoons that ridicule and dehumanise ISIS deliberately reveal important realities about the terrorist organisation and its ruthless practices. Furthermore, they increase public awareness of ISIS as an ‘enemy within’ the Islamic world that, more than anything else, has victimised the religion, people, and youth of Islam since its inception.