Political Cartoonist
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Memetics and the Viral Spread of Antisemitism through ‘Coded Images’ in Political Cartoons
Online ISSN: 1940-6118 ISBN: 978-0-9827894-5-2
ABSTRACT:
This paper proposes a new criteria to identify Antisemitism in political cartoons by examining the presence of Antisemitic image-codes within them.
As a viral belief system, Antisemitism has historically employed image-based memophores to spread its constituent memes and replicate itself in the minds of potential hosts. The portrayal of the Jew as a powerful and demonic enemy of society serves as an important unifying force for mass movements’ quests for power.
As evident from contemporary cartoons around the globe, use of these memetic image-codes in political cartoons has expanded beyond the groups traditionally known for transmitting Antisemmitic images. A cartoonist infected by these viral image-codes of Antisemitism will then insert these codes into his own cartoons.
Dehumanizing codes answer the question of “Who are the Jews?” in such a way as to portray Jews as undeserving of any sort of empathy normally felt for human beings. For example, dehumanizing codes depict Jews as demonic vampires and vermin.
Stereotyping codes address the question of “What are Jews like?” Stereotyping codes depict Jews as ugly, sinister, controlling the world and the media, as money hungry and brutal, blood-spilling murderers of everyone from Jesus to Palestinian babies in Gaza.
After the Holocaust proved the victimhood of the Jewish people, Antisemitism and the Antisemitic memes of the image-codes needed to evolve into a Holocaust-resistant form which would deny Jewish victimhood. Moral Inversion Codes invert the horrors by depict the victims as the perpetrators. Thus the Jew becomes the Nazi or the terrorist suicide bomber, rather than their victim.