ABSTRACT
Political cartooning, declares Fatma Müge Göçek, has the potential to generate change by freeing the imagination, challenging the intelligence, and resisting state control. Printing technology was used to produce beautiful and expensive works, such as the Gutenberg Bible, but the presses also churned out inexpensive and more widely distributed media, such as broadsides and broadsheets. These large single sheets of paper were used for a variety of purposes. Caricature became a valuable tool for cartoonists, whether their intent was to amuse or destroy. Satirical illustration had traditionally displayed or implied a narrative and presented exaggerated actions, rather than the exaggerated physical characteristics of caricature. In the nineteenth century, many cartoonists sought to leave behind their ribald past and their work shifted from vituperation to gentle satire, from vulgarity to harmless fun suitable for children. Modern cartoonists can construct their comics with an arsenal of techniques developed over the centuries by the likes of Bernini, Townshend, Töpffer, Philipon, Doré and Nast.
