- Info
Martin Rowson
A multi-award winning cartoonist, illustrator and writer.
His work has appeared regularly in The Guardian, Daily Mirror, Spectator, New Statesman, The Times and many other publications for over 30 years. His books include a memoir, “Stuff”, which was longlisted for the 2007 Samuel Johnson Prize, and graphic novelisations of The Waste Land, Tristram Shandy & Gulliver’s Travels. He in currently working on a comic book version of The Communist Manifesto. As well as being chair of the British Cartoonists’ Association, he is also currently a vice-president of the Zoological Society of London. He lives with his wife in south-east London. Photo by Emyr Young
Mocking the Preposterous: The Challenges of Satirising Populism
1 July 2022
Sala del Teatro
Visual Satire, as a distinct & precise subset of humour, has always involved the satirist punching up instead of kicking down, in order to better afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. But how is the satirist to speak truth to power by laughing at it when the Power - in the guise of “Populism” - expropriates Satire’s weapons of offence to bolster its own power through mocking the “woke” & any minority in sight, claiming to be defending “Free Expression”. In short, when the best way to spot a Nazi is because they keep whining about “Freedom”, can Satire stay true to itself while remaining both offensive & effective? Fully illustrated overview from Hogarth & Gillray, via the Nazis, to Trump, Johnson, Erdogan & the rest of the mob.
