In 2015, twelve people, including the cartoonists Charb, Wolinski, Cabu, Tignous and Philippe Honoré, paid with their lives for the publication, in the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Five years later, Samuel Paty was also assassinated by an Islamist for having presented these caricatures to his students. “There was a before and after 2015. It was at that time that National Education turned to us because it was overwhelmed by hostile reactions to these caricatures from certain students,” explains Mykaïa, press cartoonist, member of “Cartooning for Peace”, a collective of international cartoonists, founded by Plantu and the former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan. In front of middle and high school students, Mykaïa strives to remind people of the “fundamentals of her profession. “The press cartoon is based on current events. If there are Islamist attacks or pedophile priests, it is our job to talk about them. This does not mean that all Muslims are terrorists or that all priests are pedophiles. We also take the liberty of laughing at things that aren’t funny. And in a democracy like France, we have earned the right to make fun of the sacred,” he explains.
Indeed, the right to caricature is based on one of the fundamental principles of the Republic, namely freedom of expression. A freedom which is not absolute but framed by the law of July 29, 1881 on freedom of the press. This law penalizes written or oral remarks such as insult or defamation made in a public setting.
Despite a favorable legal framework, press cartoons are an increasingly contested artistic and journalistic genre in France as in other Western democracies. Latest illustration, the resignation of Ann Telnaes from the Washington Post. A response from the press cartoonist to the editor-in-chief’s rejection of a caricature in which she mocked the owner of the daily, Jeff Bezos, the latter seeking to curry favor with Donald Trump. “In France, the threat is more economic than state. It is very difficult for a cartoonist to be affiliated with a single editorial team. For my part, I work in a company, I publish my drawings on Instagram and I flit between several media”, testifies Éric Truant, former business executive who launched into press cartoons after Covid-19 and also member from “Cartooning for Peace”.
“There was a connivance, a complicity between the reader and the designer”
This is the whole “paradox” of press cartoons in the 21st century. “There are fewer and fewer press cartoons but they are increasingly scrutinized,” observes historian Christian Delporte, author of “Charlie Hebdo – the crazy story of a newspaper like no other” (ed. . Flammarion, 2020). “Satirical cartoons are following the same decline as the written press. It started in the 60s with the emergence of photography. It’s also a demanding genre. It is not simply a matter of drawing, but of expressing an idea, it is a punch in the face as the co-founder of Charlie Hebdo, François Cavanna, said. There is no longer any particular appetite among editorial staff for press cartoons. And we are going to ask the cartoonists to moderate themselves, to censor themselves.”
“I don’t publish a drawing if I don’t think it’s right. For that, I ask myself the question: could I defend the drawing in front of the person represented? But be careful, you must not confuse the subject of the drawing with its object. I am not caricaturing a person but a situation,” says Éric Truant.
The scarcity of media for press cartoons is not without consequences in the reception of the message conveyed. “Before, when you bought a newspaper, it was reasonable to assume that you agreed with its content. There was a connivance, a complicity between the reader and the designer. Now, the drawings are accessible to everyone on social networks, distributed outside of their contexts. Which leads to very strong reactions, bashing. It’s also an era that is not predisposed to nuance,” observes Mykaïa.
“The youngest are little exposed to press cartoons”
The designers have also observed a “generational divide” in the reception of their work. “Younger people have little exposure to press cartoons and have greater difficulty comparing their points of view with others. What goes out of their comfort zone is perceived as aggression,” noted Éric Truant. The designer also sweeps away the fantasy of a blessed era, where satirical drawing provoked unifying laughter. “We often confuse nostalgia for an era with that of one’s youth. I don’t think Harakiri humor was widely shared in society. The coming generation has different sensitivities. She will invent things, and find new distribution channels,” he predicts.
“We can laugh at everything, but not with everyone”, Pierre Desproges’ phrase takes on its full meaning even today.
