A semiotic analysis of political cartoons: A case study of Nigeria.

Abstract

Using two methodological approaches, a purely structural semiotic analysis with hermeneutics, this study analyzes how meaning is produced in Nigerian political cartoons published it three magazines during 1993--1996. This was a time when Nigeria was characterized as a model of democracy for third world countries even though censorship of the press was at its peak. This era also reflected the most volatile period of Nigeria's political activity. This study contributes to our understanding of political cartoons as a political communicative tool and specifically how cartoons are used as political statements in assessing political developments in Nigeria. Furthermore, the contribution of this dissertation to communication literature is that it addresses the question of how political cartoons work to establish dominant political themes. This study uses Nigerian political cartoons as a case study in order to increase our understanding of the structures and important features of political cartoons.