Contemporary German political cartoons (based on the cartoons by Klaus Stuttmann)

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify the linguostylistic features of creating a comic effect in modern German political cartoons. The paper examines political cartoons by Klaus Stuttmann. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the linguistic and cultural analysis of the verbal and nonverbal components of political cartoons by one of the most famous contemporary German cartoonists, Klaus Stuttmann, a winner of numerous awards. Based on the analysis of Stuttmann’s cartoons from 2022-2024, it has been found that cartoons are polycode texts in which the combination of verbal and nonverbal components creates a comic effect as a specific reaction of the cartoonist to current political events. The authors propose a division of political cartoons into informational and analytical types. As a result, the characteristic features of informational and analytical types of cartoons have been identified and described. Various ways of representing prototypes and identifying cartoon characters have been revealed, as well as mechanisms for creating a comic effect based on the combination of verbal and nonverbal components.