Multiliteracies: how readers interpret political cartoons

Abstract

Using a small-scale pilot study of readers' responses to three British newspaper cartoons as an example, this article explores the ways in which readers make sense of these multimodal texts. The findings of the study, which also included interviews with the three creators of the cartoons, suggest that interpreting cartoons is a complex process that requires people to draw on a whole range of different literacies. These include a broad knowledge of past and current events, a familiarity with the cartoon genre, a vast repertoire of cultural symbols, and experience of thinking analytically about real-world events and circumstances.