![]() Considered as a whole, these cartoons suggest the important role that class identification-rather than cross-class unity-played in mobilizing support for the war. Beyond the necessity to adhere to the Defense of the Realm Act (DORA), 4 these cartoons fostered a specifically class-based form of communal identity to promote pro-war sentiment. 3 What has yet to be fully appreciated, however, and will thus be the focus in what follows, is how British First World War humorous cartoons-in line with the light-hearted illustrated magazines that published them-played on class differences among a range of economically fortunate readers to which they were marketed. These encouragements functioned to bolster morale crucial to a nation waging total war-total in the sense that the conflict extended beyond the military to encompass the civilian population and national economy. ![]() These cartoons may not have shared with British First World War visual propaganda the goal of fomenting hatred toward the enemy, but this voluminous body of work nevertheless served to mobilize support for the war by conveying a collectively shared experience, by assuaging the anxieties of living through the special horrors of modern war, and by shaping pro-war opinion on a range of war-related issues.Īlthough humorous war cartoons have received scant scholarly attention, the few critics who have addressed this work have rightly emphasized their morale-boosting function, demonstrating how cartoons encouraged civilians to do their bit by helping them picture their lives in the context of the war, endure deprivations with a modicum of cheer, and sustain their commitment to the cause. ![]() 2 Home-front cartoonists employed satire, parody, joke telling, and anecdote to picture both combatants and civilians shouldering varying degrees of burden imposed by the war without ever losing sight of the potential to find wry amusement in times of deprivation and even the most life-threatening situations. This work drew on a rich history of British illustration and caricature, as well as on a tradition of cartooning epitomized by the well-known Punch. 1 Unlike editorial cartoons of dehumanized and often atrocity-committing “Huns” intended to promote support for the war, illustrated magazines ran cartoons that used humor to represent everyday realities of wartime life. The First World War elicited an outpouring of cartoons by British artists, illustrators, and cartoonists, who frequently published their work in any one of a number of popular illustrated magazines. Keywords First World War / Cartoons / Class / Britain/British / illustrated magazines This article explores how humorous First World War cartoons published in three exceedingly popular illustrated magazines targeting privileged segments of the British population played to class distinctions and antagonisms to mobilize support for the war. While cartoons appearing in the Tatler, The Sketch, and The Bystander similarly sought to marshal pro-war sentiment among readers, they did so in various ways-namely, by appealing to the distinct class identities of their readers. Cartoons in the Tatler indulged their upper-class readers’ disdain for the working classes, those in The Sketch sought to alleviate wartime anxieties about home-front danger and deprivation among their middle-class readers, and the cartoons in The Bystander appealed to the apparent intellectual powers of discernment among their targeted readership to muster continued support for the war. The Space Between: Literature and Culture 1914-1945 Main Menu The Space Between: Literature and Culture 1914–1945 Volume 17 | 2021 | General Issue CFP: 2023 General Issue 2023 Conference CFP: Outsiders, Outlaws, and Outreach in the Space Between, 1914-1945 June 8-10, Canyon, Texas, 2023 Archive Submission Guidelines Reviews and Review Essays Editors | Editorial Board | Advisory Committee The Space Between Society Drawing on Class, Mobilizing Consent: British Humorous Cartoons of the First World War 1 media/BackgroundTile_250x250px_01.jpg media/BackgroundTile_250x250px_01.jpg media/ArticleHeaderImage_760x560pxAt96ppi_01.jpg T07:51:47-08:00 Jennifer Poulos Nesbitt 62bc3cb599d3c15be3205b879d3578d58552b092 5401 41 image_header T12:45:46-07:00 Jennifer Poulos Nesbitt 62bc3cb599d3c15be3205b879d3578d58552b092 Tammy Clewell ![]() Please enable Javascript and reload the page. This site requires Javascript to be turned on.
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