On July 27 2011, I wrote "Shallow People Demand Variety. Even in Cartoon Captions".
Following example illustrates how even cartoons need not be different, just like cartoon captions!
In a wonderful essay 'The Egyptian Satirist Who Inspired
a Revolution', Anna Della Subin and Hussein Omar write about James
Sanua, founder of 'Abou Naddara', in The New Yorker dated June 6 2016.
Subin and Omar write:
"...In the three years since Sisi
overthrew the democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in a military
coup, public dissent in Egypt has been violently muted. State police have
raided newspaper offices, and journalists have been imprisoned, N.G.O.s
expelled, and hundreds of suspected activists forcibly “disappeared.” Yet, in
April of this year, the streets of Cairo broke out in protest once again when
Sisi announced that he had given a pair of islands in the Red Sea to the
government of Saudi Arabia. On the surface, the fate of the uninhabited islands
would seem to have little impact on the daily lives of Egyptians. But to many
observers the news seemed like proof of the hypocrisy of Sisi’s regime. The
President himself had amended the constitution to prohibit the country’s ruler
from ceding Egyptian territory to foreign powers; the gift of the islands
coincided with Saudi Arabia’s promise of an oil deal and $1.5 billion in
investment. It was easy to feel as if Sisi were now selling off bits of Egypt
to the highest bidder. On April 9th, the exiled satirist Bassem Youssef tweeted
in Arabic, “Roll up, roll up, the island is for a billion, the pyramid for two
and a couple of statues thrown in for free.”
There is a cartoon from the late
nineteenth century that conveys the very same scene. In it, Egypt’s leader sits
at a table in front of the Giza Pyramids, wielding an auctioneer’s hammer, as a
crowd of interested foreign buyers looks on. “Lovers of antiques, the pyramids
and the Sphinx are for sale in cash. The currency is pounds,” he cries. “A la
uno, a la due, by God people, bid!”..."
Egypt’s leader auctioning off the
Giza Pyramids to a crowd of foreign buyers.
Artist: I don't know, 'Abou Naddara' (1878-1910), May 30 1879
All this reminded me of India's 'The Avadh Punch' (1877-1912 , 1916-1936). I have written about it on August 26 2007 here.
Is it just a coincidence that two great magazines dedicated to satire were launched by two great ancient civilizations around the same time?
'Swadeshi movement and the boycott of foreign goods'
Artist: I don't know, The Avadh Punch, November 16 1905, Courtesy: Niyogi Books
