Cartooning as a Political Rhetoric Against Army and Police Brutality in Africa: A Semiotic Perspective on Cameroonian and Nigerian Editorial Cartoons

Police and army brutality is a global socio-political pathology, yet it has local/national and philosophical colorations. This implies that the issue is most often discussed or represented in the media according to media genres, editorial policies and socio-cultural specificities. Using semiotics, the present study shows how local myths and idiosyncrasies in Nigeria and Cameroon, as well as principles of visual rhetoric, define Cameroonian and Nigerian cartoonists’ representations of police and army violence in their countries. The chapter also shows how a good knowledge of such myths, idiosyncrasies and principles of visual rhetoric is key to understanding political cartoons dedicated to this form of socio-political violence.