Ah, for the more elegant politics of a more civilized age:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Surely in the glory days of the Victorian age, politics was more civilized and more elegant than it was today. Why we lost out on a great and glorious age of civility in political discourse, when the politician from a lower-class background with a silver tongue was bashed for such an absurdity and the one who had an illegitimate child was bashed for his paying child support. What a civilized and vanished day those long-vanished times were.

And now for a completely different question, what are your favorite political cartoons?

Comments

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

"Now, plug it up!" [Nejse, zapushi ja!]
(Now that you've shot me, will you close my wound please)


Context:

The guy lying down mortally wounded is Aleko Konstantinov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleko_Konstantinov), a Bulgarian writer from the turn of the 19-20 century. He traveled a lot, including a visit to America, and wrote novels, journalistic analyses and essays that were very relevant for the time. It was the time when the post-Ottoman Bulgarian society was just shaking off the Medieval mentality that had existed for centuries, and trying to modernize itself. Searching for its new identity in a confusing world full of war, social strife and super-fast changes that we didn't always find easy to cope with.

And who's the guy standing above him, who has just shot him? Well, Aleko was most famous for his character Bay Ganyo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Ganyo), a cartoonish caricature of the typical Balkan type: retrograde, narrow-minded, mean, selfish and primitive. Bay Ganyo traveled around Europe trying to sell jars of rose oil that's such a famous trademark for Bulgaria; everywhere he went, his Balkanish primitivism collided with the local cultures and mores, and hilarious situations ensued.

In the later stages of Konstantinov's work, Bay Ganyo was already back home in BG, using his "experience" to run an election campaign for his party. In these later stories, the author reflected the turbulent political times in Bulgaria at the time, showing the phenomenon that we call here "The misunderstood civilization": a nation still not ready to fully grasp the principles of democracy and to understand how an open society works, let alone the free market. A nation experiencing rapid economic development, but struggling to find its way through the jungle of rapid social and political transformation that goes with it. Bay Ganyo became the symbol of the new opportunistic class of wannabe politicians who often went to grotesque lengths and stopped at nothing in order to accumulate as much power (and wealth) as possible - including mercilessly smearing their opponents, corrupting government officials, blackmailing entrepreneurs, racketeering the common folk, and of course... assassinations.

In an ironic twist of fate, Aleko Konstantinov himself was eventually killed by his political opponents, because he never held his tongue and always strove to expose the wrongdoings of the ruling elite. They never forgave him for it, so he was eventually eliminated.

This cartoon here is from that time (1897), Aleko's most famous character Bay Ganyo, the paragon of Balkanness, taking his next victim on his way to political invincibility: his own creator.

Aleko remains in our history as the founder of the Bulgarian tourist movement. The first tourist center on top of the majestic Vitosha mountain just above Sofia is named after him.

Sadly, now looking back at his stories and essays, we realize that not much has changed since those times. Only we wear more "modern" clothes and use more modern gadgets these days. But what had been in our brains back then, is pretty much what is inside our heads now, too. ;-(

Bay Ganyo reading a book:


Typical Balkanite:

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Reading your explanation, the cartoon obviously is rich of subtext and has a piercing insight. You guys must have a great school of cartoonists.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

+1.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I don't want this to be taken the wrong way, but that looks an awful lot like Mario. I also find it weird sometimes that nations have stereotypes of themselves that are actually not all that pleasant. Sometimes, though, the truth would be harsh but unpleasant and there would be a necessity to speak it. >.>

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

He does look like Mario, come to think of it! :-)

[dwer.livejournal.com]

It'sa him!