American and Soviet Political Cartoons in the Cold War: Theoretical and Methodological Discourses

This article aims to devise a methodology for studying the significance of visual images in political cartoons during the Cold War. Rather than analyze U.S. and Soviet mutual representations of political cartoonists in and of themselves, it constructs theoretical and methodological frameworks that can be used in studying “the Cold War of images” between the two superpowers through the lens of cartoons. The article demonstrates that political cartoons served as a unique avenue for constructing the images of the enemy as they appealed to universal collective emotions of fear and laughter. It also reflects the methodological complexities of studying visual imagery, such as investigating artists’ backgrounds and styles for the decoding of visual messages, exploring the ideological, aesthetic, and moral values of the target audience, and forming a representative sample of political cartoons. Furthermore, the images political cartoonists employed evolved within national political culture, as well as the dynamic of mutual representations during the Cold War. The author showcases that using the constructivist approach helps historians uncover the motives and contexts behind mutual images. At the same time, the semiotic and discourse analyses allow scholars to trace constants and variables of the U.S.-Soviet “image equation” connected to their messianic messages and national self-identifications.