Charlie Hebdo, the magazine targeted in Wednesday's massacre in Paris, is one of the few publications carrying on a French tradition of mocking religion and rulers in cartoons dating back to the Revolution.
"Here (in France) we hit hard and use drawing in a militant way -- to challenge, denounce and demolish barriers," Guillaume Doizy, an expert on the history of press cartoons, told AFP.
Famed for its irreverent style, Charlie Hebdo, which was attacked by extremists claiming a mission to "avenge" cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, is unique in France for its broad thematic sweep.
"It's not only political satire but social critique, from ecology to economy and finance," said historian Christian Delporte.
Blending biting irony and black humour, Charlie as it is simply called by admirers, and Le Canard Enchaine -- its investigative, somewhat subtler counterpart -- are the custodians of a libertarian, anticlerical tradition which reached its pinnacle in the 19th century.
"These magazines know no taboos," said Delporte, although as Cabu, one of the five cartoonists among the 12 victims of Wednesday's bloodbath, once noted: "At Le Canard Enchaine, there are limits. At Charlie Hebdo, you can say and draw anything."
- Tilting at tyranny and religion -
Charlie Hebdo is the spiritual heir to L'Assiette au beurre, a satirical, anarchist paper from the early 20th century that was anticolonial, anticlerical, anticonformist and antimilitarist.
Blending strong prose with a powerful pencil stroke, the paper "took on tyranny and all forms of authority at the time," Delporte said.
Hard-hitting words and images were not, however, the sole preserve of leftist satirists.
During the infamous 1894-1906 Dreyfus affair, in which a Jewish army captain was wrongly convicted of (and eventually cleared of) leaking military secrets to Germany, and later in the inter-war years, right-wing and far right illustrators were "every bit as ferocious and talented", Doizy said.
Press caricatures were a century-old by then, having first made an appearance in the turbulent days of the French Revolution.
Back then King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were favourite targets of cartoonists, who drew the former as a pig and his spouse as a serpent. The clergy were also pilloried in printed comic strips.
But press cartoons really took off in the 19th century, peaking under the Second Empire of Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon 1).
The Catholic Church and the Vatican were prime targets for caricaturists of the day, with churchmen often drawn in embarrassing postures.
For the last 30 years Charlie Hebdo has spilt ink on all religions, without discrimination.
Today, only a handful of satirical papers have survived financial difficulties caused by falling circulation, while eschewing advertising in the name of editorial independence.
The outpouring of support for Charlie Hebdo in the aftermath of this week's attack may give the satirical press a second wind -- at least for the time being.
Charlie Hebdo, the magazine targeted in Wednesday’s massacre in Paris, is one of the few publications carrying on a French tradition of mocking religion and rulers in cartoons dating back to the Revolution.
“Here (in France) we hit hard and use drawing in a militant way — to challenge, denounce and demolish barriers,” Guillaume Doizy, an expert on the history of press cartoons, told AFP.
Famed for its irreverent style, Charlie Hebdo, which was attacked by extremists claiming a mission to “avenge” cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, is unique in France for its broad thematic sweep.
“It’s not only political satire but social critique, from ecology to economy and finance,” said historian Christian Delporte.
Blending biting irony and black humour, Charlie as it is simply called by admirers, and Le Canard Enchaine — its investigative, somewhat subtler counterpart — are the custodians of a libertarian, anticlerical tradition which reached its pinnacle in the 19th century.
“These magazines know no taboos,” said Delporte, although as Cabu, one of the five cartoonists among the 12 victims of Wednesday’s bloodbath, once noted: “At Le Canard Enchaine, there are limits. At Charlie Hebdo, you can say and draw anything.”
– Tilting at tyranny and religion –
Charlie Hebdo is the spiritual heir to L’Assiette au beurre, a satirical, anarchist paper from the early 20th century that was anticolonial, anticlerical, anticonformist and antimilitarist.
Blending strong prose with a powerful pencil stroke, the paper “took on tyranny and all forms of authority at the time,” Delporte said.
Hard-hitting words and images were not, however, the sole preserve of leftist satirists.
During the infamous 1894-1906 Dreyfus affair, in which a Jewish army captain was wrongly convicted of (and eventually cleared of) leaking military secrets to Germany, and later in the inter-war years, right-wing and far right illustrators were “every bit as ferocious and talented”, Doizy said.
Press caricatures were a century-old by then, having first made an appearance in the turbulent days of the French Revolution.
Back then King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were favourite targets of cartoonists, who drew the former as a pig and his spouse as a serpent. The clergy were also pilloried in printed comic strips.
But press cartoons really took off in the 19th century, peaking under the Second Empire of Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon 1).
The Catholic Church and the Vatican were prime targets for caricaturists of the day, with churchmen often drawn in embarrassing postures.
For the last 30 years Charlie Hebdo has spilt ink on all religions, without discrimination.
Today, only a handful of satirical papers have survived financial difficulties caused by falling circulation, while eschewing advertising in the name of editorial independence.
The outpouring of support for Charlie Hebdo in the aftermath of this week’s attack may give the satirical press a second wind — at least for the time being.
