Includes bibliography. / Cartooning is an extremely heterogeneous practice whose genealogy can be traced back to caricature. This paper does not concern itself with the diversity that can be found in the cartoons of Derek Bauer and Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro), but rather chooses to focus on the potential of cartooning as a critical art practice. Given that the "flipside" of criticism is censorship, the effects of censorship on cartooning together with cartooning's response to censorship will also be examined. Cartoons published in the alternative press after the 1985 declaration of a State of Emergency, but preceding the unbanning of political organisations in February 1990, which comment directly on press or political censorship, as well as those which raise issues pertinent to censorship, provide the basis for examining the converse notions of criticism and censorship. Having said this it should also be stated at the outset that whilst this paper focuses on particular cartoons produced in specific historical circumstances, it is also intended that this paper will have broader implications for the development of a contemporary critical art practice. This paper proceeds from the premise that criticism and censorship are oppositional and antagonistic concepts which seldom appear alone. Criticism, particularly when expressed publicly and directed at specific interest groups (eg. a ruling elite) frequently evokes censorship, whilst censorship and repression in turn breed criticism and resistance.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There are vanous definitions of the concept humour, each depending on the perception thereof. Such perceptions are influenced by shared experiences, culture, milieu and individual creativity. Pictorial humour is divided into various sub genres such as the caricature, cartoon and comic strip. Each one of these sub genres portrays an individual process of development, both locally and globally. The work of TO Honiball forms part of this tradition. His artistic personality and sense of humour is unmistakably portrayed in his creative work. Honiball became famous as a political cartoonist and played an important role in the rise of the National Party, seeing that his association with the Nasionale Pers provided him with a forum as opinion-former. It is said that his comic strips Oom Kaspaas, Jakkals en Wolf and Adoons-hulle influenced different age groups and even people who were not Afrikaners. It was however mainly Afrikaans-speaking people who strongly identified with these strips due to the strong Afrikaans character thereof. Various instances own Honniballiana, where it is being preserved and is available for research purposes. A number of marketing initiatives were launched to promote the work of Honiball, mainly by TO Honiball-Promosies. Despite the fact that much of his work is dated, new interest is generated by utilising his work in educational programmes. Honiball's body of work is a source for culture-historical research seeing that it offers references to the tangible and intangible culture of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans during his lifetime. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Etlike definisies bestaan van die begrip humor, afhangend van die persepsie daarvan. Sodanige persepsies word beïnvloed deur onder andere gedeelde ondervindings, kultuur, milieu en individuele kreatiwiteit. Pikturale humor word onderverdeel in verskillende sub-genres, soos die karikatuur, spotprent en strokie. Hierdie sub-genres toon elk 'n afsonderlike ontwikkelingsgang, plaaslik en globaal. Die werk van TO Honiball vorm deel van dié tradisie. Sy kunstenaarspersoonlikheid en humorsin word eweneens onmiskenbaar verbeeld in sy skeppings. Honiball het bekendheid verwerf as politieke spotprenttekenaar en het 'n belangrike rol gespeel in die opgang van die Nasionale Party, omdat sy verbintenis met die Nasionale Pers aan hom 'n forum gebied het om as meningsvormer op te tree. Daar word beweer dat sy strokiesreekse Oom Kaspaas, Jakkals en Wolf en Adoons-hulle verskillende ouderdomsgroepe en selfs mense van ander volksgroepe as die Afrikaner bereik het. As gevolg van die eg- Afrikaansheid daarvan het egter hoofsaaklik Afrikaanssprekendes sterk aanklank daarby gevind. Verskillende instansies is in besit van Honiballiana, waar dit bewaar word en beskikbaar is vir navorsingsdoeleindes. 'n Aantal bemarkingsinisiatiewe is geloods om Honiball se werk te promoveer, hoofsaaklik deur TO Honiball-Promosies. Ten spyte van die feit dat talle voorbeelde van sy werk gedateer is, word nuwe belangstelling gegenereer deur middel van die aanwending van sy werk in opvoedkundige programme. Honiball se oeuvre bied bronne vir kultuurhistoriese navorsing aangesien dit verwysings bied na die geestelike en stoflike kultuur van Afrikaanssprekendes gedurende sy leeftyd.

In the last decade of apartheid (1985-1994), South African cartoonists demonstrated a range of responses to the political imperatives of the day. While some worked in support of the status quo, the cartoonists who are the subject of this study opposed it. Like practitioners in other areas of cultural activity during this period, oppositional cartoonists were passionately engaged with the political process and participated in the articulation and dissemination of discourses of resistance. This study situates South African cartooning both in the context of South African resistance discourse, and in the historical and discursive context of cartooning as a form of international popular culture. It presents an argument as to how cartooning should be defined and studied - as a cluster of signifying practices that produce a range of forms in a variety of media. In terms of this definition, anti-apartheid cartooning in South Africa is identified as a specific historical category, within which distinct streams of cartooning are identified. The study locates the various activities of South African cartooning within these streams, and examines the ideological and educational functions they performed during the 1985-1994 period. The study positions cartooning within the broad theoretical field of cultural and media studies, and examines some theoretical problems that are specific to the analysis of visual culture. A language of exposition appropriate to the study of cartooning is developed, borrowing terms from the sometimes widely variant traditions of art history, literary criticism and cultural studies. A methodology for the interpretation of symbolic forms is derived from the work of British cultural theorist, John B. Thompson (1990), whereby selected cartooning texts are subjected to a combination of textual interpretation, socio-historical analysis and discursive analysis, reinforced by insights derived from conversations with 15 selected South African cartoonists. Textual analysis of selected cartooning texts from the 1985-1994 period clearly demonstrates that oppositional cartoonists gave visual expression to discourses of resistance that existed in the anti-apartheid movement, and amongst the broader public, at that time. In so doing, they contributed to the disruption of the hegemony of the apartheid state, to the legitimation of the anti-apartheid struggle and to the provision of symbols and icons that ordinary South Africans were able to utilise in 'rethinking' their own lives in relation to the demands of a rapidly transforming society. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.