Being Funny Is Not that Funny: Contemporary Editorial Cartooning in Iran

N ikahang K ow sar Being Funny Is N ot that Funny: C ontem porary Editorial Cartooning in Iran TW EN TY-O N E YEA RS AGO , W H EN I W AS JU ST STA R TIN G MY profession al career, m y pu b lish er told m e th at th e ayatollah s con sider satire to be n on sen se an d, b ase d on on e o f th e section s o f Q uran , a devoted M u slim sh ou ld avoid n on sen se. In oth er w ords, a satir ist or car to on ist cou ld be con sid er ed a “sin n er.” An yon e w h o k n ow in gly resists th e ru les o f Allah to follow Satan cou ld n ’t be a good person an d believer. Tw elve years ago, on e o f m y cartoon s (see figu re 1) created ch aos ju st p r ior to th e p ar liam en tar y election s. M an y sem in aries closed in protest o f w h at I h ad don e, an d th ou san d s o f clergy stu den ts an d th eir su pervisors staged a sit-dow n p rotest for fou r days. I h ad p ossib ly an tag­ on ized th e m o st pow erfu l class in th e cou n tiy, b u t I h ad on ly draw n a cartoon o f a crocodile sh ed d in g “crocod ile t e ar s” w h ile str an glin g a jou r n alist w ith its tail an d playin g victim ! Th e crocodile w as cryin g “No on e’s gon n a save m e fr om th is m ercen ary w r iter ?” It w as referEditor ’s note: Many of th e cartoons in this article are in low resolution because the publications in which th ey first appeared have been sh ut down and th e original art­ w ork is no longer available. We have chosen to publish th em anyway, believing that it is im portant to share th em w ith our readers even if pixellated. The illustrations will also all be available on our website at www.newschool.edu/cps/socres-kowsar.pdf, where th ey will appear with the artists’ in tended clarity. s o c ia l re s e a rc h V o l. 7 9 : N o . 1 : S p r in g 2 0 1 2 117 F ig u re 1. “ O s ta d T e m s a h ” b y N ik a h a n g K o w sa r, A z a d n e w s p a p e r, 2 0 0 0 . “ P ro fe s s o r C ro c o d ile ” c rie s: “ N o b o d y ’s g o n n a h e lp m e g e t rid o f th is m e rc e ­ n a ry w rite r? ” T h is c a rto o n c a u s e d a n a tio n a l s e c u rity c ris is in 2 0 0 0 , w e e k s b e fo re th e s ix th p a rlia m e n ta ry e le c tio n . rin g to Ayatollah M esbah Yazdi’s allegation s ab ou t Iran ian jou r n alists bein g bribed by a CIA ch ie f w h o h ad allegedly traveled to Teh ran w ith a large su itcase fu ll o f US dollars. M esbah , a very pow erfu l ayatollah w h o tu rn ed out to be th e gu ru o f Iran ian P...