Representations of US Acts of Extra-Territoriality as Illustrated in Pakistani-English Political Cartoons
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: The geopolitical significance of Pakistan in the Global War on Terror has led to multiple instances of the US acting in an extra-territorial manner. Repeated territorial intrusion by the US strains US-Pakistan relations because extra-territoriality is viewed as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. This study analyzes Pakistani-English political cartoons to examine the ways the US extra-territoriality is represented. Approximately 2940 political cartoons are collected from four Pakistani-English newspapers: Dawn, The Express Tribune, The Nation, and The News. Wallerstein’s world-system theory provides the theoretical backdrop to demonstrate the explicit (military) and implicit (economic, cultural, and political/diplomatic) means a hegemonic-core power can act extra-territorially towards a state in the periphery. A combination of content analysis and social semiotic analysis methodologies is used. Content analysis reveals a total of 323 US-related political cartoons that are classified into themes of economic, cultural, military, and political/diplomatic depictions in political cartoons. A visual social semiotic analysis deconstructs the visual rhetoric of extra-territoriality as expressed in the various themed political cartoons. The outcome of these two methodologies provides a holistic illustration of the ways US extra-territoriality in a sovereign but periphery state like Pakistan is viewed.
DOI: 10.26076/23ae-e817
Author: Niaz, Aina S.
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Utah State University
OpenAlex ID: W922015125