IndexAbstractWho is Z?The objectives of the studyLiterature reviewMethodologyData analysis of "Z" political cartoonsDiscussionConclusionReferenceAbstractRecently, political cartoons have attracted great interest by researchers and have become a powerful interdisciplinary research field across diverse research such as sociology, education, communication and psychology. Political cartoons become a powerful tool for conveying thousands of different words and messages through a single image. This research paper aims to investigate the political cartoons illustrated by the anonymous Tunisian cartoonist “Z” and how he uses his cartoons to reflect socio-political issues in Tunisia. The investigation will be directed towards the main themes and visual elements of selective political cartoons taking into consideration the style of the cartoonist. This study takes a qualitative approach to analyze the samples. The methodology used in this article focuses on analyzing the context of political cartoons based on semiotics and with a main focus on themes and visual representation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayKeywords: political cartoons; semiotic; Z; Themes; visual representation. The old English saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is true; due to the dominance of visual communication in our world. Today, tons of words can easily be reduced into a single image. In this regard, Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen in their revised version of their book, “The Grammar of Visual Design”, state that “… what is expressed in language through the choice between different word classes and clause structures, can , in visual communication, be expressed through the choice between different uses of color or different compositional structures". Thus, the political cartoon has occupied niches in “media discourse” as a prevalent subgenre alongside magazines, newspapers, television channels, posters, and prints. It has also invaded social media platforms like Facebook, blogs, websites, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter…etc. All over the world, comics become a mirror of the social and political life of countries. It has been known as a weapon of criticism and propaganda rather than as an art form. The political cartoon has demonstrated its ability and effectiveness in trivializing the most complex issues and conflicts. Unlike texts, articles or speeches, the political cartoon has the power to immediately expose the most sophisticated issues. In similar words, Neighbor states that political cartoons “… can often have more truth and insight than hundreds of words of text-based analysis.” Its ability to convey messages to people with minimal reading skills was the reason for its wide popularity. History has always been proof of the power and danger that political cartoons have; especially in totalitarian countries. For example, Charles Philippon; a French lithographer, caricaturist and journalist, was arrested for depicting Emperor Louis Philippe as “le poire” and got away with a fine and an apology. Even in Great Britain, during the reign of Queen Victoria, drawing members of the royal family in cartoons was considered a crime; in fact nowadays it becomes a fashion in the West. Unlike the West, where cartoonists enjoy freedom of expression, cartoonists in the Middle East still suffer from repression by dictatorial regimes. In Tunisia, before the “Jasmine Revolution” and during the presidency of Zine El Abidine BenAli, all kinds of freedoms, including “freedom of expression, of the press and of art,” were almost non-existent or under government censorship. It is clear, therefore, that the power of the cartoon threatened the authorities. In other words, political cartoons can articulate thoughts that might just be concrete in the back of people's minds. It can clarify nebulous and ill-formed attitudes and bring them to life. Cartoons can be emotional, partial, extremely critical, provocative and provocative at the same time; where other printed modes of communication cannot advance. During Ben Ali's reign, the art of drawing political cartoons was classified as a crime. Furthermore, Tunisian cartoonists were forbidden to draw anything related to the government and its politics or its politicians. The authorities try to blur reality and prevent cartoonists from projecting the real Tunisia through the eyes of their cartoons. In the midst of this enormous despotism, “Z”, the Tunisian political cartoonist, chooses to draw and criticize Tunisian policies and government under anonymity to practice his freedom of expression and avoid repression from the sovereign. Who is Z?Z (often stylized as 'Z') is the nickname of the Tunisian political cartoonist and online activist. He launched his online blog “DébaTunisie” on August 28, 2007. His cartoons have targeted the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the administrations that followed the 2011 Tunisian revolution. He chooses to hide his true identity to avoid self-censorship. “I don't have any red lines inside me. I am the only Arab cartoonist who is totally free in my art," he says with sadness rather than pride. Even after the revolution he did not discover his identity. He insisted on remaining anonymous because he thinks freedom of expression can be temporary. He has one very notable and precise style in drawing political cartoons. For example, the pink flamingo has become his trademark and the mascot of the blog. The main themes of his cartoons are “the mauves”, the supporters of Ben Ali's government, and “the blues”, referring to Islamists. He often uses the color purple in his cartoons. The reason for his choice is that purple is Ben Ali's favorite color. The objectives of the study In my research article, I will investigate 9 drawings of cartoons by Tunisian cartoonist “Z” before and after the revolution. The study will aim to find out how political cartoons “Z” can reflect social and political issues and expose the Tunisian regime before and after the revolution. What are the main themes of the “Z” political cartoons from 2008 to 2017? Can we see Tunisia through the eyes of political cartoons? Political cartoons are able to project the most complex socio-political issues. So we can see Tunisia through the eyes of political cartoons.Literature ReviewRecently, scientific research in applied linguistics has witnessed a growing interest in studying political cartoons from various perspectives such as pragmatics, critical discourse analysis (CDA) , semiotics, multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) and visual rhetoric. This has made political cartooning a powerful interdisciplinary research field that cuts across research such as sociology, education, communication, and psychology. Many previous studies on political cartoons focused on their functions and nature. For example, in his study, Streicher examined the function of political cartoons as communication tools and explored their influence on public opinion. His finding demonstrated that political cartoons have the ability to clearly inform people about an event or news story and comment on social and political issues. He argued that visual messages facilitate communicationeffective. Malawate focused on the importance of political cartoons for newspapers. His study reveals the effectiveness of political cartoons compared to editorials. Many previous researchers resort to using pragmatics as an analytical framework to examine political cartoons. For example, Nonyerem aimed to reveal the hidden message or information in funny cartoon stories through pragmatic analysis of “leadership” cartoons in selected Nigerian newspapers. His findings indicate that pragmatic reading of cartoons is vital to interpret their real meaning and project serious messages to the reader. Juprizal, Effendu and Mukhiayar conducted a pragmatic analysis of "online political cartoons" and their impact on EFL learners, pragmatic competence (PC), authentic vocabulary knowledge (AVK) and higher order linguistic thinking skills (HOTS). In another study, Al keyed and kitishat investigated the violation of the Grice maxims in Jordanian newspaper cartoons. They found that political cartoons flout conversational maxims to send implicit messages and meanings to readers. Furthermore, Oluremi and Ajepe conducted a pragmatic reading of Nigeria's 2015 political cartoons published four months before the 2015 elections. His analysis reveals the interaction between political cartoons and Mey's 2001 theory of pragmatics. Furthermore, l Critical discourse analysis (CDA) has been used as an approach to the study of political cartoons. For example, Mazid used the semiotic-discursive aspects of CDA to examine ideological representations in cartoons of Bush and Bin Laden; to expose implicit and explicit meanings and to express hidden information, strategies and ideologies. Nagy examined media cartoons related to the Gaza conflict, exploring the role of political cartoons in controlling people's minds and their contribution in the process of redirecting popular ideologies in favor of the Palestinians. He said political cartoons play a crucial role in portraying Palestinians as victims and Israel as the devil. Furthermore, Al Hamdi examined the use of political cartoons during popular protests. He focused on the 2011 Tunisian riots as a case study. He found that political cartoons were used to critically reflect on the political, economic and social conditions in Tunisia during the transitional phase. Other studies have focused on the visual power of political cartoons in highlighting social and political conflicts in society. For example, Tsakona used the multimodal theory of humor as an analytical framework to examine the interaction of language and imagery in cartoons. In his study, he stated that political humor is a complex process and the viewer should carefully look at the visual and verbal details involved in each cartoon to reach the message conveyed by it. Similarly, Sani studied the role of political cartoons in setting the social agenda through the projection of social issues through mass media. He explained the importance of visual communication in illustrating themes and events. His findings demonstrated that political cartoons serve as a vehicle for setting the social agenda. He argued that cartoons were an effective means of communication. Furthermore, Mateus focused on visual rhetoric in Portuguese cartoons. He found that political cartoons serve as communicative weapons capable of enhancing political understanding and reconceptualization of events, through specific frames of understanding. MethodologyMy research paper seeks to answer twomain questions; First, what are the main themes of "Z" political cartoons from 2008 to 2017? Secondly, can we see Tunisia through the eyes of political cartoons? To answer these questions, data was collected from the online blog of the anonymous cartoonist Z www.Débatunisie.com. The study analyzed 8 political cartoons to demonstrate that political cartoons are able to reflect socio-political issues in Tunisia and easily communicate to the population through the exploration of main themes and the analysis of visual elements. The study uses a qualitative approach to analyze political cartoons. It focuses on analyzing cartoon elements such as participants, captions, symbols, metaphors, facial expressions, and irony to illustrate major themes. The methodology used for the analysis is based on the theory of visual semiotics. More specifically, the study focuses on the content of political cartoons and visual communication. It is important to underline that the corpus of 8 cartoons analyzed in this article includes captions in two languages; French and Arabic. So I will translate what is in French and Arabic into English. The analysis pays attention to the context of the cartoon and its graphic elements. The analysis of selective cartoons is brought closer to the theory of visual semiotics provided by Kress and Van Leeuwen in their reviewed book “the grammar of visual design”. The study is interested in the language and themes provided by visual and verbal cues in political cartoons. Since the research focuses on visual semiotics, the study will focus on the meanings of colors, shapes and signs taking into consideration the cartoonist's style. The study not only focuses on the main themes provided by the cartoons but also on the integration of the themes with the visual representation by taking into consideration the cartoonist's style and his imprint on each cartoon. Data Analysis of Political Cartoons "Z" The following political cartoon depicts the Emirates project in Tunisia which was supposed to be born in the southern lake of the capital. In August 2008 “Z” began drawing a series of cartoons against government policies to raise awareness among the Tunisian population of the long-term risks that the project would entail. He uses flamingos to indirectly convey serious messages to the population without directly referring to the Tunisian government. He uses the cartoon as a communication weapon to alarm the Tunisian population. The first cartoon published on his blog in August 2008 under the title "Pink flamingos demonstrate against the occupation of the emirate" is an image of a group of pink flamingos protesting against the occupation of the emirate. joint venture between the government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pink flamingos have a double meaning. On the one hand they symbolize the ecosystem and the distinctive characteristics of the lake. And on the other hand they symbolize the oppressed citizens to whom the lake was sold without their consent. Those flamingos carry three banners with slogans against the project “Go away”, “it's ours” and “we will stay here”. Metaphorically, the cartoonist personifies the birds and gives them the opportunity to speak and express their opinions on the foundation of the project. He resorts to drawing animals instead of humans to indirectly send his messages without referring to the government. The choice of the title of this cartoon is very significant, especially the phrase “the occupation of the emirate” which connotes a warning about the indirect settlement of the emirate in public properties. The following political cartoons were published in 2009. The cartoonist tries to highlight his opinion regarding the elections in Tunisia through his cartoons. Secondthe Cartooning for Peace website, in 2009, a university professor and activist blogger named “Fatma Riahi” was arrested by Tunisian authorities, accused of being Z due to a cartoon drawn by Z entitled “The Election Comedy”, two days later to the re-election of Ben Ali. The authorities, after arresting Fatma for a few hours, released her because Z had drawn another cartoon containing a message directed at the government. This cartoon was an image of her trademark "pink flamingo" with two captions "I am not Fatma" and "we are all Fatma". The political cartoon therefore represents a certificate of innocence for Fatma. In more detail: Cartoon No. 2 published in October 2009 and entitled “the election comedy” depicts the president in a white suit with a purple tie standing in a theater in a circle with his supporters dressed in Ben Ali's favorite color, the “purple”, who applauds and cheers for the president. Ironically, Z chooses theater to attract Ben Ali and his political party with the headline above “Tunisia's national theater presents for the fifth time! The electoral comedy" to convey the idea of ​​the fake and that the election is nothing more than a great comedy performed by the same actors for two decades "for the fifth time!". On both sides of the curtain there are two captions. On the left, “100%suspense” sarcastically contradicts the phrase “present for the fifth time” to indirectly convey that the outcome of the 2009 election is predictable and, conversely, there is no suspense. While on the right, the wording “100% extra” ironically and indirectly indicates the idea that nothing is new. In other words, it's been the same play and the same ending for two decades. According to Donis, circles imply infinity. Therefore, the act of surrounding Ben Ali and forming a circle implies that the false elections, repression and the whole game are lasting. Additionally, Ben Ali is depicted wearing a white suit. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen, the color white tends to express purity. The cartoonist uses the color white not to express Ben Ali's purity but on the contrary to convey that this cartoon represents a masquerade in which the oppressor wears the dress of purity and forgiveness. The above cartoon published on November 6, 2009, is an image of her trademark "pink flamingo" and a mountain in the background with angry facial expressions bearing the slogans "I am not Fatma" and "we are all Fatma". These slogans are a direct message to the government to inform them that Fatma is not he “Z”. Symbolically, he uses the mountain of “Boukornine” to refer to Tunisia and the Tunisian people and their anger towards Fatma's arrest. Therefore, her cartoon represents a certificate of innocence for her. It is one of his most powerful cartoons. It was published in his blog on December 28, 2010 (15 days before Ben Ali's escape) and titled “soon”. The title makes it clear that this is a prescient and predictable cartoon. It depicts a prediction of Z due to the recent events in Tunisia and illustrates the dream of the Tunisian population to free themselves from dictatorship and authoritarian regime. The analysis of this cartoon and the exploration of its symbolism indicates that while the explosion of the “Boukornine Mountain” as a volcano occurring in the background of the cartoon symbolizes the indignation of Tunisians and connotes the revolution against the regime, Ben Ali and His family is getting on a plane to escape to Saudi Arabia. The choice of the plane number “air force 7” connotes the date of Ben Ali's inauguration as president of Tunisia on 7 November 1987. Symbolically and deliberately, the cartoonist uses the number “7” to represent two main events; past power and current loss. In this cartoon, Ben Ali's family carries a box with them whilegoes up the stairs. The box symbolizes all the money stolen from Tunisians and connotes a warning to the Tunisian population that their money would disappear with the deposition of the president. Sarcastically, Z depicts Ben Ali supporters holding bags and asking "what about us?" while the bodyguard prevents them from boarding the plane and the president greets them by calling them "ungrateful people". Thus, the "mallows" are left behind to face the indignation of the revolutionaries, while the president flees with his family. Cartoon N°5 and cartoon N°6 were published on January 16, 2011, after Ben's ouster Ali, and entitled “the new Tunisia”. The title connotes a dream of Z's about the rebirth of Tunisia after liberating its population from the oppressive regime. In cartoon N°5, Z depicts a table covered by the Tunisian flag where a group of people are sitting around the table with smiles on their faces. Here the flag-covered table symbolizes the beginning of a free debate. The participants in this debate symbolize the different categories of society; where we can see Islamists, liberals, bloggers, women and men sitting together and starting a democratic debate to reform Tunisia. Typically, cartoon N°6 represents Tunisia decades after the jasmine revolution as Z dreamed of. Here he conveys his prediction about Tunisia and what it will be like after the reforms. The cartoonist depicts a grandfather sitting and talking to his granddaughter in a garden. The little girl with a smile on her face asks her grandfather about the revolution as depicted in the bubble “Grandpa! Tell me about the jasmine revolution." In addition to this, the cartoonist depicts on the back of his cartoon two couples walking down the street hand in hand. Therefore, Z represents the freedom, peace, calm and harmony that Tunisia would achieve. He foresees a colorful future for Tunisia without the purple one. As we see in this cartoon, all colors are presented in the cartoon except “purple” which symbolizes the dictatorial regime. In this cartoon the color green dominates. According to De Bortoli and Maroto, the color green implies peace and tranquility. The cartoonist therefore predicts a bright future for Tunisia. Furthermore, the pink flamingo in flight in the cartoon symbolizes the cartoonist and connotes his freedom of expression, while the two pigeons universally connote peace. Cartoon N°7 and cartoon N°8 were published on September 14, 2017 and subsequently titled “Reconciliation with the dictatorship” and “National Reconciliation”. The first structure of the title is based on the contradiction “reconciliation and dictatorship”. This contradictory composition reveals what lies behind the scenes of the transitional government. The two cartoons expose the real situation in Tunisia after the revolution and the deconstruction of the dream explained in the previous cartoons. In more detail: Cartoon N°7 depicts a group of politicians such as the current president “El Baji Kaid El Sebssi” and the leader of Enahdha “Rashid El Ghannoushi” and others who symbolize the government in Tunisia after the Covered Jasmine Revolution together by a purple lace while “El Sebssi” and “Ben Ali” shake hands and smile. In this cartoon, the color purple reappeared in panel Z to symbolize the dictatorial regime and to connote the existence of the remnants of Ben Ali's regime, the failure of the revolution and the illusion presented in panel N°5 and panel N° 6. There are two main captions in this cartoon: "high five" and "good job, folks"; they represent a dialogue between “El Sebssi” and “Ben Ali” and connote a conspiracy between them. For example, in our culture “high five” connotes a secret plan. The cartoonist thus tries to convey the threat that will affect Tunisia in the future. There.