Ghisberto is an Italian political cartoonist. He has been described as a right-wing populist for his cartoons, which attack left-wing politicians and immigrants.[1][2][3][4]
Biography
editGhisberto worked briefly as a cartoonist in 1993. Having moved to Cuba, he began uploading political cartoons to his website and social media in 2016.[1]: 33 Unlike Alfio Krancic of the right-wing newspaper Il Giornale and Mario Improta (nicknamed Marione) of the Five Star Movement party, Ghisberto's cartoons are produced independently and the only oversight is his frequent blocking and banning from social media.[1]: 33–34
Analysis
edit
Ghisberto's cartoons often show sharp divides between a perceived left-wing elite and the common people: the former are portrayed as living in wealthy, gated communities and using migrants as servants, while the latter are deemed racists by the elite and portrayed as living in poverty with dangerous migrants.[1]: 36–38 Migrant men are depicted in a sexualised manner, while left-wing women are shown to support migration in order to have sex with them; the migrants are also shown as wealthy, and Muslims as a fifth column.[1]: 40–41, 45 Left-wing women are drawn to be ugly with sagging breasts, while the men wear ragged clothes and stink.[2] Pro-migrant NGOs, such as Sea-Watch, and the European Union are caricaturised as military enemies that Italy must defend itself from.[1]: 40–41 While right-wing leaders, such as Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini, occasionally feature in a positive light, Ghisberto's cartoons vary from many of his fellow right-wing artists in that they do not endorse a leader to fight against the perceived elite.[1]: 45–46 He has also made Vignette Buoniste ("Do-Gooder Cartoons") that are sympathetic to migrants and people from third-world countries.[5]
In July 2017, Ghisberto made a cartoon showing a wall between a "Communist beach" and a "Fascist beach". The former is full of litter, drugs, miscegenation, migrant boats, and public urination and defecation. The latter – guarded by Benito Mussolini – has traditional families and gas chambers for opponents. Mattia Salvia of Vice News considered that it showed a false dichotomy between fascism and communism.[1]: 44–45 [6] According to Corrado Mordasini of the Swiss-Italian website GAS, the works of Ghisberto and Marione seek to anger more than to entertain.[2]
Notable cartoons
editIn January 2017, Ghisberto received wider attention for his response to a Charlie Hebdo cartoon mocking earthquakes and avalanches in central Italy. While the French publication showed Death skiing downhill, Ghisberto showed rescue workers skiing faster and giving Death the middle finger. The image was shared by Sergio Pirozzi, mayor of the affected town of Amatrice.[7][8][9]
In August 2020, Ghisberto made a cartoon comparing perceived scaremongering over four COVID-19 deaths in one day to 1,121 deaths from heart disease and cancer. The image was shared by Alberto Zangrillo, head of anaesthesia and resucitation at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, to some controversy.[10][11]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Polli, Chiara (2021), "Framing right-wing populist satire: The case-study of Ghisberto's cartoons in Italy", Punctum, vol. 06, no. 2 (published 2020), pp. 29–55, doi:10.18680/hss.2020.0020, hdl:11572/297240, ISSN 2459-2943
- ^ a b c Mordasini, Corrado (12 December 2018). "I vignettisti di destra non fanno ridere" [Right-wing cartoonists aren't funny] (in Italian). GAS. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ Salvia, Mattia (25 October 2016). "È arrivato il momento di parlare della satira di destra in Italia" [The time has come to speak about right-wing satire in Italy]. Vice News (in Italian). Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ Mossetti, Paolo (24 April 2019). "Arsenale K, Marione e gli altri: viaggio nel mondo della satira sovranista" [Arsenale K, Marione and the rest: a journey into the world of sovereignist satire]. Wired (in Italian). Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Vignette Buoniste" [Do-Gooder Cartoons] (in Italian). Ghisberto. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Cosa ci dice dell'Italia del 2017 questa vignetta su fascisti e comunisti" [What does this cartoon about fascists and communists say about Italy in 2017]. Vice News (in Italian). 12 July 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Emergenza Centro Italia, il sindaco di Amatrice risponde a Charlie Hebdo" [Central Italy emergency, mayor of Amatrice responds to Charlie Hebdo]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 21 January 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Rigopiano, la risposta di un vignettista italiano allo humour nero di Charlie Hebdo" [Rigopiano, an Italian cartoonist's response to Charlie Hebdo's black humour] (in Italian). TgCom24. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Rigopiano, la risposta di Ghisberto alla vignetta di Charlie Hebdo" [Rigopiano, Ghisberto's response to Charlie Hebdo cartoon]. La Stampa (in Italian). 24 January 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Coronavirus, la vignetta scettica di Zangrillo che scatena il web" [Coronavirus, Zangrillo's sceptical cartoon that stirs up the web]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 23 August 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Alberto Zangrillo, la vignetta sul Covid fa infuriare i catastrofisti del virus" [Alberto Zangrillo, COVID cartoon infuriates virus doomsdayers]. Il Tempo (in Italian). 23 August 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.