ALEXANDER BOZHINOV - POLITICS IN CARICATURE AND CARICATURE IN POLITICS

Abstract

The report aims to trace the stages of the evolution of the Bulgarian political cartoon in the context of the
political events of the first decades of the twentieth century in Bulgaria. The focus of the study is the work of
Alexnadar Bozhinov - the creator of the Bulgarian political cartoon. His cartoons are indicative of the changes in the
political context, the reception of historical events, the shaping and content of the images. The study clarifies
specific characteristics of the Bulgarian art of laughter – exposing Social vice, forming a character system, whose
ridicule is the result of depicting current political circumstances and figures. In this connection, the interest of the
cartoonist Bozhinov to the figure of the ruler, to political persons, an image of their passions in opposition to the
public interest. Interpretation involves the evolution of the traditional idea of another according to changed historical
circumstances. The report examines cartoons emblematic of Bozhinov's work, published on the pages of "Bulgaran"
and "Smyakh" magazines. Cartoons present both pivotal historical events and their public resonance and evaluation,
conveyed through the instrumentality of laughter. In connection with the change of viewpoints during the individual
decades of the first half of the 20th century - pre-war and wartime, individual images and plot schemes in individual
cartoons are also discussed. The caricatures of Bozhinov show that the Bulgarians, as well as other people, the
ordinary people, in moments of great historical trials, are victims of the struggles of the Great Powers. But they also
most often fall victim to the personal ambitions and passions of those in power, to their unprepared and unfitted to
work for peace and cooperation among nations. And, according to Bozhinov, peace, understanding, joint coexistence
are embedded in human nature. And for it, all of we have to work with both a smile and a wink.