Logos-based Visual Persuasion in Selected English and Arabic Coronavirus Cartoons (2020-2021).

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lecturer in Linguistics - Faculty of Al Alsun /Ain Shams University

2 Associate professor of Linguistics - Faculty of Al Alsun /Ain Shams University

Abstract

The study at hand examines visual persuasion based on the logical means of fallacies of argumentation and topoi in selected English and Arabic newspaper cartoons (2020-2021) about the precautionary measures of social distancing and staying home during COVID-19 pandemic, integrating Birdsell and Groarke’s (2007) theory of visual argument. Data analysis shows that cartoonists in both datasets share the same stances of supporting the precautionary measures, warning against breaking them by joining social and family gatherings, and representing the people relaxing or breaking the measures in negative terms. Cartoons constituting both data sets employ the same fallacies of argumentation and topoi, though in varying degrees. The most significant finding is the abundance of the ‘topoi of definition’ and ‘name interpretation’ in English cartoons in contrast to the abundance of the ‘topoi of responsibility’ and ‘topoi of danger and threat’ in the Arabic set. Another important difference is the high frequency of ‘the strawman fallacy’ and ‘the abusive variant’ in the Arabic data, which suggests that argumentation in Arabic might be characterized by a strong direct attack on the opponent, those breaking the precautionary measures here. Last, cartoons in both data sets rely on the visual means of symbols and metaphors to a great extent.

Keywords

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics