'n Tematiese inhoudsanalise van die boodskappe in spotprente om Punch gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog (1899-1902)

English: The cartoon is a medium that has been used for centuries to provide political and social comment, and to this day, it is an important media phenomenon. Through the ages, cartoons were used as medium of propaganda, especially in times of war. The Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902) has been described as the first real media war. In particular, the British government had no qualms about using the media for distributing British war propaganda. Satirical publications were popular media of communication, especially because it contained cartoons. During the Anglo-Boer War, the use of cartoons flourished, and because it was so popular, it was used efficiently by the British media. The primary aim of this study has thus been a thematic content analysis of the messages in cartoons in the satirical British journal Punch during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). the secondary aims were to determine which codes, conventions, encoding strategies, and characters appeared in the cartoons, as well as to determine any stereotyping in the cartoons. A qualitative content analysis was done, in particular a propaganda analysis. Cartoons were chosen from two of the three phases of the Anglo-Boer War because not many cartoons were available from the guerrilla phase. Cartoons were thus taken from the first two phases, i.e. the Boer Offensive (October 1899 to December 1899) and the British Offensive (January 1900 to September 1900). In total, 40 cartoons (Addendum I) from these two phases were analysed. It was concluded that, in general, Punch was biased towards the British government and British troops. By placing these cartoons, they tried to enhance the British war propaganda, and they wanted to encourage the public to support th British troops. Punch clearly enhanced British patriotism by placing cartoons in which British soldiers were portrayed as hero figures. It seems that they purposefully did not place cartoons concerning battles that the British had lost or which had been an embarrassment to them. Although one does find cartoons in which the British government, in particular Joseph Chamberlain, the British Minister of Colonies, was criticized, it happened seldom, and the overall message to be gleaned from the cartoons is clear: Britain was the strongest, best, and most powerful and would not be subdued by anybody (especially not the Boers). Punch also tried to influence the rest of the world in this respect. In clear contrast, President Paul Kruger and the Boers were portrayed, in general, as stupid, backward, and aggressive. Punch portrayed the Boers as aggressors while, in reality, Britain had set the Boers an ultimatum, and they had no choice but to declare war in order to maintain their independence. In particular, Punch did not hesitate to heckle with Kruger, and the image created of him amongst the British public was definitely not positive. Time and again, he was portrayed as a ridiculous, passive old man, who could not elicit respect and who was actually only looking after his own interests. Howerver, he did make a clear impression on the British media, and they were not able to ignore him. This study clearly found that Punch was biased towards the British. This could clearly be seen in cartoons they placed. It could also be seen in cartoons purposefully omitted in order to polish the British image or to try to hide their mistakes. However, much research could still be done on the role of cartoons during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).