# Arab Press Caricature (Rose al-Yusuf to Naji al-Ali)

> The single-panel newspaper cartoon of the Arab press, from Saroukhan's covers for Cairo's Rose al-Yusuf (1928), heir to Abu Naddara (1877) and al-Kashkul (1914), to Naji al-Ali in Kuwait and Beirut and Ali Ferzat in Damascus. One drawn scene carries the joke: a fat official, a dazed citizen, a recurring everyman (Masri Effendi, Handala) in a quick ink line on bare newsprint, with a short hand-lettered Arabic line or no caption. It runs daily in a column of the page, comic, ironic and often mourning; the weekly covers add flat spot colour.

- Period: 1925–present
- Where: Middle East & North Africa
- Origin: Cairo: the weekly Rose al-Yusuf (first issue 26 October 1925), whose covers Alexander Saroukhan drew from March 1928 to 1934, then Akher Saa, Akhbar el-Yom, Sabah El-Kheir and Al-Ahram; carried on in the dailies of Kuwait, Beirut and Damascus. It took up an existing Cairo satirical press, after the papers Abu Naddara Zarqa (Ya'qub Sanu, 1877, the first Arabic-language magazine with cartoons) and al-Kashkul (Sulayman Fawzi, 1914; Al Kashkul al-Musawwar from 1921, with cartoons by Juan Sintes), which Rose al-Yusuf's Masri Effendi was made to rival
- Branch: Pictorial & machine age
- Also known as: Arab political cartoon, Egyptian press caricature, Karikatir (كاريكاتير), Handala cartoons
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-press-caricature/

## Use it with care

This is a living and dangerous craft: Naji al-Ali was shot in London in 1987 and Ali Ferzat was beaten in Damascus in 2011, and the cartoons still belong to their makers and estates. Handala is a Palestinian national symbol of refugees and the right of return: do not use him, or any named cartoonist's characters or hand, as a decorative motif or image-model prompt, and never present a generated cartoon as theirs. The tradition also drew enemies as dehumanised types (a review of al-Ali's collected cartoons notes Israelis drawn as 'vampiric goblins'): aim the exaggeration at power, rank and pomposity, never at ethnicity, religion or the bodies of the powerless, and have every Arabic line written or checked by a fluent reader.

## How it works

- Make one drawing carry the whole joke: a single panel, one scene, no strip.
- Draw in black ink on the white of the page, shading with hatching or a grey wash rather than colour.
- Give the paper a recurring everyman who watches or answers the news, and keep him the same from day to day.
- Draw types, not portraits: swell the official's belly and shrink the citizen, and let the situation name the target.
- Hand-letter a short Arabic line in the cartoonist's own hand, or drop the caption and let the picture speak.
- Leave the ground empty around the figures so the cartoon reads at one column's width on newsprint.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (defining)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (defining)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (occasional)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (occasional)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (occasional)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (defining)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)

### Medium & production
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (defining)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (characteristic)
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (defining)
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (occasional)

Avoids: Gradients, Fluorescent & neon, Blackletter, All caps, Abundant decoration, Horror vacui, Straight photography, Photomontage, Non-representational, Luxurious & glamorous

Palette: #f1ead8, #161412, #8a8580, #b8322a, #c9a35a

Typefaces: Hand-lettered Arabic in the cartoonist's own hand for the caption line and speech balloons, running right to left, The cartoonist's hand-written signature drawn into the panel, Typeset Arabic newspaper text (headline, column rules and dateline) framing the boxed cartoon on the page

Known for: Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977): covers of Rose al-Yusuf from March 1928 (his first, a drawing of Rose al-Yusuf herself) to 1934, then Akher Saa and, from 1946 until his death, Akhbar el-Yom; more than 20,000 political, social and humorous caricatures; Masri Effendi (Rose al-Yusuf, 1929 or 1930, by Saroukhan): 'a short, stout, bespectacled, somewhat dishevelled figure' in Western trousers and jacket, a fez and prayer beads, standing for the ordinary Egyptian effendi (Gershoni 2002, cited on Wikipedia); Rose al-Yusuf, front cover of issue 1021, 7 January 1948: three male figures wrapped as mummies propped upright in coffins, the middle one crying, watched by two spectators below (Dartmouth Library); Rose al-Yusuf, cover of issue 2008 (1966), designed by Ihab Shaker: an illustrated, lettered cover in grey and red (Arabic Design Archive); Salah Jahin (1930–1986): Rose al-Yusuf from 1955, editor-in-chief of Sabah El-Kheir a year later, then daily cartoons in Al-Ahram from the 1960s until his death, e.g. 'On the Soap Question' (1974); Bahgat Osman (1931–2001): Rose al-Yusuf and Sabah El-Kheir; his dictator Bahgatos (also spelled Bagatos), in the book Bahgatos Ra'ees Bahgatia Alozma ('Bahgatos President of Bahgatia The Greatest'), and the book Diktatorya lil Mubtadeen (Dictatorship for Beginners); Naji al-Ali (c. 1938–1987): Handala, a barefoot ten-year-old refugee in ragged clothes, first in Al-Seyassah (Kuwait) on 13 July 1969, back turned and hands clasped behind him from 1973; then Al-Safir (from 1974) and Al-Qabas (from 1983); over 40,000 cartoons, collected in A Child in Palestine (Verso, 2009); Ali Ferzat (b. 1951): al-Thawra from 1969, daily in Tishreen from the mid-1970s; cartoons 'typically without captions', depicting types rather than individuals; attacked in Damascus on 25 August 2011, Sakharov Prize 2011

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Alike in its design choices: [Natural Wine Label Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/natural-wine-label.md) (2007–present), 74% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Arab Independent Comics (Samandal, TokTok, Lab619, Skefkef)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-independent-comics.md) (2007–present), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Atelier Populaire (May '68 Screenprint Poster)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/atelier-populaire.md) (1968), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Escuela Bruguera (Spanish Humour Comics)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/escuela-bruguera.md) (1947–1986), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [ROSTA Windows](https://stylogeny.com/styles/rosta-windows.md) (1919–1922), 67% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Syrian Revolution Graphics (Kafranbel Banners & Poster Collectives)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/syrian-revolution-graphics.md) (2011–2024), 65% alike

## Sources

- Wikipedia (en): 'Yaqub Sanu' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaqub_Sanu: founded the satirical magazine Abu Naddara Zarqa on 21 March 1877, 'the first Arabic-language magazine to feature cartoons')
- Wikipedia (en): 'Al Kashkul' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Kashkul: established in 1914 by Sulayman Fawzi; Al Kashkul al-Musawwar ('The Illustrated Notebook') from 1921; cartoons by a Spanish teacher, Juan Sintes)
- Wikipedia (en): 'Rose al Yusuf (magazine)' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_al_Yusuf_(magazine): first published 26 October 1925; Saroukhan 'drew the cover page of the magazine from March 1928 to 1934'; Rakha and Zuhdi also contributed)
- AUB Libraries Online Exhibits, 'Women Pioneers in Arab Press: Ruz al-Yusuf' (https://online-exhibit.aub.edu.lb/exhibits/show/women-pioneers-in-arab-press/alyusuf-biography/ruz-alyusuf: first published 26 October 1925 in Cairo; issues suspended and confiscated in 1928 and 1929 for their critical content)
- Dartmouth Library, 'Rose el Youssef' (https://www.library.dartmouth.edu/rose-el-youssef: front cover of issue 1021, 7 January 1948, three figures wrapped as mummies in coffins)
- Arabic Design Archive, 'Rose El Youssef (issue 2008)' (https://arabicdesignarchive.com/collection/6401: magazine cover, 1966, designer Ihab Shaker; tagged gray, red, illustration, lettering)
- Wikipedia (en): 'Alexander Saroukhan' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Saroukhan: born 1 October 1898, studied at the Brussels Graphic Art Academy in 1922, came to Egypt in 1924, first Rose al-Yusuf cover March 1928, Akher Saa, Akhbar el-Yom until his death in 1977, more than 20,000 caricatures, El Masri Efendi)
- Egyptian Streets, 'Alexander Sarokhan: Legendary Political Cartoonist of the 1900s' (13 November 2020, https://egyptianstreets.com/2020/11/13/alexander-sarokhan-legendary-political-cartoonist-of-the-1900s/: covers March 1928–1934, Akhir Sa'a from 1934, Akhbar El-Yom from 1946)
- Wikipedia (en): 'Masri Effendi' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masri_Effendi: created by Saroukhan for Ruz al Yusuf in 1930, or 1929 per Messiri 1978, to rival al-Kashkul; described after Gershoni 2002, Gordon 1992 and Messiri 1978)
- Wikipedia (en): 'Salah Jahin' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah_Jahin: 1930–1986; Rose al-Yusuf 1955, editor-in-chief of Sabah el-Khair, Al-Ahram daily cartoons from the 1960s; 'On the Soap Question', 1974)
- Wikipedia (en): 'Bahgat Osman' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahgat_Osman: 1931–2001; Rose al-Yusuf and Sabah El-Kheir; the dictator spelled both 'Bagatos' and 'Bahgatos'; books Bahgatos Ra'ees Bahgatia Alozma, glossed 'Bahgatos President of Bahgatia The Greatest', and Diktatorya lil Mubtadeen, 'Dictatorship for beginners')
- Wikipedia (en): 'Naji al-Ali' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naji_al-Ali: Al-Seyassah (spelled Al-Siyasa there) from 1968, Al-Safir from 1974, Al Qabas from 1983; over 40,000 cartoons; Handala a barefoot ten-year-old in ragged clothes, back turned from 1973; shot in London 22 July 1987, died 29 August 1987) and 'Handala' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handala: first in Al-Seyassah on 13 July 1969)
- Ethan Heitner, 'Review: A Child in Palestine', The Arabist, 23 July 2009 (https://oldblog.arabist.net/blog/tag/najialali.html: on the Verso collection of 2009; al-Ali's line 'shaky, without variation in weight', with 'cross hatching or grey ink wash'; Arab leaders as 'grotesque slugs, fat and corrupt', Israelis as 'vampiric goblins')
- Khalid Mohammad Ahmad Alfaqeah, Political Development in Naji Al-Ali's Cartoons, MA thesis, An-Najah National University, 2009 (https://scholar.najah.edu/node/10755: symbols 'Hanzalah, the kind man, big-bellied men, the black and white colors and the symbolic language')
- Wikipedia (en): 'Ali Ferzat' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Ferzat: born 22 June 1951 in Hama; al-Thawra from 1969, Tishreen from the mid-1970s; drawings 'typically without captions', 'depicting types rather than individuals'; attacked 25 August 2011; Sakharov Prize 2011)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Arab Press Caricature (Rose al-Yusuf to Naji al-Ali)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/arab-press-caricature/