Political Caricature and the Visual Culture of War: Representing Kaiser Wilhelm II in Furnica (The Ant) Magazine in 1914
Political Caricature and the Visual Culture of War: Representing Kaiser Wilhelm II in Furnica (The Ant) Magazine in 1914

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses the representation of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the Romanian satirical magazine Furnica during the first months of the First World War. It explores how visual satire translated wartime violence and imperial authority into accessible symbolic forms for a Romanian audience during a period of national neutrality, functioning not merely as illustration but as a framework for interpreting and evaluating political events.The study shows that the Kaiser is constructed as the central embodiment of Imperial Germany’s role in the conflict. Through visual personification, abstract concepts such as militarism, political responsibility, and destruction are condensed into a single, recognisable figure, enabling a simplified yet powerful interpretation of the war.At the same time, grotesque and satirical strategies – such as exaggeration, inversion, and animalisation – are used to undermine the symbolic prestige of imperial authority and construct a critical image of the German ruler. These representations combine a moralising register, which attributes responsibility for violence to political leadership, with a grotesque register that erodes its legitimacy.Finally, the article situates these visual constructions within the context of Romania’s neutrality, emphasising that Furnica interpreted the war through a national lens shaped by debates on foreign policy and national unity. Caricature thus emerges as both a form of satire and a medium of political interpretation linking international conflict to domestic concerns.

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