IS IT SAFE TO MOCK THE KING? FERDINAND I OF BULGARIA CARICATURED
IS IT SAFE TO MOCK THE KING? FERDINAND I OF BULGARIA CARICATURED

Summary/Abstract: In 1874, the French satirical newspaper L'Eclipse declared that an accurate history of freedom could be written by tracing the history of caricatures. Indeed, the “dance” of the cartoonists with the power has never been easy. At the beginning of the 20th century, many famous Bulgarian politicians had clearly constructed images and constantly appeared depicted on the pages of humorous newspapers. But still, cartoonists had their favourites and among them the Bulgarian head of state stands out clearly: King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria was a target of numerous attacks, both visual and verbal. Yet ridiculing the head of state was not always safe. This text seeks to present and analyse a few examples of how the critical attitude towards political power provoked political aggression against the cartoonists and humorous newspapers. The discussion of the Bulgarian case is introduced against the background of the contemporary European context.

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