Alentyeva T.V.

Images of Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 in the U.S. satirical magazine Puck. Pp. 56-69.

UDC 94(47).081.4:002.5(73)

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2025.87.2.006

 

Abstract. The article analyses the reflection of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877–1878 in U.S. cartoons on the pages of the satirical weekly magazine Puck. In the context of the current ongoing confrontation between Russia and the collective West, it is important to study the origins of Russophobia, which increased in American society in the last third of the 19th century. The purpose of this research was to examine how the cartoons of Puck magazine reflected the events of the war of 1877–1878 and built a negative and hostile image of Russia and its policies. This is all the more important in light of the visual and iconic turns in modern historical scholarship and the currents advances in imagology. Si far in American and Russian historiography, no attempt has been made to study the reflection of the Russo-Turkish War in U.S. cartoons. The main sources for the current analysis were publications in the ‘Puck’ weekly, created by a German emigrant, Joseph Keppler, and published in English since March 1877. The publication was a success among the readers, and had an impressive circulation reaching 90,000 copies. The editorial board’s views were rather liberal; they were politically oriented towards the Democratic Party, criticizing the Republicans for corruption. In its coverage of international life, Puck pursued an anti-British policy. The magazine also created a negative image of the Russian Empire as an oppressive and barbaric country, resorting to the traditional image of the ‘Russian bear’ and the uncivilized barbarian ‘Cossack’. Thus, Puck cartoons strengthened Russophobia in U.S. social perception.

 

Keywords: Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, U.S. cartoons, Russophobia, propaganda, imagology, barbarism/civilization dichotomy, Puck magazine, Joseph Keppler.

 

Bibliography

 

  1. Alentyeva T. V. Razyashcheye orudiye smekha. Amerikanskaya politicheskaya karikatura XIX veka (1800–1877).[The smashing weapon of laughter. American political cartoons of the 19th Century (1800–1877)]. St. Petersburg, Aletheya, 2020, 458 p. (In Russian).
  2. Alentyeva T. V. The image of Russia during Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 in the U.S. Harper’s Weekly. Uchenyye zapiski. Elektronnyy nauchnyy zhurnal Kurskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. [Scholarly notes. Electronic Journal of Kursk State University], iss. 2 (66), 2023. pp. 61–72, Available at: https://api-mag.kursksu.ru/api/v1/get_pdf/4830/ (accessed: 03.08.2024). (In Russian).
  3. Alentyeva T. V., Ilyukhina E. V. Politicheskaya borba v SSHA v posledney treti XIX veka v otrazhenii karikatury.[Political struggle in the U.S.A. in the last third of the 19th century as reflected in caricatures]. Kursk, Kursk State University, 2019, 300 p. (In Russian).
  4. Gazenkampf M. A. Moy dnevnik. 1877–1878 gg.[My Diary. 1877–1878]. St. Petersburg, V. Berezovsky, 1908, 624 p. (In Russian).
  5. Dronova N. V. About political technologies in Victorian England: The concept of jingo in the practice of the magazine “Punch” (1878–1879). Vestnik Tambovskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. [Bulletin of Tambov State University]. 2021, iss. 190, pp. 223–234. (In Russian).
  6. Zholudov M. V. Russophobia in 19th-Century Great Britain: state and society. ‘Svoy’/’Chuzhoy’ v kross-kulturnykh kommunikatsiyakh stran Zapada i Rossii. [‘Ours’/’alien’ in cross-cultural communications of Western countries and Russia]. St. Petersburg, Aletheia, 2019, pp. 334–347. (In Russian).
  7. Zholudov M. V. Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and the emergence of British jingoism. Rossiya i mir v istoricheskoy retrospektive. [Russia and the world in retrospect]. St. Petersburg, 2023, pp. 163–168. (In Russian).
  8. Zhuravleva V. I. Ponimaniye Rossii v SSHA: obrazy i mify. [Comprehension of Russia in the U.S.A.: images and myths]. Moscow, RSUH, 2012, 1136 p. (In Russian).
  9. Kochukova O. V., Kochukov S. A. Rossiya i Balkanskiy krizis 1875–1878 gg. Satiricheskaya grafika v “zhurnalnykh voynakh”. [Russia and the Balkan Crisis of 1875–1878. [Satirical engravings in the “Journal Wars”]. Moscow, Russkiy Mir, 2022, 336 p. (In Russian).
  10. Kuropyatnik G. P. Rossiya i SSHA: ekonomicheskiye, kulturnyye i diplomaticheskiye svyazi, 1867–1881. [Russia and the U.S.A.: economic, cultural, and diplomatic ties, 1867–1881, Moscow, Nauka, 1981, 373 p. (In Russian).
  11. Labutina T. L. About ethnic stereotypes in historical transformation of the image of “Alien” into “Enemy”. “Svoy”/”Chuzhoy” v kross-kulturnykh kommunikatsiyakh stran Zapada i Rossii. [“Ours”/“Alien” in Cross-Cultural Communications of Western Countries and Russia, St. Petersburg., Aletheya, 2019, pp. 47–61. (In Russian).
  12. Pavlovskaya A. V. Rossiya i Amerika: problemy obshcheniya kultur: Rossiya glazami amerikantsev, 1850–1880-ye gody. [Russia and America: problems of cultural communication: Russia through the eyes of Americans, 1850-1880s]. Moscow, Moscow State University, 1998, 302 p. (In Russian).
  13. Repina L. P. Historical imagology and problems of intercultural dialogue. “Svoy”/”Chuzhoy” v kross-kulturnykh kommunikatsiyakh stran Zapada i Rossii. [“Ours”/“Alien” in cross-cultural communications of Western countries and Russia]. St. Petersburg, Aleteya, 2019, pp. 17–46. (In Russian).
  14. Rybachenok I. S. Russia and Berlin Congress of 1878. Rossiya na mezhdunarodnykh forumakh i kongressakh XVII — nachala XX veka.[Russia at international forums and congresses of the 17th — early 20th centuries]. Moscow, Institute of Russian History, RAS, 2021, pp. 346–402. (In Russian).
  15. Aldous R. The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli. Y., Pimlico, 2007, 384 р.
  16. Gokov О. Correspondents in the Russo-Turkish War 1877–1878 on the Balkan Peninsula. 2024, Available at: https://www.europeantimes.news/2022/09/correspondents-in-the-russo-turkish-war-1877-1878-on-the-balkan-peninsula-3/ (accessed: 20.05.2024).
  17. Hess S., Kaplan M. The Ungentlemanly Art: A History of American Political Cartoons. N. Y., Macmillan, 1975, 252 р.
  18. Hess S., Northrop S. American Political Cartoons: The Evolution of a National Identity, 1754–2010.Y., Rutledge, 2011, 204 р.
  19. Hess S., Northrop S. Drawn & Quartered: The History of American Political Cartoons. Y., Elliott & Clark Publishing, 1996, 164 р.
  20. Murrell W. A History of American Graphic Humor: 2 vols. Y., Macmillan Co., 1933.
  21. Puck, 1877–1878.
  22. Scully R. Eminent Victorian Cartoonists: in 3 vols. , Political Cartoon Society, 2018.
Uncategorized