Linguistic and Socio-Semiotic Study of the Political Humor in Comic Strips

Abstract

Comics have the power to engage readers; they are shaped by society and also help shape social identities and communities. This article examines the underlying meaning of the well-known comic strip Gogi in order to comprehend its content and how it challenges Pakistan's social, cultural, and political norms. The study of comics is important in understanding how media organizations and authors make their own political and social decisions, and how they replicate or challenge the traditions and practices of their culture. The study sample consists of six Gogi comic strips from the official Gogi Studios Facebook page. Fairclough's 3 D Model and Barthes' Socio-Semiotic approach are employed to analyze the selected comic strips and to explore the relationship between comic strips and society. The analysis of the comic strips reveals the socio-political problems and aids in understanding how they interact with the structures of power in society. The research demonstrates the complexity of comic strips and how they are shaped by social, cultural, and political processes, as well as how intricately they alter those processes themselves. This study makes the case that comic strips are a potent medium for influencing audiences because they subtly depict social and political issues while also challenging and questioning the established social hierarchies. The work is important because it reveals the latent symbolic significance that was concealed in the comic strips' complex language and visual structures.