Political Oratory and Cartooning: An Ethnography of Democratic Process in Madagascar

Jackson traces the lively skirmishes between Madagascar’s political cartoonists and politicians whose cartooning and public oratory reveal an ever-shifting barometer of democracy in the island nation.

• The first anthropological study of the role of language and rhetoric in reshaping democracy
• Maps the dynamic relationship between formalized oratory, satire, and political change in Madagascar
• A fascinating analysis of the extraordinary Ciceronian features of kabary, a style of formal public oratory long abandoned in the West
• Documents the management by United States Democrat campaign advisors of a foreign presidential bid, unprecedented in the post-colonial era

Keywords: island; madagascar; nation; kabary; oratory; political; satire; attention; opinion; cartoon; jostles; public; subtleties; conceals; apparent; nuanced; commentary; simplicity; modes; landscape; politics; constantly; original; analysis; role, Economic & Political Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, Economic & Political Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology