What happened to Zina Diali? Gender in Algerian cartoons

Abstract

Cartoons or humoristic graphic novels provide an outlet for sentiments about an authoritarian regime, but are at the same time expressions of and comments on the gender order. Characteristic in this respect are the figures of Zina and Bouzid created by Slim, the artist name of Menouar Merabtene. Within a single or multiple frames, cartoons condense historical events, cultural core values and social relations. In this paper I will analyze the representations of gender in Algerian cartoons by two generations of Algeria’s most famous cartoonists such as Slim and Dilem from the 1980's onward. I will show how the issues of central concern to people in everyday life shift over time, and how ideas on gender or gender inequality shift accordingly.