What was Charlie Hebdo? Blasphemy, laughter, politics

Abstract

Horsman’s essay revisits discussions about the allegedly blasphemous nature of Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by tracing the history of the journal in the French tradition of comics rather than of political cartoons. By distinguishing the cartoon figure (the petit bonhomme) of the comics from caricatures and portraits, he aims to outline the precise nature of the journal’s sense of humour and its implicit critique of religion.