"Nothing was further from his intention than to offend": an analysis of visual satire, identity and stereotypes in the Glasgow/Northern Looking Glass caricature periodical, 1825–1826

Schwertner, Danielle (2023) "Nothing was further from his intention than to offend": an analysis of visual satire, identity and stereotypes in the Glasgow/Northern Looking Glass caricature periodical, 1825–1826. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Created by Glasgow printer John Watson and English artist William Heath, the Glasgow/Northern Looking Glass (1825–1826) is not only one of the pioneering periodicals that paved the route from caricature to comic art (with researchers even going so far as to label it ‘the world’s first modern comic’), but a product that uniquely contributed to larger social conversations found across media formats during the early nineteenth century. Such conversations include those surrounding gender ideologies, racial stereotypes, and class-based struggles — issues that had become especially prominent across Britain during the 1820s. Though it provides reflections of and on both the evolving print world and the ever-changing social milieus of 1820s Britain, the GLG has not been the focus of an in-depth study until now.
The goal of this thesis is to explore how in-depth, contextual analyses of depictions of gender and other identities found in the GLG’s satiric images can encourage new and more inclusive analyses of caricature’s place in print history and nineteenth-century European history. In order to understand better how caricature art arrived at the point we see it in 1825, this thesis firstly explores how historical events and social and cultural change impacted the art form in the sixty years leading up to the publication of the first issue of the GLG. With the contextual groundwork in place, several case studies are then employed to explore the overarching identities and stereotypes of women and men as they are depicted in images from the periodical. These case studies include images that best reflect the conversations around gender, class and race that were prominent at this time, and which show how the GLG, and other products like it, can be invaluable for gaining a more nuanced and rounded perspective on caricature art, the nineteenth-century British printing scene and late Georgian culture.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General); P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0441 Literary History
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities
• Supervisor's Name: Grove, Prof. Laurence and Sangster, Prof. Matthew
• Date of Award: 2023
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2023-83867
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 17 Oct 2023 09:14
• Last Modified: 20 Oct 2023 10:24
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.83867
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/83867