Otherness through caricatures: A pedagogical and didactic perspective

Mohamed Miliani (FWIF, University of Oran, Algeria) [BIO]

Email: milianimoh@gmail.com

 

ABSTRACT:

The caricature of Islam and its prophet in Denmark have generated havoc amongst the Muslim community. Our aim in the present paper is not to side with any of the protagonists. However, a pedagogical perspective on caricatures representing the Others, often seen as the ‘strangers’, the ‘aliens’, is of utmost importance for future generations to better understand what is at stake behind the relatively innocent and funny drawings representing those who do not think, look or dress like us.

Caught between the ‘message’ of the caricature and their representations of the world, foreign language learners are more often than not at a loss when giving in to the pressure of one’s own societal vision of the world or the attraction of the amusing product of a drawer’s art and perception of their environment.