The Representation of Iran in the Soviet Propaganda Magazine Krokodil During and After the Islamic Revolution

Abstract

The fact that Iran shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi carried out pro-Western politics during his rule prevented the establishment of close relations between the Soviet Union and Iran. On the other hand, it was not possible to establish close relations between the Soviet Union and Iran because the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was established after the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979, followed an anti-Communist policy. On the other hand, the Iranian Islamic Revolution against the Iranian shah was discussed from various perspectives in the humor magazine Krokodil of the Soviet Union. Since Krokodil was one of the leading humor magazines of the Soviet Union in terms of print count and also served as a propaganda tool for the Soviet Union, the presentation of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in Krokodil is important in that it reflects the political attitude of the Soviet Union towards the Iranian Islamic Revolution and its aftermath. In the study, it was aimed to reveal the political view of the Soviet Union towards Iran during and after the Iranian Islamic Revolution by examining the cartoons of Krokodil about Iran during and after the Iranian Islamic Revolution. For this purpose, the cartoons of Krokodil on the subject were analyzed using the semiotics method in the light of the Organon Model of the German linguist Karl Bühler. In the light of the findings obtained in the study, it was revealed that the anti-shah Iranian Islamic Revolution was presented as the liberation of Iran from the influence of the USA in the cartoons at the beginning of the revolution, while a negative perception towards Iran was tried to be formed in the cartoons published in the following period. In this way, it was concluded in this study that the Soviet humor about Iran, in particular Krokodil, was shaped directly within the framework of the Soviet Union's foreign policy towards Iran.