Boer War postcard (1899/1900)

Postcard from series ‘La Guerre du Transvaal’. Depicts Transvaal lion as biting British octopus. All other colonies in thrall to the octopus and entangled in its arms.

The caption says: ‘Tu as cette fois Albion, En face de toi un Lion’ (You have this time Albion, in front of you a Lion.)

Cephalophilia Online

To bring to your attention other cephalopod oriented websites. These are a mix of popular culture and science (but mostly pop culture). If you know of more you think should be here, please leave a comment.

• Why Mice Sing (my art portfolio – shameless self-promotion), or if you would prefer a direct link to: Tentacles! (tentacle/octopus art).
• Cephalopod Tea Party (pop culture, art, crafts)
• Cephalopodcast (science education and ocean info)
• ZPi | Cephalopods (home of the tree octopus)
• Everything Octopus (pop culture)
• Indie Squid Kid (science and pop culture)
• Poulpe Pulps (Pulp magazines featuring octopuses in compromising positions)
• Tonmo (Octopus news magazine/forum)
• Cephalopods : Pharyngula (mix of science and pop culture)

Updates

• 18th Oct: Today in Tentacles (archive)

Cephalopod Awareness Days

3rd Annual International Cephalopod Awareness Days. A 3 day celebration.

• Thursday, October 8 – Octopus Day, for all the eight-armed species
• Friday, October 9 – Nautilus Night, a time for all the lesser-known extant and extinct cephalopods
• Saturday, October 10 – Squid Day/Cuttlefish Day, or Squidturday, covering the tentacular species

For more information: Cephalopodday.org, and Cephalopodcast. Hopefully I will find time over the next day or two in between uni assignments to put something together. (via Cephalopodcast) Update (7th Oct): fixed link *cough* – multi-tasking, pasted wrong link.

Subterfuge

Continuing on after Octopus as Chimera and Of Maps and Octopuses to identify reoccurring motifs.

The octopus drawn as intelligent, mendacious and deceitful: the octopus tries to present itself as something other than an octopus. These include: appearing as the bearer of gifts in the Forty Thieves, as a Trojan Horse,  misdirection in the “Hunting the Octopus” or as treasure on an island. This was a relatively common visual metaphor circa 1900, but only makes a limited appearance after 1910.

Octopus as Chimera

Just a few rough ideas based on hybridity in political cartoons of octopus and other in order to develop a nomenclature for the different types of “octopuses” that appear in political cartoons. With the exception of the human/octopus combination, hybridity only makes up a small proportion of monstrous octopuses in political cartoons. Two broad groups can be identified on their purpose:

1. To dehumanise (i.e. “Yellow Peril”, politicians): human/octopus hybrid is common
2. To make monstrous (i.e. corporations, governments, imperialism): stranger hybrids occur: skulltopuses, cyborgs and vampires.

I would argue that these are two distinct purposes, although they might overlap. Mostly this is due to who, or what, is represented. With “who” typically dehumanised, and “what” made monstrous. I’m still working this out so any ideas, or arguments to the contrary welcome.

A (rough) Typology:

It is very uncommon that a single octopus/image belong in multiple categories (An example is “Putin“, which is a human/octopus cyborg)

• Human/Octopus Hybrid (Anthropus?):
  • Octopus head replaced by human head. Nearly always a specific individual (Example: Putin), although may represent a group (Example: “The Mongolian Octopus“);
  • Limbs replaced by tentacles. Example: “What Shall We Do With Our Boys?“
  • Tentacles terminate in hands (or feet) on their tips. Example: John Bull/Imperialism
  • Human body, octopus head. Example: “The Forty T…..“
• Skulltopus: Skull instead of a head. I would argue this differs from human/octopus hybrid due to the symbolism inherent in a skull (compared to a living head), and is more closely related to vampiric and monstrous octopuses. Only one example so far: SOAW octopus
• Vampiric Octopus: Blood sucking octopuses. Example: Landlordism
• Cyborg: Part machine or infrastructure, for example having bombs on the end of tentacles, or an oil tank for a head. Example: Standard Oil (I would include “Hunting of the Octopus” in this)
• Animal/Octopus hybrid: Reptilian example: “The Devil Fish of Californian Politics“

Discussion on this topic more than welcome. Although it is still in an early, incoherent phase.

Update: “There he is! Get Him” (Kal 2007) cartoon which depicts a geographical/octopus hybrid – the map/land grows tentacles, and the Time’s Scientology cover depicting a volcano with tentacles.

The Octopus Which Feeds On War and Emergency (1952)

“The Octopus Which Feeds On War And Emergency” flyer printed 1952¹ by the Citizens for Eisenhower-Nixon. It relates to the US “police action” in the Korean War. Argues that the Truman administration  had grown “monstrous” feeding on emergencies that the administration was creating, whilst its bureaucratic tentacles threatened the liberty of its citizens.

The Octopus which Feeds on War and Emergency (1952)

Wake Up Neighbour (1952)

The administration in power has grown to monster proportions by feeding on emergencies upon emergencies. … Power once usurped is never voluntarily surrendered. While we still have the right to vote, let us use that vote to free ourselves of the octopus which is surely sucking away our blood², dissipating our savings and destroying our liberties.

Notes:

• (1) Flyer undated but are signed off by Walter Williams – Chairman – and Mrs (Mary) Oswald B. Lord – Co-Chairman – positions were held in 1952. Source: Galvin, Daniel. “Building a New Republican Party: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Stillbirth of Modern Republicanism, 1953-1960″ Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, TBA, TBA, Jan 05, 2006 <Not Available>. 2009-05-25 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p68462_index.html>
• (2) Reappearance of the vampiric octopus. Last seen sucking the blood of London renters circa 1910.

Occupy Everything

Occupy Everything

Another quick post: I just received a note that says this poster is currently hanging in the quad of the University of California during the current occupation of the Santa Cruz campus. You can find more information (reports, videos, photos) on the occupation at Socialism and/or Barbarism and Occupy California.

(via China Miéville)

Who you gonna call?

Just wanted to point you in the direction of this blog post by Rob MacDougall (Old is the New New).   Norris, Lovecraft, Ghostbusters, the Book of Enoch, Octopuses and Bldgblog.

“But The Octopus, and the whole Gilded Age octopus thing, predate Lovecraft by a few decades. Maybe the influence went the other way. Could Lovecraft’s octopoid monstrosities be creatures straight out of Norris? Was Yog-Sothoth a corporation? Was Cthulhu a railroad?”

(Found via traffic stats – post links to Vulgar Army).

No updates

Due to the loss of a close family member the updates planned for this week will not occur, and are unlikely to appear in the near future.

Update on no updates 23 Sept: My head is a bit clearer. I have a funeral next week, then a week playing catch up on study before returning to Vulgar Army. Sorry, but it is just not a priority at the moment. Also, if you have sent me email over the last month and a half, and have not received a reply, please send a prompt (can be done via Why Mice Sing)

La Speculation Fonciere (2000)

La Speculation Fonciere (2000)

A quick post just to prove, yes, I do have new content: “Locataires ne vous laissez plus etouffer. Oui a la loi contre la speculation fonciere.” A 2000 poster urging tenants “to vote for a law against property speculation.” From an article on the use (and abuse) of animals in political poster campaigns (“Exploiting the animals we love to hate“, 6th Feb 2009, swissinfo.ch).

Related to late 1800s/early 1900s landlordism cartoons??

Image Source: Swiss People’s Party, Museum für Gestaltung Zurich in Animal Posters: Use and abuse of animals for political ends. (Accessed 24th Aug 2009)