Abstract
The paper offers a discourse analysis of the visuality of COVID-19 cartoons published in three media outlets in China: Satire and Humour, circulated in the domestic market, China Daily, targeting an international anglophone readership, and an alternative, critical voice in the social media. Methodologically, the paper employs three theoretical notions, two triadic approaches to visual discourse, Peirce’s concept of hypoiconicity and O’Toole’s adaptation of Hallidayan linguistics to visual discourse, as well as Foucault’s concept of institutional, enunciative modality. Domestically, official Chinese cartooning is shown to celebrate full government control over the epidemic. Internationally, the emphasis is on the geopolitical tension between China and the USA. Owing to its ideologically committed aesthetics, in Chinese COVID-19, political concerns are found to override the issue of public health. In its findings, the paper exemplifies the tension that typically exists in political cartooning between humorous presentation and its serious political intent.