Monday, November 11, 2013

Molla Nasreddin Satire Map


This map is from the magazine Molla Nasreddin, an early 20th century satirical magazine from Baku that's gotten a some attention recently.  The caption reads "The States of the Nations of the World in the Twentieth Century." Like much of the magazine's content, it represented an appeal to the Asian, Islamic and colonized peoples of the world to wake up and reform themselves so they could compete with the West. The cartoon shows pair of Indians are pulling a whip-wielding Englishman in a rickshaw,  Greece is doing something to a bent-over Turkey, and China fast asleep. Uncle Sam peaks up over the globe on the right, while a polar bear watches alertly from above. This map turned up on Zerkala, a site that looks like it would be amazing if you knew Russian. This image below is apparently a Bukharan Trickster: