The article is devoted to the study of the use of the symbol of the hatchet and related phraseological units, which are actively used in German-speaking countries both as a basis for creating cartoons and for forming a certain assessment of the events under consideration. It is established that the focus of the cartoonist’s attention is mostly not military conflicts, but the problems of the socio-political life of the country. When considering the structural characteristics of the cartoon, it is stated that the hatchet can occur both verbally and visually, as well as be reflected in both components of the text. The authors conclude that the phraseological units in the cartoon have a text function, which is based on two readings of a phraseological unit: literal and figurative. It is noted that in some cases the iconic component allows for ambiguous interpretation, which leadsto the actualization of several frames
and brings additional meanings to the text. It is revealed that to create a satirical effect, an occasional transformation of common phraseological units is used, as well as wordplay based on phonetic similarity of lexemes or homonymy. In addition, in creolized texts created based on the image of the hatchet, the authors resort to the use of hyperbole to intensify the axiological component of the cartoon.
For citation: Kokurina I.V., Opolovnikova M.V. The hatchet in German-language cartoon, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2024, iss. 2, pp. 44—54.