''Al Kashkul'' () was a weekly political satire magazine in Cairo, Egypt. It was in circulation for twenty years between 1914 and 1934. Both ''Al Kashkul'' and its rival '' Rose Al Yusuf'' played an important role in the establishment of cartoon-based

political journalism Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power. Political journ ...

in the country.

History and profile

''Al Kashkul'' was established in 1914 by Sulayman Fawzi and was renamed as ''Al Kashkul Al Musawwar'' () in 1921. ''Al Kashkul'' was published on a weekly basis in Cairo. It supported the independence of Egypt from the British rule and was in fact started to support the anti-British policies of the

Wafd Party The Wafd Party (; , ''Ḥizb al-Wafd'') was a nationalist Liberalism, liberal political party in Egypt. It was said to be Egypt's most popular and influential political party for a period from the end of World War I through the 1930s. During th ...

. However, over time the magazine became a critic of the party. The cartoons published in ''Al Kashkul'' were produced by a Spanish teacher, Juan Sintes, who was working at the new Royal School of Arts. Its target audience was local people since it did not attempt to have an international readership. The magazine favored the use of the Cairene dialect which was implied as superior than both the southern Saidi dialect and the

classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

, the

subdialects Subdialect (from Latin , "under", and Ancient Greek , ''diálektos'', "discourse") is a linguistic term designating a dialectological category between the levels of dialect and idiolect. Subdialects are basic subdivisions of a dialect. Subdialects ...

of Arabic spoken in Egypt. One of the caricatures published in the magazine in 1926 emphasizing the significance of independence of Egypt featured the well-known woman activist

Huda Sha'arawi Huda Sha'arawi or Hoda Sha'rawi (, ; 23 June 1879 – 12 December 1947) was a pioneering Egyptians, Egyptian feminism, feminist leader, women's suffrage, suffragette, nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union. Early ...

. In some cartoons the magazine

personified Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, countries, and continents; elements of ...

Egypt as a white beautiful woman. The circulation of ''Al Kashkul'' was not so high partly due to lower levels of literacy in Egypt and its high price. In the period 1927–1928 the magazine nearly sold 10,000 copies. However, it became extremely popular because of its caricatures that could be easily understood by Egyptians, including illiterate persons. A caricature of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, founder of Turkey, published in ''Al Kashkul'' caused a diplomatic crisis between two countries in that it featured Atatürk involved in

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

business. Egyptian

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Abdel Fattah Yahya Pasha argued that it should not be taken seriously since ''Al Kashkul'' was just a satirical magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashkul 1914 establishments in Egypt 1934 disestablishments in Egypt Defunct Arabic-language magazines Defunct political magazines published in Egypt Egyptian political satire Magazines about comics Magazines established in 1914 Magazines disestablished in 1934 Defunct magazines published in Cairo Satirical magazines Weekly magazines published in Egypt