A Taiwanese press cartoonist, who specializes in political satire, is making waves in France through her art and sense of humor, with her most recent publication gaining widespread acclaim.
Stellina Chen (陳筱涵), now in her 30s, is a graduate of National Chengchi University’s Department of Diplomacy and continued her studies in France.
She is a member of Paris-based international artist network Cartooning for Peace, an organization whose self-proclaimed description identifies it as a collective “who use humor to fight for respect for cultures and freedoms.”
Photo: CNA
Her cartoons have been printed in French news publications such as Le Monde.
Focused primarily on the relationship between Taiwan, China and the US, Chen’s witty comedic chops even garnered her the rare opportunity of having her political satire featured in a social science textbook in France’s secondary-school curriculum.
French publisher Patayo commissioned her to create an entirely original book.
As French readers have a long-standing love of political satire and a deep understanding of international news, Chen’s book, which does not specifically target any nation or individual, received widespread acclaim upon its publication.
To celebrate the Oct. 6 release of the book, titled Dans la Cour des Grands (“In the Big Leagues”), an event was held at the Musee du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris on Friday last week.
It was attended by Philippe Barbat, former director of the French National Institute of Cultural Heritage.
Barbat — who is head of the Maison du Dessin de Presse (the House of Press Cartoons), an appointment by French President Emmanuel Macron — was impressed by Chen’s art and asked her to consider archiving her work at the institute, which is to begin operations in Paris by 2025.
Chen in a recent media interview spoke about In the Big Leagues and how the 92-page undertaking came to be.
Patayo invited her to pen a creation on the theme “first day back to school,” Chen said.
“When I picked up my pen, I realized then that I had artist’s block,” Chen said, adding that the political satire was limited to one scene per page without either layout or dialogue bubbles, which forced her pictures to speak louder than words, or the lack of them.
“And I also needed to showcase the current political climate of the world only through interactions between my characters,” she added. “It was not an easy task.”
Chen turned influential world figures such as the heads of the G20 and social media tycoons into the main school-going characters in the book.
She captured the physical traits of the famous figures to create the caricatures, pairing them with puns on their names, eg, French macarons as Macron, and Canadian national dish poutine as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chen used the stories and personality of her characters to reflect global politics, such as having character “X-man” in the likeness of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) fighting to be class president for life, poking fun at his prolonged presidency.
She also has “Macaron” aiming to extend the end of the school day from 6:20pm to 6:40pm, a jab at the French president’s extension of the retirement age from 62 to 64.
“Even if someone doesn’t understand French or geopolitics, he or she can interpret the plot in a different way and just enjoy the story,” she said.
Through her membership with Cartooning for Peace, Chen has also spent years trying to educate people in France, Germany and the Netherlands about Taiwan, and its political position and leanings, by publishing her cartoons in mainstream media of those nations.
After giving a voice to Taiwan through humor on the international stage, Chen said she hopes to start political satire publications in Taiwan to promote the genre, an art form she said is rare in the nation.
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