Author: Zihan Wang

Abstract: The rise of social media and the advancement of digital technology have opened new avenues for the global dissemination of digital political cartoons and the construction of public opinion fields. Digital political cartoons consistently engage in the construction of ideology-laden metaphors, employing sophisticated artistic techniques and rich visual discourse to generate significant value in international communication and public opinion guidance. They also provide new perspectives and channels for the construction and expression of national image. This paper adopts a visual metaphor research approach to analyze the types of image metaphors utilized in Wuhe Qilin’s digital political cartoon White House Painter. Through five distinct metaphorical categories—“text-derived visual metaphor,” “metaphor of difference,” “light metaphor,” “color metaphor,” and “multi-element interaction metaphor”—the study examines its content presentation, value orientation, and communicative effects. It further explores diverse forms of deconstructing the U.S. national image and offers new insights for the construction and expression of China’s national image within social networks.

Keywords: digital political cartoon; White House Painter; Wuhe Qilin; visual metaphor; counter-discourse deconstruction

Article Info: Received: 02 Oct 2025; Received in revised form: 01 Nov 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025; Available online: 09 Nov 2025

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.106.3