Franziska Becker
{{short description|German cartoonist}}
File:Franziska becker 2009.jpg
Franziska Becker (born 10 July 1949) is a German cartoonist.
Biography
Franziska Becker was born in Mannheim in 1949. After finishing secondary school, she professionally trained as a technical medical assistant. Between 1972 and 1976 she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, where she was taught by Markus Lüpertz, among others.
In 1973 she became involved in the feminist movement in Heidelberg, where she met Alice Schwarzer, the editor-in-chief of the feminist magazine EMMA. Becker's first published cartoon appeared in the first issue of this magazine. Since then Becker's cartoons, caricatures and illustrations have appeared in numerous German magazines and journals. Further, she also has published twenty books. Her work has been seen in the tradition of caricaturist Marie Marcks, "the Grande Dame of political caricature in Germany".{{Cite web |title=Marie Marcks Centenary – DHM-Blog {{!}} Deutsches Historisches Museum |url=https://www.dhm.de/blog/2022/08/25/marie-marcks-centenary/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2014-12-08 |title=Marie Marcks - Grande Dame der Karikatur ist tot |url=https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/marie-marcks-grande-dame-der-karikatur-ist-tot-100.html |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Deutschlandfunk Kultur |language=de}}
In 1988 Becker was awarded the Max and Moritz Prize for best comic artist. In 2010, a solo exhibition was shown at the Caricatura Museum Frankfurt, consisting of some 300 works.{{Cite web | url=http://www.franziska-becker.de/en/kategorie/8/ | title=Biography | access-date=2020-03-12 | archive-date=2014-04-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427194828/http://franziska-becker.de/en/kategorie/8/ | url-status=dead }} In 2019 she was honoured with the Hedwig-Dohm-Award by the German Union of Women Journalists.
Controversy
Following the award, some of her cartoons showing Muslim women in headscarves and burqas were criticized on social media and by German journalists Sibel Schick and Teresa Bücker as racist stereotypes.{{Cite web | url=https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/rassismus-kritik-an-cartoons-warum-der-journalistinnenbund.2156.de.html?dram:article_id=452240 | title=Warum der Journalistinnenbund Franziska Becker ehrt | trans-title=Why the Association of Women Journalists honours Franziska Becker | date=2019-06-25 | access-date=2020-03-12 | lang=German}} In an interview Becker commented about these accusations. She stated that satire should be allowed to be critical and that her caricatures of some Muslim women were meant to criticize Islamist attitudes and the obligatory headscarf.{{Cite web |title=Franziska Becker - „Irgendjemand will verhindern, dass der Preis an mich übergeben wird“ {{!}} Cicero Online |url=https://www.cicero.de/kultur/franziska-becker-islamismus-kopftuch-karikaturen-hedwig-dohm-urkunde-kopftuch |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=www.cicero.de |language=de}} On the other hand, German activist Zana Ramadani, of Albanian Muslim descent, defended Becker's caricatures on the grounds of her own experience and opposition towards obligatory headscarfs.{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-07-10 |title=Zana Ramadini zu Franziska Becker - "Ich wünsche mir mehr Menschen, die so mutig sind" |url=https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/zana-ramadini-zu-franziska-becker-ich-wuensche-mir-mehr-100.html |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Deutschlandfunk Kultur |language=de}}
Awards
- 1988: Max & Moritz Prize{{Cite web | url=https://www.comic-salon.de/de/max-und-moritz-preis-seit-1984 | title=Max-und-Moritz-Preis seit 1984 | trans-title=Max-and-Moritz-Prize since 1984 | access-date=2020-04-25 | lang=German}}
- 2012: Göttinger Elch{{Cite web | url=http://www.goettinger-elch.de/franziska_becker/ | title=Göttinger Elch 2012 - Franziska Becker | access-date=2020-04-25 | lang=German}}
- 2013: Wilhelm Busch Prize{{Cite web | url=http://www.wilhelm-busch-preis.de/index.php/preistraeger/152-preistraeger-2013 | title=Preisträger des Wilhelm-Busch-Preises 2013 | trans-title=Winner of the Wilhelm Busch Prize 2013 | access-date=2020-04-25 | lang=German}}
- 2019: Hedwig-Dohm-Urkunde{{Cite web | url=https://www.journalistinnen.de/hedwig-dohm-urkunde/preistraegerin-2019-franziska-becker/ | title=Preisträgerin 2019: Franziska Becker | trans-title=Prize Winner 2019: Franziska Becker | date=2019-06-21 | access-date=2020-03-12 | lang=German}}
References
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Category:German comic strip cartoonists
Category:German women comic strip cartoonists
Category:German editorial cartoonists
Category:German women editorial cartoonists
Category:German women illustrators
Category:German women caricaturists
Category:German comics artists
Category:German female comics artists