Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

need to be highlighted. The same happens in the previous examples, and this shows the
complexity of the study of humour and how much an act of humour can contain.
Abuse of power
Another topic which is discussed through the combination of these previous elements
(incongruity, exaggeration, corrective) is the abuse of power, whether from those in
government or those in positions of power, such as policemen and civil servants. Those
in charge of ensuring order are portrayed in all three comic books as feared characters,
not only by the criminals but by the citizens themselves. This creates a reality in which
the roles are reversed, which in fact is not too far from reality. Thus, readers can
recognise themselves in the adventures -and misadventures- of the characters, and
distinguish references to their own reality.
There is an episode in Los Agachados in which Licenciado Trastupijes orders his
private secretary, Bedoyo, to arrest a man who is painting graffiti on the walls which
appears to be anti-government propaganda. Trastupijes insists on arresting the man
without using violence while Bedoyo thinks to himself ‘Chin.. ¿cómo se hace pa detener
a alguien sin golpearlo?’ 59 This reaction is exaggerated and illogical since we trust that
the authorities have various means of non-violent detention. However, the scene also
highlights a social concern: the abuse of power. There is a similar scene in which the
local police are looking for someone who robbed a visiting Member of Congress, a
diputado. Working separately, the two policemen each arrest an innocent civilian,
framing them with the crime. When they are presented to the authorities, both badly
injured, one of the accused says: ‘¡Ni cierto! Me jue a sacar del bote y me amenazó de
muerte si no confesaba..’ The other man adds: ‘¡Y a mí me sacó Cambujo de mi casa y a
59 Los Agachados, 71, p. 6.
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