Comparable to the metaphorical ‘struggle over domains of belonging and apartness in Africa at the founding of the Mali empire’ (Fernandez, 1991), contemporary France, consistent with the current populist wave in Western Europe and the US, is experiencing a crisis of identity. This identity crisis, ignited by slowing economic growth, rising unemployment and a continuing influx of immigrants, has sparked nationwide debate about Frenchness and citizenship, and is widely apparent in French media, particularly i n the readily accessible visual language of the political cartoon. Within these illustrations, disputes about identity and social hierarchy are negotiated through the use of metaphor in the figurative ‘argument of images’.