Propaganda Studies

Comic Book Characters' Religious Affiliation

Basic elements of propaganda:

Repetition - owing to the infantile limitations of collective memory, a message must be continuously propagated in order to take hold within the collective consciousness.

Simplicity - The message must be designed in such a way that it appeals to or is quickly understood by the lowest common intellectual denominator of the collective. This is not only true because of the vast ignorance of the masses, but also because the collective attention span is virtually nonexistent. We now live in a world of sound-bite discourse. The simple lie always conquers the complex truth.

Imagery - The most powerful propaganda is embedded within appealing imagery. This imagery could be pictorial or descriptive. This is why movies and music are such potent forms of pr propaganda.

Sentiment - The message must contain as little detail as possible, and instead be designed in such a way that it appeals to some strong emotion or sentiment—such as sex or sympathy.

Here is an example of an anti semitic message in 1936 Germany that covers most of the basic elements of propaganda:

Task:

1. Pick a comic book character you like.

2. Research the religious affiliation associated with the character.

3. Pick out the elements of propaganda exemplified in the character's actions.

4. Write a 250 word essay discussing the issue.

Please post it in the discussion board on the class webpage under the topic "3 ways of intentionally applying language". You will see a propaganda heading in there.