PROPAGANDA AND

CENSORSHIP

CENSORSHIP & PROPAGANDAPROPAGANDA can be defined as

information that could be biased or misleading that is used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Propaganda is spread using various kinds of media (like TV, radio, speeches, posters, pamphlets, art).

CENSORSHIP restricts or removes ideas or information from the public discourse.

THE VANISHING WATER COMMISSIONER

THE VANISHING WATER COMMISSIONER

ST. PETERSBURG 1920

ST. PETERSBURG 1920 (AS IT APPEARS IN SJ)

STALIN STANDS ALONE (EVENTUALLY)

TROTSKY IN A STUDENT TEXTBOOK

“FREE SPEECH AREA,” 2004 DNC

IS THIS PROPAGANDA? CENSORSHIP?

POLITICAL JARGON AND EMPTY WORDS – CENSORING THOUGHT?Orwell writes about words whose meanings have become empty and easily manipulated. He sees this as a form of censorship that can even lead to self-censorship.

SLOGANEERING

Employing or inventing slogans– especially in a political context

Reducing complex ideas to a small phrase whose meaning is tough to pin down and difficult to refute.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THESE SLOGANS?Support Our TroopsThese Colors Don’t RunYes We CanThey Hate Our FreedomWork Makes You FreeYou Are Either With Us, Or You Are

With the Terrorists

INFORMATION OVERLOADThe condition of receiving so much information that it becomes impossible to notice or understand the larger issues at stake in any situation, or to find anyone else who understands enough about an issue to share your understanding of it.

FROM FAHRENHEIT 451, BY RAY BRADBURY

“Cram them full of non-combustible data, chock them so damned full of 'facts' they feel stuffed, but absolutely 'brilliant' with information. Then they'll feel they're thinking, they'll get a sense of motion without moving. And they'll be happy, because facts of that sort don't change.”

SPECTACLE AND RITUALMany philosophers and thinkers who followed Orwell focused

on the role of Ritual and Spectacle as forms of propaganda– though Orwell certainly showed the role of ritual and propaganda in oppressive societies.

Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz1nIHv6P6Q

Guy DeBord, Society of the Spectacle

SPECTACLE AND RITUALRITUAL: A FORM OF PROPAGANDA THAT CREATS

CEREMONIES– OFTEN REVERED CEREMONIES– THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO ENFORCE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR AND EMOTIONAL REACTIONS

SPECTACLE: THE “SHOW OF IMAGES” THAT CLOAK, MASK OR HIDE REALITY. OR: THE “SPECTACULAR” DISTRACTIONS FROM REAL ISSUES, CONCERNS, ETC.

RITUAL AND CEREMONY

SPECTACLEIn the following slides, I’ve juxtaposed

some images. What do these juxtapositions suggest about the way spectacle may be used as a form of propaganda, censorship, or self-censorship?

SPECTACLE AND RITUAL

Chicago Teachers Union Striking for Improved Working Conditions, 2013

SPECTACLE AND RITUAL

San Francisco 49er Playoff Rally

SPECTACLE V. REBELLION

Chilean students protest for free education, 2012

SPECTACLE V. REBELLION

Chilean Student Protests for Free Education, 2012

SPECTACLE V. REBELLION

Fans Outside Justin Beiber’s Hotel, London, 2012

SPECTACLE V. REBELLION

Fans Outside Justin Beiber’s Hotel, London, 2012