Designing a Socialist Man

Koraljka Vlajo

doi:10.25038/am.v0i19.314

Abstract

This paper asserts that graphic design can be analyzed as a performative act, particularly in relation to political performativity, a term coined by Reuben Rose-Redwood and Michael R. Glass after Judith Butler’s theory of performativity. Graphic design as a mass media tool enables persistent and everyday reiteration of regime authority, thus enforcing the construction of preferable identities of ideal citizens. In the text, the scope of political performativity of graphic design as an example of socialist Yugoslavia is analyzed, based on the cultural theory and the theory of political performativity, and by using examples of poster, magazine and catalogue cover designs created for political and cultural events in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) from the 1940s to the 1980s. It will be shown how graphic design has had an impact in shaping and reshaping the image of Yugoslav citizens through an everyday representation of men, women and youth in order to consistently reassert the dominant state/regime narrative. At the same time, it will be shown that graphic design, even when used within that narrative, is a powerful tool for subverting the regime’s authority and challenging the perceived ideal thus helping shape new identities. Article received: April 29, 2019; Article accepted: June 15, 2019; Published online: September 15, 2019; Original scholarly paper

Highlights

This paper asserts that graphic design can be analyzed as a performative act, in relation to political performativity, a term coined by Reuben Rose-Redwood and Michael R
The scope of political performativity of graphic design as an example of socialist Yugoslavia is analyzed, based on the cultural theory and the theory of political performativity, and by using examples of poster, magazine and catalogue cover designs created for political and cultural events in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) from the 1940s to the 1980s. It will be shown how graphic design has had an impact in shaping and reshaping the image of Yugoslav citizens through an everyday representation of men, women and youth in order to consistently reassert the dominant state/regime narrative
Glass derive the term political performativity as “continuous reassertion of sovereign authority”1 from, among others, Judith Butler’s theory of performativity and, in particular, her statement that performativity must be understood as an everyday iterative and citational practice that brings into being that which it names

Summary

Introduction

This paper asserts that graphic design can be analyzed as a performative act, in relation to political performativity, a term coined by Reuben Rose-Redwood and Michael R. It will be shown how graphic design has had an impact in shaping and reshaping the image of Yugoslav citizens through an everyday representation of men, women and youth in order to consistently reassert the dominant state/regime narrative.

Results

Conclusion