Socialist Propaganda Research Articles

Running a mainstream revolutionary newspaper: Guangdong Qunbao and socialist propaganda in 1920s South China

ABSTRACT Revolutionary newspapers and periodicals have generally taken a confrontational stance towards the established power and the dominant ideology. In this sense, Guangdong Qunbao (The Social), the first daily newspaper run by the Chinese Communist Party in the early 1920s, was an interesting exception. From the beginning, its founders strove to strike a balance between becoming an influential mainstream newspaper and committing to revolutionary propaganda. This article examines its cultural strategies for the cultivation of socialist culture and explores how Qunbao engaged with the existing local cultures and developed a nuanced approach to socialist propaganda. It argues that, although the Qunbao’s editors hoped to promote a new ideology that was at odds with the prevailing ones, they did not rebel against the mainstream media; instead, they followed the model of modern print capitalism and creatively exploited indigenous cultural forms for the sake of socialist propaganda.

How Heroes Are Made. Erich Kästner's The handstand on the Loreley

Erich Kästner's poem Der Handstand auf der Loreley is an intertextual reference to the well-known Romantic ballad Loreley by Heinrich Heine. There are also intertextual links to other works of German literature. Kästner wrote the poem shortly before the Nazis came to power in Germany, as he had recognized the signs of the times: the latent rearmament, but above all the propagandistically prepared, ever more explicitly expressed cult of the hero. The heroization of even the most banal things or people in everyday life was a part of National Socialist propaganda. Kästner wanted to expose this process with his text, but it was already too late.

Sergei Chakhotin against the Swastika: Mass Psychology and Scientific Organization in the Iron Front's Three Arrows Campaign

Abstract This article details the influence of Russian psychologist Sergei Chakhotin on the propaganda of the Iron Front, an antifascist organization that resisted the rise of the Nazis in the dying days of the Weimar Republic. Notably the creator of the Three Arrows symbol, Chakhotin espoused theories and methods that used Ivan Pavlov's notion of the conditioned reflex and Fredrick Taylor's theory of scientific management to transform socialist propaganda to better combat the rise of fascism. By scrutinizing Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) periodicals and Iron Front propaganda, I argue that Chakhotin's ideas played a crucial role in catalyzing changes in the form and content of street campaigning throughout 1932. Chakhotin provided a scientific lens through which his allies in the SPD could view and understand the mass appeal of the Nazis, as well as the necessary changes in party tactics that were required in the age of mass media, popular spectacle, and emotional struggle.

Din istoria „Revistei Arhivelor” (1924-1989)/ From the „Journal of Archives” history (1924-1989)

The Journal of the Archives was founded in 1924 by Constantin Moisil, a university professor, academician, and director of the State Archives. The historian and archivist Aurelian Sacerdoțeanu continued its coordination and published five volumes in 1938–1947, but later the Communist regime abolished the journal for a decade. The Journal of the Archives was the State Archives’ official publication. It had many of the organization and operation issues of this institution both in the Capital and in its regional branches. It also had a variety of studies in archiving, chronology, diplomacy, genealogy, heraldry, numismatics, paleography, and sphragistics, studies regarding the peculiarities of the scientific preservation and capitalization of historical documents, homage volumes, bibliographies, and reports. Hundreds of documents, catagraphs, terms, inscriptions, manuscripts, etc. have been published in this journal. During Communist Romania, The Journal of the Archives resumed its publication in 1958, with a new series, including various socialist propaganda materials, but also valuable archival works. Along with great historians, philologists, university professors, members of the Romanian Academy, such as Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, Dimitrie Onciul, Nicolae Iorga, many archivists published valuable studies in The Journal of the Archives. They are: Emil Vârtosu, Ștefan Meteș, Teodor Bălan, Mihai Regleanu, Mihail Fănescu, Ștefan Hurmuzache, Tudor Mateescu, Marcel Ciucă. Articles written by archivist ladies Maria Holban, Elena Limona, Maria Dogaru, Mioara Tudorică, Ioana Burlacu, etc. also appeared in this journal, and some were inspired by women’s history.

“By the Action of Love to Overcome the Agitation of Their Hatred”: The Taurida Clergy Against Socialism (based on the materials of the theological, journalistic and memoir heritage of bishops and priests)

The article examines and analyzes the views of the clergy of the Taurida Diocese on socialist ideology. It is noted that local bishops and clergymen were consistent critics of socialism. This is evidenced by numerous materials of the official publications of the Taurida Diocese — the “Taurida Diocesan News” and the “Taurida Church and Public Bulletin”. The main motives of the rejection of socialism by the Orthodox clergy are shown. The emphasis is placed on the activities of Bishop Alexiy (Molchanov), who headed the Taurida diocese during the revolutionary events of 1905–1907 and tried to protect his flock from socialist propaganda. The negative attitude of the Orthodox clergy towards socialism can be considered as one of the reasons for the subsequent persecution of it during the revolution and the Civil War.

The cinema of make-believe: Rural viewers’ early reception of film propaganda in socialist China

The substantial popularization of film only became a reality in China after the Chinese Communist Party sent down projection teams to the countryside in the 1950s to build a nationwide network of film propaganda. As rural viewers witnessed simultaneously the earliest arrival of cinema and the propagation of socialist ideas at the time, a study of their experiences offers an alternative understanding of early spectatorship which has long been structured by the conception of ‘the cinema of attractions’. I propose using ‘the cinema of make-believe’ to conceptualize the practices of film exhibition in rural China, indicating the isomorphism between the apparatus of cinema and that of propaganda. I argue that the capability of navigating film and reality was made prominent in rural viewers’ early reception of cinema, in which spectators were made to believe the presence of absent objects. Such ‘present-absence’ effect embedded in cinema facilitated the operation of socialist propaganda, despite obstructing the goal of universal agitation in certain circumstances.

SPECIFICS OF THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE USING IN THE URBAN PLANNING OF UKRAINE IN 1940S-1950S

The article is devoted to the study of the natural landscape use specifics in urban planning of Ukraine in 1940-1950. In the postwar years, most cities in Ukraine needed reconstruction after the destruction caused during World War II. On the example of cities-regional centers of Ukraine, such as Kharkiv, Lviv, Lutsk, Ternopil, etc., the peculiarities of the natural landscape use in the conditions of urban transformations and reconstruction of 1940s-1950s are determined. In accordance with the master plans of the 1940s and 1950s, according to which cities were rebuilt after the Second World War, the natural landscape played an important role in the creation of urban compositions. Given the requirement of the city and nature unity, the new urban ensembles tried to integrate into the existing natural landscape in such a way as to emphasize the representative qualities of the central buildings, to form a holistic spatial composition. The landscape use also solved certain functional tasks in the reconstruction of cities: the existing natural relief was usually used to emphasize the specific image of new architectural dominants; ponds, if available near city centers, were arranged and compositionally combined with the urban ensemble; the arrangement of the existing greenery solved the question of the necessary amount of landscaping and the creation of recreation areas for the city population. This approach was usually used for socialist propaganda, but on the other hand, taking into account the peculiarities of the landscape in urban planning and using its features to solve functional and compositional problems, as is known, is characteristic of urban planning at all stages of human history, including 1940s-1950s.

The Garment Workers’ Union’s Pageant of Unity (1940) as manifestation of transnational working-class culture

In this article, I examine the Garment Workers’ Union’s theatre as a manifestation of transnational working-class culture in the 1940s. Analysing Pageant of Unity (1940), a play in which Afrikaans and English alternate to express the equality of Afrikaans- and English-speaking workers in the face of exploitation, I offer an attempt to escape the confines of a national literature as linked to a single language. I demonstrate how the political pageant—a genre typical of socialist propaganda and international trade unionism—was adapted to a South African context. This drama is, therefore, viewed as a product of cultural mobility between Europe, the United States, and South Africa. Assuming the ‘follow the actor’ approach of Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory, I identify a network of interconnections between the nodes formed by human (drama practitioners and theoreticians, socialist organisers) and nonhuman actors (texts representing socialist drama conventions, in particular agitprop techniques). Tracing the inspirations and adaptations of conventions, I argue that Pageant of Unity most evidently realises the prescriptions outlined by the Russian drama theoretician Vsevolod Meyerhold whose approach influenced Guy Routh, one of the pageant’s creators. Thus, I focus on how this propaganda production utilises certain features of the Soviet avant-garde theatre, which testifies to the transnational character of South African working-class culture.

Tematiskās un saturiskās tendences latviešu dzejnieku debijas krājumos 20. gadsimta 60. gados

In the 1960s, the spectrum of themes in Latvian poetry expanded. During this decade, more than thirty authors release their first collection of poems. Contextually, a large part is still taken up by ideologically engaged themes. This applies to both poetry in general and specifically 1960s debut poem collections. The characteristic themes influenced by the ideology are: the interpretation of the events of World War II, the formation of Soviet life, the admiration of science and technological advancements, depictions of the bad non-socialist “Pre-Soviet” past, criticism towards the capitalist world, praise for the revolutionary processes and personalities from abroad, the motif of friendship between the Soviet socialist republics and the peoples of other socialist countries, et al. However, the distancing from the principles of socialist realism and propaganda is used via different routes: by recognizing one’s local identity, emphasizing the theme of nature, daring to express intimate lyrics, echoing cultural personalities around the world. The attitude of the opposition towards the regime is only possible in subtexts and free-minded associations. The attempt to reveal the problems and negative aspects of Soviet life can be seen in several debut poets’ works. Less ideologized poetry appears in the first books by Aivars Neibarts, Nora Kalna, Egils Plaudis. Already in her very first works, Ārija Elksne writes poetry mostly about her individual experience. Nevertheless, the 1960s poetry written by debut poets is mostly integrated within the Soviet ideological system.

Modernist Art in Ethiopia

Modernist Art in Ethiopia

National socialist propaganda in late Reza-Shah Iran: the case of Khaterat-e Hitler by Mohsen Jahansuz

ABSTRACT The attempts of national socialist Germany to influence the Iranian public are an important dimension of the relations between the two countries during the last years of Reza Shah’s rule. Yet previous studies on this aspect have barely considered Iranian sources to assess the actual impact of these propaganda efforts on Iranian society. One of these sources is the 1938-published Khaterat-e Hitler by Mohsen Jahansuz. By analysing the book in depth and situating it within the context of Jahansuz’s biography, this study provides new findings concerning the reception of national socialist ideology in 1930s Iran and challenges previous claims concerning the publication, which has hitherto been considered the first translation of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. It argues that Jahansuz, by inserting his own ideas and interpretations into the text without explicitly indicating his authorship, did not create a translation but an adaptation of the German original that transcended the limits of Hitler’s exclusivist Germanocentrism in order to establish a theory of the ‘racial superiority’ of the rural population at Iran’s mountainous periphery. The paper shows how a representative of the Iranian literati appropriated national socialist ideology and distributed it in an altered way to further his own cause.

Folk dance as a tool of socialist propaganda based on Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War

The article addressed the issue of using folk dance as a tool of propaganda by the communist party. It is not uncommon to associate the activity of folk groups with the period of socialist realism and the years that followed in. Folk song and dance ensembles have always been a colorful showcase of the country outside of its borders and have often added splendor to distinguished national events with their performances. Nevertheless, their artistic activity was not motivated solely by the beauty of Polish folklore, for folk ensembles formed after World War II were often created to aid the goals of the communist party. Reaching for folk repertoire and transferring regional songs and dances to the stage was seen as opposition to the elite culture. Cultural reform made performances accessible to the working class, and folk song and dance expressed admiration for the work of people in the countryside. In addition to traditional songs from various regions of Poland, the repertoire of these ensembles also included many songs in honor of Stalin and about the Polish-Soviet friendship. Paweł Pawlikowski’s award-winning film, Cold War, which partially follows a song and dance ensemble (aptly named Mazurek), shows many of the dilemmas and controversies that the artists of this period had to face.

Pro-Regime Posters in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

The article discusses three Afghan posters as a source of information on the political system between 1978 and 1992 and its internal dynamics. The posters are an integral part of Afghan visual culture and at the same time they are an inseparable element of the broader propaganda culture developed by communist parties. Consequently, such categories as unity, utility and wishful thinking characteristic for the socialist realist art and propaganda put the posters in the broadly understood phenomenon of Orwellian newspeak. To discuss their Orwellian dimension theoretical tools developed by Umberto Eco have been applied.

Этнографический отдел Русского музея в реалиях общественно-политической жизни 1920–1930-х гг.

The article is devoted to the one of the most important problems in the history of museum studies, namely the state museum policy. Museums participate in the historical and cultural process, relying not only on the concepts and the objectives of academic disciplines, but on the public needs of a particular historical era and the influence of power structures as well. The purpose of the study is to analyze the influence of state ideological attitudes on the research works in the field of museum ethnography and on personal fates of employees of the Russian Museum Ethnographic Department in the 1920s and 1930s, using archival sources. The author introduces into scientific circulation previously classified directive documents which regulated museum activities during that period. Considerable attention is paid to the study of the museum employees’ field reports which give an indication of the shift in the methodological approach to ethnographic studies at the time. The paper involves personal archival documents which shed a light on the details of everyday life and lifestyle, the nature of relationships between people, determined by the political organization of society, among other things.The study leads to the conclusion that the powerful ideological pressure of the state that took place during those years negatively influenced not only ethnography and museology disciplines turning them into an instrument of socialist propaganda for a certain period of time, but led many ethnographers to tragic fate.

Building Visual Intertextuality and Territorial Identities for the Romanian Danubian Settlements during Socialism

The politics of symbolic representation is uncovered by our examining the represented cultural landscape. In this process, semiotics and discourse analysis were the methods complementing each other and enabling us to underline how Romanians’ understanding of power relations, of past and present events and ultimately of reality was shaped by signs, symbols, and stories in official visual materials. This research aims to discuss the geography of Romania’s southern border during the socialist period (1948-1989). This geography is made of the Danube and of the Danubian settlements as represented in images within Geography of Romania school textbooks and picture postcards. Thus, the aim of our article is to decode the visual construction of territorial identity of the Danubian settlements in Romania. To reach this aim, we considered the following research questions: Is the Danube the main subject in these representations or a secondary one? How is the Danube represented? What are the key-themes of its representation? How is the past of the settlements on the Danube integrated into the visual discourse during the socialist period? What was the role played by the Danube in the history of these settlements according to these representations (i.e. textbooks and picture postcards)? Results show that the Danube is a liminal space, changing functions depending on historical, political, economic, and social circumstances. The Danube is represented as landscape, defined through its economic (i.e. transport, commerce) or historical functions (i.e. border to the south or communication route with the west). Due to its representations, also the other elements seem truthful and “natural”. The presence of people and activities in the displayed places inform and educate visitors and inhabitants how to use space (contemplative, for entertainment, for relaxation, to learn, etc.). We provide an informed understanding of Romania through visual imagery: representations are singling out its uniqueness and achievements, fitting into the metanarrative of socialist propaganda.

Adoctrinar con la palabra: prensa y propaganda nacionalsocialista en la España de la Guerra Civil

La estratégica posición de la Península Ibérica y del territorio insular en el Atlántico con el archipiélago Canario, convirtió a España en uno de los principales focos de la propaganda exterior de la Alemania Nazi. Si bien es cierto que los estudios sobre la propaganda nacionalsocialista han sido un tema bastante estudiado, lo que no ha sido tan frecuente es el análisis de cómo se integró esa propaganda en la prensa de las islas Canarias, durante el período de la Guerra Civil; quienes fueron los protagonistas, qué vinculaciones tenían con el NSDAP, así como qué espacios de actuación implementaron para que su ideología se plasmase en la prensa. En el artículo se identificarán algunas de las líneas editoriales utilizadas por la prensa como medio de propaganda del nacionalsocialismo

Propaganda content in the Polish sports press of the 1950s

The article describes main forms of socialist propaganda in polish sports press of the 1950’s decade. As the analysis shows, sports magazines, despite their apparent thematic distance from political issues, had become tools of social impact. The main force of influence was concentrated in texts created typically for propaganda purposes, but also texts devoted to sports competitions (i.e. reports) contained political components. The most important manifestations of propaganda in the sports press were the mixing of sport with politics, promoting Soviet training and tactical patterns, over-emphasizing successes, informing about the socialist commitments made by athletes on public holidays, as well as criticizing social and political conditions in capitalist countries.

DILEMAS DA PROPAGANDA SOCIALISTA EM MANAUS NO ALVORECER DO SÉCULO XX

Com base na imprensa operária e em matérias veiculadas pela grande imprensa amazonense do período, o artigo aborda os dilemas da propaganda socialista desenvolvida em Manaus nos anos iniciais do século XX, no contexto da criação do Centro Operário em Manaus. Impulsionada pela expansão da economia de exportação da borracha a partir de 1880 se desenvolveu um rico trânsito de pessoas e ideias que muito contribuiu para a formação de uma identidade operária e para a criação de associações operárias na cidade. Neste processo, ganharam destaque duas lideranças socialistas – Alfredo Vasconcelos Lins e Manoel Madruga – que, oriundas do Nordeste brasileiro produziram através da imprensa amazonense, forte propaganda dos princípios socialistas e criaram o Centro Operário em Manaus, visando tanto a conscientização do operariado local, quanto sua organização em associações sindicais de mobilização e luta.

Revolutionary Bodies: Chinese Dance and the Socialist Legacy by Emily Wilcox

Reviewed by: Revolutionary Bodies: Chinese Dance and the Socialist Legacy by Emily Wilcox Ziying Cui REVOLUTIONARY BODIES: CHINESE DANCE AND THE SOCIALIST LEGACY. By Emily Wilcox. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2018. 322 pp. Paper, $32.83. Revolutionary Bodies: Chinese Dance and the Socialist Legacy is the first monograph by Emily Wilcox. In this book, Wilcox examines the history of Chinese dance development in the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its emergence in the 1940s. This groundbreaking research highlights the practices of Chinese concert dance and provides [End Page 270] enormous historical sources for the reader. Before the publication of Revolutionary Bodies, Chinese dance studies (in English) were shaped by socialist propaganda and Asian performance studies which focused on Chinese revolutionary ballet and the performance practices other than dance. In this text, Wilcox, who conducted intensive fieldwork at the Beijing Dance Academy (Beijing Wudao Xueyuan 北京舞蹈学院), shifts from her previous anthropological project to primarily historical research of Chinese dance. In this innovative scholarship, Wilcox places the development of Chinese dance at the intersection of modern Chinese history and individual dance artists' narratives. She argues that Chinese dance should be seen as a complex cultural phenomenon rather than a monolithic political production. While this research is not able to cover all the details of 70-years' Chinese dance evolution, Wilcox's book crystallizes the prolonged, massive, and diverse PRC dance history into a comprehensive assessment and provides an example for scholars who research on this topic. In the introduction, Wilcox raises three core principles that define Chinese dance as a genre: kinesthetic nationalism, ethnic and spatial inclusiveness, and dynamic inheritance (p. 6). The concept of "kinesthetic nationalism" is expanded from the Chinese language ideas of "national form" (minzu xingshi 民族形式), a discursive concept that relates to aesthetic form and nationality. The idea of "ethnic and spatial inclusiveness" explains the multiplicity of Chinese dance forms which developed from the diverse ethnic communities and geographic regions across China. The third principle, "dynamic inheritance," is the balancing of maintaining and innovating traditional performance forms. These three principles are important concepts underpinning Wilcox's arguments and analysis of Chinese dance throughout the book. In chapter 1, Wilcox examines the personal experience and artistic contribution of the most important figure of Chinese dance, Dai Ailian, and dance groups which also contributed to the creation and standardization of Chinese dance as a national form. As a member of Chinese diaspora, Dai's interest in Chinese dance was influenced by the racial discrimination experienced during her career in England. After coming to China in the early 1940s, Dai's dance work drew upon Chinese local performances and highlighted non-Han cultures. Aside from Dai's contribution, Wilcox also recognizes the other two dance developments during wartime China. One is New Yangge, a dance project advocated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Yan'an that based on the folk dance practice of yangge, and the other is Wu Xiaobang's New Dance. Throughout the narrative of Dai's experience, Wu's New Dance, and New Yangge, Wilcox maps out the trajectory of [End Page 271] the emergence of modern Chinese dance and the history of its development during the 1940s. In chapter 2, Wilcox analyzes a variety of dance experiments in the early PRC. Among the experiments on stage and in the classroom, the dance program established by the Korean dancer Choe Seung-hui (Cui Chengxi) had a great impact on China's dance development. Choe's program divided traditional performance sources into two categories: Chinese folk dance that emphasized performance by peasants and Chinese classical dance that focused on training students the basic movement that based on xiqu (traditional theatre) techniques. This pedagogical method was later adopted by the Beijing Dance School which standardized and disseminated it across the country. In chapter 3, Wilcox examines the primary development of Chinese dance from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Internationally, Chinese dance as a predominant national dance genre was circulated on global stage through the dance competition of the World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS). By calling for "socialist cosmopolitism" and featuring the national folk dance of socialist countries, the WFYS dance competition allowed Chinese...

An Analysis of Physician Behaviors During the Holocaust: Modern Day Relevances

Even with the passage of time, the misguided motivations of highly educated, physician-participants in the genocide known as the Holocaust remain inexplicable and opaque. Typically, the physician-patient relationship inherent within the practice of medicine, has been rooted in the partnership between individuals. However, under the Third Reich, this covenant between a physician and patient was displaced by a public health agenda that was grounded in the scientific theory of eugenics and which served the needs of a polarized political system that relied on this hypothesis to justify society’s racial hygiene laws. As part of the National Socialist propaganda, Adolf Hitler ominously argued that the cultural decline of Germany after World War I could largely be based on interbreeding and a “resultant drop in the racial level.” This foundational premise defined those who could be ostracized, labeled and persecuted by society, including those who were assimilated. The indoctrination and implementation of this distorted social policy required the early and sustained cooperation and leadership of the medical profession. Because National Socialism promised it could restore Germany’s power, honor and dignity, physicians embraced their special role in the repair of the state. This article will explore the imperative role, moral risks and deliberate actions of physicians who participated in the amplification process from “euthanasia” to systemic murder to medically-sanctioned genocide. A goal of this analysis will be to explore what perils today’s physicians would face if they were to experience the transitional and collective behaviors of a corrupted medical profession, or if they would, instead, have the fortitude and courage necessary to protect themselves against this collaboration. Our premise is that an awareness of history can serve as a safeguard to the conceit of political ascendency and discrimination.