ART REVIEW Intro

Before I start doing a review on a specific piece allow me to tell you a bit more about propaganda in general.

Propaganda is know to be used as early as 515 BC. The aim of the messages in propaganda is to influence the opinions of the masses on issues like religion and most often politics. The information presented is constructed to make the audience believe that the side who is right is the one being presented and that they should follow that set of ideas. Propaganda was widely used during wars and it as being referred by political leaders as a very powerful weapon in war, since it can indoctrinate the population with hatred against the supposed enemy.


"Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist".
—Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion


As I explained the aim of propaganda is to influence people. In order to do this, the message presented has got to be strong to provoke the audience emotionally, using issues that can affect the audience such as their freedom. As well as having a strong message, the way the message is presented is equal in importance and has to communicate to the audience effectively. Propaganda shares common things with advertising and it also uses a wide range of methods and strategies based on social psychological research to help to generate propaganda.