This article was written by Ruth Taddesse of Richard Montgomery High School.
The books and stories we read are usually our escape from the world; whether fiction or nonfiction, fantasy or autobiography, we use it to learn or entertain, and we certainly don’t expect the gritty world of politics to seep in. Yet many authors find sneaky ways to include propaganda in literature, and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, considered books the most important weapon of propaganda.
So what is propaganda? According to Merriam-Webster, propaganda is “the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” Rather than relying on logic, propaganda uses other techniques that sway the viewer in the direction of the propaganda’s creator. The word “propaganda” usually is believed to have a negative connotation, but it’s not necessarily wrong and is used by every public and political group or individual to share their message. Famous examples of propaganda are usually during times of war such as Uncle Sam or Rosie the Riveter, but propaganda has been used since the time of Ancient Greece and is still widely used today. In fact, today’s digital age has ushered in a more dangerous new era of propaganda where anyone can go viral and misinformation can be spread all over the world in a matter of hours without being stopped.
There are many techniques used in propaganda to sway the viewer, the most common being emotional appeal. Fear, patriotism, and anger are frequently targeted, and a person feeling these emotions towards the topic will most likely be swayed by the propaganda. Another technique seen a lot in history is using xenophobia, a fear of outsiders. This can include racism, sexism and nativism, so many majority groups may be influenced and justify unjust actions this way. Related to xenophobia is an appeal to the viewer’s identity, usually claiming that “real” members of a certain group would support the propaganda’s argument or they would be considered frauds.
Propaganda is especially effective in books: the CIA’s chief of covert action during the Cold War commented, “Books differ from all other propaganda media primarily because one single book can significantly change the reader’s attitude and action to an extent unmatched by the impact of any other single medium,” and went on to call books “the most important weapon of strategic propaganda.” With such a great reach and a possibility of great impact on the reader, it’s no surprise that many groups and governments used books to covertly spread ideas.
A well-known example is the CIA’s distribution of "Doctor Zhivago", a novel by Boris Pasternak that dangerously lacked praise for the Soviet regime and questioned some of the attacks occurring at the time. Communist Party officials tried their best to block the publishing of this book, even writing to publishers with forged signatures posing as the author, but the book was published in Italy anyway. The CIA got ahold of the book and distributed an illegal Russian version of the book at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. “Doctor Zhivago” was hardly the only book distributed by the CIA; over 15 years, close to a million books were smuggled into the Soviet Union with the assistance of a New York publishing company, and this continued until the end of the USSR. Through this, the US government believed that the culture of the Soviet Union could be manipulated and that citizens would recognize the wrongdoings of their own government.
Based on the definition of propaganda, one can argue that any literature that attempts to change a reader’s thinking is propaganda and would be correct. Literature deemed important and loved by an entire country may, at closer examination, uphold a falsely positive image for that country. This occurs in history textbooks as well, where instances in which a government persecutes minorities are omitted. So the next time you are reading what you think is just an entertaining novel, take a closer look and try to identify any ideas you’re secretly being fed.
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