The National Committee of Patriotic Societies and the Aesthetics of Propaganda

Bibliographic Data

ID12465124
AuthorsLeslie A Hahner (0000-0002-3944-6689, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume17
Issue1
Pages35-66
Publication date2014-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRhetoric and Public Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1094-8392 • E-ISSN: 1534-5238
PublisherMichigan State University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.14321/rhetpublaffa.17.1.0035
OpenAlexW1968380892
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited15

This essay analyzes three pedagogical manuals on publicity design published by the National Committee of Patriotic Societies (NCPS) during the First World War. The NCPS represented dozens of nationalistic organizations dedicated to the mission of preparedness. This essay argues that in its publicity guidebooks, the NCPS suggested that propaganda designed with a Republican aesthetic could wed the working class to the war effort. Such advice was predicated on the psychological notion that affective experiences conditioned audiences for further persuasive appeals. Examination of these manuals thus highlights the importance of psychological theories of affect to the aesthetics of propaganda

Aesthetics · Affect (linguistics · Art · Political science · Publicity · Sociology · Law · Philosophy, History, and Historiography · Photography and Visual Culture · Visual Culture and Art Theory