Jacques Ellul Propaganda

1958 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The Role Of Mass Media

The overall theme in Jacques Ellul’s ‘Propaganda’ is clearly explained in the first parts of the book. The book was written within a wider concept of mass participation, which was the centerpiece of several treaties in the early and mid-twentieth century. The focus of the book is on the link between social and political life, the technical mentality and communication. Although propaganda is concerned with modifying ideologies, it is more of the influence of character in ways that can be defined and predicted so as to elicit certain permissible responses and actions that lead to the quintessence participation of persons in the joint organizational structure. Propaganda places an imperceptible influence on people acknowledge the presuppositions …show more content…

The propagandists can then use these visions and images once the pigeonholes, assumptions and values have been socially established through a channel of pre propaganda such as education. Propagandists are limited in the possible accomplishments when such prequalification fails to occur. Therefore, propaganda will lose its effectiveness in cases where an individual has access to independent social upholding, information and judgment. This is based on the Ellul’s argument that it will be impossible for a propagandist to go against an individual’s judgment simply because of his inability to create a new psychological mechanism. In order to transcend this, propagandists understand what is in a person after which they explore their myths and fears and consequently bring about complete …show more content…

Through this, Ellul helps understand the relationships between messages in information rhetoric in society. Ellul’s personal view on human persuasion employs several rhetorical devices as he believes that it does not occur in isolated instances. Rather, Ellul believes occurs as a result of the interrelationship between the technological, social and cultural framework and in so doing his research is in consistence with current rhetorical studies. He examines the rhetorical artifact with a corresponding analysis of the whole network on social propaganda in order to obtain a holistic view on the nature of propaganda. Ellul presents a view that narrowing the dimension of propaganda definition only fails to consider how non persuasive elements of the society can have whelming rhetorical power. He draws the attention of the reader to the role of rationality in the persuasion of humans. He argues that if at all people consider propaganda as a spurring action, and then the rational art of human persuasion ceases to exist immediately. Rational argumentation and modes of reasoning are fundamental to the constitution of

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Persuasive Symbols in Ronald Reagan's The Space Shuttle "Challenger" Tragedy Address

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...an is capable of persuading his audience into accepting his simplistic views of the world. He makes it easier to rationalize with his stance by his strategic use of sentence structure and word choice. When analyzing a past speech or interpreting a speech as it is given, upmost priority should be given to analytical tools for analyzing persuasive symbols and language. Whether the topic at hand is motivated by great emotions as it is here or not, the audience can easily be swayed in one direction surprisingly based only on universal comprehension.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Unresisted Persuasion

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    Summary – It is quite difficult to avoid any persuasive acts while resisting them at the same time. Being prepared with knowledge of how easy it is to be manipulated, controlled, seduced, etc. allows us to open up to the use of rhetoric.

    Read More

  • The Use Of Propaganda In 1984, By George Orwell

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    “"Propaganda is as powerful as heroin, it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” by Gil Courtemanche connects to the sad fact of using propaganda as a deadly weapon to feed people with false information and stop them from thinking. George Orwell’s novel, 1984 describes a totalitarian dystopia society where the Party is constantly brainwashing its citizens with information that is beneficial to its own rights. On the opposite side people are working for the party just like dominated slaves for their masters without knowing of what’s going on. But, in order for the party to achieve this goal they have to use different techniques of propaganda in Oceania to create fear for people so that they can obey the rules. The use of propaganda

    Read More

  • Negative Propaganda In World War II

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    Words and images were silent weapons used by all governments involved during World War II. Wars are generally fought between soldiers, but the different ideologies often meet on the battlefield as well. The support of the people is crucial during these times since it general knowledge that strength relies on numbers. Propaganda targets people’s emotions and feelings and changes people’s perception about a particular idea, people or situation. Propaganda goes hand in hand with the art of persuasion and convincing; these tools can control and manipulate the collective minds of massive amount of its audience. During World War II, for instance, the elements of war were taken from the location of the military fights and brought to the households of millions of families. Advertising has the power to sell ideas, to give or take away hope, and to boosts people´s morale; the ideas that were presented to the public through propaganda are immortal, they linger in the nation’s memory. Images often displayed in posters and pamphlets during war time, were an essential factor to gain peoples support and trust, images attract people’s attention with more efficiency than word. It is an effective mean to attract attention; it I said that images speak louder than words and this case is not the exception. Media, during World War II, was the catalyst which increased the magnitude of the issue that was being confronted. This event left a mark in our history since its objective was to generate hatred between ethnics. It is in our nature, the human nature, to take our own culture as a point of reference to judge others, this is a phenomenon called ethnocentrism and it is fuelled bye prejudice and stereotyping. Throughout history whenever technologically...

    Read More

  • Propaganda In Minority Report

    333 Words  | 1 Pages

    Propaganda is utilised by the Pre-Crime division of Minority Report to falsify justification for their methods and as a mean of heralding the pre-cognitive technology as a saviour. The Pre-Crime division roots its interests in its own sustenance, and that sustenance can be achieved through the formulation of a societal structure in which all their actions are justified for the betterment of society. Although, unlike in 1984 the people of Minority Report are not devoid of a societal reference point to which they can compare their current lives. Consequently, the Pre-Crime uses propaganda slightly differently, nevertheless to achieve the same result. The strategy is to persuade the public that their lives are better than they were before. The

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar Rhetorical Analysis: A Persuasive Balance

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this day and age, persuasion can be seen on almost any screen. The average American views thousands of advertisements every week. Most ads are simply pushed out of a person’s mind, but the successful advertisements are the ones that resonate with people. Some forms of ads are very annoying to those who put up with them constantly. Online pop-up ads, for example, are proven to do worse for products and business than no advertising at all! This is because this form of advertising does nothing to convince or persuade the person viewing the ad, and no effort is put into actually put into proving what it’s worth to make a point. Pop-ads make zero use of something known as “rhetorical devices”. In Julius Caesar, Brutus and Mark Antony both try to convey their point of view to a large audience of Roman citizens. One had a better speech than the other since he used “rhetorical devices” more effectively. Logos (logical; what makes sense), Ethos (ethics and morals; portraying similar beliefs and values), and Pathos (emotions; natural feelings that can be counterintuitive to logos) are the rhetorical devices that Aristotle

    Read More

  • Brave New World Propaganda Analysis

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, showcases a world alternate from ours, in a dystopian setting. Where human morals are drastically altered, families, love, history, and art are removed by the government. They used multiple methods to control the people, but no method in the world is more highly used and more effective than propaganda. The world state heavily implemented the use of propaganda to control, to set morals, and to condition the minds of every citizen in their world. However, such uses of propaganda have already been used in our world and even at this very moment.

    Read More

  • Propaganda in George Orwell's 1984

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Propaganda means any attempt to persuade anyone to a belief or to form an action. We live our lives surrounded by propaganda; we create enormous amounts of it ourselves; and we f...

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices Used In Rihanna

    473 Words  | 1 Pages

    Rhetoric is defined as “the art of effective speaking or writing; language designed to persuade or impress; eloquence, way with words, gift of gab.” We see rhetorical devices being used in our day-to-day life. Sometimes we might not realize that it’s being used and other times it might be obvious. One of the most common example where rhetorics are used is t.v. commercials. Every commercial uses certain rhetorical devices to capture their audience’s attention and leave an impact on them.

    Read More

  • The Deception Of Necession In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Most of the time, we see only what we want to see, or what others tell us to see, instead of really investigate to see what is really there. We embrace illusions only because we are presented with the illusion that they are embraced by the majority. When in truth, they only become popular because they are pounded at us by the media with such an intensity and high level of repetition that its mere force disguises lie and truths. And like obedient schoolchildren, we do not question their validity and swallow everything up like medicine. Why? Because since the earliest days of our youth, we have been conditioned to accept that the direction of the herd, and authority anywhere — is always right.” In the novella, Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton

    Read More

  • Summary Of Edward L. Bernays's 'Propaganda'

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book, Propaganda, author Edward L Bernays, who is nephew of Sigmund Freud, transcends the public relation industry. This short, 13-part instructional manual delves deep into the intricacies and usage of propaganda. Bernays claims that the public is in a constant state of manipulation. He argues that in order for a society to be highly functioning and stable, public opinion must be manipulated and swayed. While I find his claims disturbing, it was refreshing to read something so blunt. Bernays’ use of psychological techniques to work the mechanics of public opinion truly classifies him as the “father of public relations.”

    Read More

  • Rhetoric By Covino And Jolliffe

    339 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the story, What is Rhetoric by William Covino and David Jolliffe, there are a wide variety of topics discussed that are inextricably interwoven with the concept “rhetoric.” Rhetoric, as defined by the authors, is “the study and practice of shaping content.” Consequently, my first thought was: Ok, this is a rather broad and opaque description; my successive thought, however, was one of astonishment, inasmuch as the authors went on to further elucidated this jargon. In doing so, the authors distilled the most crucial elements of what is rhetoric— the prevalence of discourse community, and how appealing language is often a precursor to persuasion.

    Read More

  • Jacques Ellul Propaganda

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    What comes to mind at the word “propaganda”? For a contemporary audience, it may prompt imagery of brightly coloured flyers and posters, extremist speeches, or perhaps blatant lies. We picture of leaders of totalitarian governments brainwashing crowds, of dystopias and wartime. However, in philosopher Jacques Ellul’s writings, he theorizes a modern propaganda far more sophisticated than these remnants of the past. As he illustrates the terrifying effectiveness of modern propaganda, his words form connections to the contemporary world, reminding us to question the pre-notions and “truth” we hold, and whether we have freedom of thought and choice.

    Read More

  • Social Psychology of Persuasion

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every day in our life's we are persuaded to make choices. Persuasion is a very

    Read More

  • Charge of the Light Brigade

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia 1500 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. 2003. Google Books. Web.12 April 2011.

    Read More

More about Jacques Ellul Propaganda

Open Document