The Visual Representation of an Enemy During Wartime

The Visual Representation of an Enemy During Wartime

The visual representation of an enemy during wartime is generally intended for the use of propaganda. Western portrayals of the Japanese during the Second World War are no exception. According to Gilmore, propaganda "...is designed to persuade the target audience to respond to a particular issue or idea either favorably or unfavorably."l In the case of a war the desired response is to produce an effective and productive desire to win. This was achieved in two ways. First, the enemy is devalued; "they" are presented as something less worthy than "us." Faults are exaggerated, actions are interpreted with a suspicious eye and the morality and/or cultural value of the target group is slandered. The enemy becomes someone to be feared, resisted at all cost and possibly deserving of total destruction.

Secondly the esteem of the group producing the propaganda is raised. War is

presented in terms of doing one's duty as a member of a morally superior society. If

'they' are treacherous then 'we' are honest; if 'they' are inferior' then 'we' are superior, and so on… The two approaches are directly proportional to one another. The more depraved an enemy the greater the moral standing of those who try to annihilate them. If 'they' are uncivilised then 'we' must be more civilised by default, or so the thinking goes. The balance between devaluing the enemy and empowering one's own population says as much about how the propagandising body's views as how it views the enemy. The former is often drawn by inference from the latter.

Propaganda takes many forms and it is essential to understand the nature of the medium chosen to properly derive the intended message. In terms of expres...

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...biological faults used in this imagery were intended to represent the shortcomings of the Japanese. Through the mediums of film and print all things Japanese were branded as small minded, treacherous and a generally inadequate. The flaws were portrayed in terms of a national character meaning that they were to be applied to the Japanese as a race, not as individuals. This thinking led to the dehumanisation of the Japanese by the West and undoubtedly accounts for much of the ferocity that marked the Pacific Theatre. Furthermore this theme would not only allow the civil rights of thousands of American citizens to be ignored it would also lead the American population to tolerate the targeting of civilians during the final stages of the war. This would, of course, ultimately play a large role in the decision to use nuclear against a people that were deemd unfit to live.