Thoughts on the Significance of Mass‐media Communications in the Third Reich and the GDR
The article investigates the nature of propaganda on the basis of a comparison between propaganda in Nazi‐Germany and under the GDR. The starting point for discussion is the definitional imprecision and overwhelmingly pejorative use of the term found within the classic totalitarianism theories of Ar...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2007
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| In: |
Totalitarian movements and political religions
Year: 2007, Volume: 8, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 547-562 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The article investigates the nature of propaganda on the basis of a comparison between propaganda in Nazi‐Germany and under the GDR. The starting point for discussion is the definitional imprecision and overwhelmingly pejorative use of the term found within the classic totalitarianism theories of Arendt and Friedrich/Brzezinski. This leads to the proposal of a more historicised and culture‐oriented concept of ‘persuasive communication’ as the premise for refining our understanding of how propaganda operates within the praxis of a regime. By stressing this concept of propaganda as an integrative component of political culture, our case studies highlight the presence of two styles of propagandistic communication, which could be characterised as ‘mood‐directed’ in the case of National Socialism and ‘didactic’ in the case of GDR, a distinction that will hopefully prove its heuristic value in future propaganda studies. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-9647 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Totalitarian movements and political religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14690760701571171 |
